With a painful loss that they are facing right now, Joel and Ellie would have to continue the journey on their own in The Last of Us Episode 3. Will they get to their destination safely and find some help? Prepare for the next run with everything you need to know here!
Warning! This portion may contain spoilers for The Last of Us. Read at your own risk!
What Happened Before The Last of Us Episode 3?
The Last of Us Episode 2, Infected, set in September 2003, while in the middle of her lunch in Jakarta, Ibu Ratna was picked up by the authorities. Being a professor at the University of Indonesia, Ratna is an expert mycologist who was sent to check on a woman that has been bitten.
To Ratna's surprise, it was ophiocordyceps found on the body and when she asked who else was bitten and where they were, the authorities said 14 was missing. Ratna knew what comes next, she suggested to bomb the whole city and asked to be escorted home so she could be with her family when it happens.
Back to the present, Joel and Tess are closely monitoring Ellie after they found out that she was bitten and Ellie explains the reason why Marlene was protecting her: the one secret Marlene told her not to spill, that she is possibly one of the keys to finding a cure.
Ellie tells them that Marlene's people got to her when she was bit and they locked her in where she was observed which, for three weeks, she didn't turn into one of the infected. Right before breakfast, Joel talks to Tess about taking Ellie down but Tess knows Ellie is their best chance to get what they want.
As Tess gets to convince Joel to push through, Ellie returns and shares how she overhears everything they talked about. Tess' decision remains firm and Joel continues with the journey. They head out into the city where Ellie is amazed on how different the stories are in the QZ compared to that in real life.
They see an obstacle on their way with a flooded hotel that they have to pass through to get to the other side but it is clogged with rocks. Tess goes through it and while waiting, Ellie keeps asking Joel some personal things, stuff Joel doesn't even want to answer.
Tess opens one of the doors to let them through. Upon reaching a balcony, they see that the infected grew in numbers. Tess explains that the infected are connected more than many ways that Ellie would even know so she wans her not to be devoured.
With that, the short way, it is. They pass through the museum of Boston which screams horrors. Upon entering, Ellie sees a man slaughtered so they suspect that the building has some infected inside. True enough, there are some and Tess twists her ankle.
Joel holds them off while Ellie hides. However, when they are escaping, Joel steps on some broken glass which triggers one of the infected and during the scuffle, Joel overpowers the infected and ultimately kills it. Then, another one appears and Tess gets to distract it, enough for Joel to finish the job.
Ellie finds out that she has been scratched, but that shouldn't affect her being immune to that. They escape through a window with some plank to get to the other building and Tess binds his ankle so they can push through their journey. Ellie enjoys the view, and Joel shares it with her.
As earlier explained by Tess, the infected are so connected that when one detects you to be there, the others arrive sooner or later. They head to the states house where they see a truck of the Fireflies ravaged and everyone is dead.
Joel feels it is over as they thought that place would be the one where they would deliver Ellie but Tess isn't giving up at all. Tess keeps the hope that Ellie could be the cure and for once, humanity might stand a chance against the infected.
There, Ellie realizes what is happening -- Tess is infected! She has been bit on the neck and she order Ellie to take her bandage off to prove her point to Joel. Tess realizes that Ellie is the real deal because her wound that an infected scratched isn't festering at all while hers is already getting there.
Tess orders Joel to take Ellie to Bill and Frank and to convince them to take Ellie in. Tess asks Joel to push through with the mission because she knows her time may be up soon. She wants Joel to set everything right.
Just as that happens, the infected comes alive. They're really connected. Tess sets up a trap for all of the infected and Joel knows what comes next -- Tess is making a sacrifice!
Tess reminds Joel to "Save who you can save," pertaining to Ellie and seemingly telling him to let her go. Despite Ellie's resistance on not leaving Tess behind, Joel drags her to safety while Tess makes her last stand. She may be afraid she holds so much courage staying behind.
Tess accepts her fate a kiss of death with an infected and just like that, she opens her lighter and drops it on the ground where she scattered gasoline and a ton of hand grenades.
At a distance, Joel and Ellie sees the explosion from inside and the infected are all perishing to death. Joel continues walking while Ellie looks at him, takes a deep breath, and they push through.
READ MORE: The Last of Us Episode 2 Confirms Popular Cordyceps Pandemic Theory
The Last of Us Episode 3 Spoilers, Theories, and Leaks
The preview of The Last of Us Episode 3 shows a surveillance room and a workshop where Bill is staying in. It shows how Bill and Frank met where Frank fell through a trap set up by Bill. Afterwards, there's Ellie and Joel making it to the place and Joel warns them about raiders.
It also teases Ellie and Joel continuing the journey and while some fiasco is going on, Bill orders Frank to call Joel. It cuts to Bill and Joel's previous conversation where Bill tells Joel they will be fine.
From the preview, it shows the characters of Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, both survivalists who live in an isolated place somewhere else. In the preview, it is shown how the two met and how Bill is superior to Frank, almost not letting Frank in.
Thankfully, the preview also confirms that Joel and Ellie makes it through as they meet Bill and Frank. However, they might not be getting the help that they need as it is seen that they left and Bill could regret that decision in a scene where he tells Frank to call Joel.
Bill and Frank seem to be known allies of Tess and while Joel is reluctant that they would help Ellie, Tess tells Joel to convince the two. Tess could have known them from her past or could have ended up with Bill and Frank some years ago.
Speaking of Tess, may she rest in peace, her death scene steals the show with the gruesome kiss of death from an infected and similar to the game, her demise plays a huge part in Joel and Ellie's journey to the west.
In the game, while the location is the same, and the gist of Tess' dialogue is the same, Tess had a different death. There, she was bitten, but she didn't die because an infected gave her the kiss of death, she died in the hands of FEDRA soldiers. She didn't kill a whole horde of infected in the game, too.
Craig Mazin explains why they changed the death of Tess in the series in HBO's The Last of Us podcast, he said, “Why would FEDRA even be here? What are they doing? There’s nothing there for them to police, really. It didn’t make much sense to me to have FEDRA all the way out there.”
Mazin added, “We wanted a chance to show a different result of being infected, which was not one of mere violence or horror, but rather a sick kind of community. Now, at the end, we had an opportunity to show how connected they were.”
That being said, Tess' death is inevitable and has always been part of the narrative. Everyone just didn't expect it to be this soon and that gruesome. Her sacrifice means a lot to Joel, the fuel for him to continue with the mission bestowed on them.
Tess' dying words, "Save who you can save," surely left a huge hole on everyone's hearts because even in real life, it's applicable.
There's also the appearance of Ibu Ratna in the first minutes if The Last of Us Episode 2. She is a mycologist who knows a ton about what everyone is dealing with. To her horror, the only thing she could advise them to do is to bomb the place and everyone in it. Her statement is complemented by that of Dr. Neumann's in the first episode.
Where to Watch The Last of Us Episode 3?
The Last of Us is exclusively releasing on HBO and HBO Max where one can get a roster of the shows of the streaming platform for a plan starting at $9.99 per month to $15.99 per month following the price hike and depending on the inclusions of the plan whether it has advertisements or not.
When is the Release Date and Time of The Last of Us Episode 3?
The Last of Us Episode 3 is slated for release on HBO and HBO Max on January 22, 2023 at 9 PM EST/ 6 PM PT. Subtitles will also be available with the episode release.
The Last of Us Episode 3 is expected to have 1 hour and 16 minutes where Joel and Ellie are on their way to Bill and Frank.
The Last of Us Episode 3 Countdown
The Last of Us Episode 3 Countdown
Find out more about The Last of Us Episode 3 here on EpicStream!
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