You’ve seen the side-by-side comparisons. On one side, the pixelated, wide-eyed girl from 2013 who just wanted to see a giraffe. On the other, Bella Ramsey’s version—a jagged, foul-mouthed survivalist who seems to wear the weight of the world like a lead vest. Now that we’ve moved deep into the second season, it’s clear that Ellie the Last of Us TV show isn’t just a carbon copy of the game. She’s something much more polarizing.
Honestly, the "is she too different?" debate is getting old. But it matters because the show is making very specific choices about who Ellie Williams actually is.
The Immunity That Felt Like a Curse
In the first season, Ellie was a cargo package. That's how Joel saw her, anyway. We saw her birth—a brutal scene featuring Ashley Johnson (the original game Ellie) as her mother, Anna—which gave us the "science" behind her immunity. A bite during birth meant she grew up with a trace amount of Cordyceps, making the fungus think she's already infected. Basically, she’s a walking, breathing biological loophole.
But by the time we hit the events of the second season in 2029, that immunity isn't a badge of hope anymore. It's a source of massive resentment. She knows Joel lied at the Salt Lake City hospital. She knows she didn't get to "be the cure." For Ellie, her life only had value if it ended on that operating table. Living in Jackson, Wyoming, should be a dream, but for her, it’s a constant reminder of a purpose she thinks was stolen from her.
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Ellie The Last Of Us TV Show: A Version of Grief That Isn't Pretty
One thing that really threw fans for a loop in the recent episodes is how Ellie handles the time skip. We’re five years older now. The show’s version of Ellie is 19, and she’s not the pun-cracking kid from the woods anymore. She’s colder. Some people call it "bad writing," but if you look closer, it’s actually a pretty nuanced depiction of suppressed trauma.
In the games, Ellie’s rage is immediate. It’s loud. In the show, Bella Ramsey plays her with this sort of simmering, numb quality. She’s trying to have a normal life with Dina—played with incredible chemistry by Isabela Merced—but you can tell she’s just performing "normalcy." When the violence finally breaks out, it’s not heroic. It’s messy.
Why the Casting Backlash Still Lingers
It’s 2026, and people are still arguing about Bella Ramsey’s face. It’s ridiculous, really. There was this whole "manosphere" blow-up because she doesn't look like the "conventionally attractive" digital model from the PS4 era. But here’s the thing: showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann weren't looking for a twin. They were looking for someone who could handle the "impish" and "obnoxious" edges of a kid raised in a FEDRA military school.
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- The Voice: She doesn't sound like Ashley Johnson. She sounds like a kid from the QZ.
- The Build: People complained she didn't look "menacing" enough for the revenge arc, but that's exactly the point. Ellie is a 110-pound girl taking on seasoned soldiers. She wins through desperation and brutality, not because she’s a superhero.
- The Identity: Ramsey, who is non-binary, brings an authenticity to Ellie’s queerness that feels less like a "plot point" and more like a core part of her survival.
The Seattle Shift: More Than Just Revenge
As the show tracks Ellie’s journey to Seattle to find Abby and the WLF (Washington Liberation Front), the violence is becoming harder to watch. There’s a specific scene where she kills Nora in a basement filled with spores. In the game, you press a button and it’s over. In the show, the camera lingers on Ellie’s face. You see the light go out of her eyes.
She isn't just killing "bad guys." She’s killing the part of herself that Joel tried to save.
Some critics, like those at Eurogamer, have noted that the TV version of Ellie seems to have a "disturbing attraction" to violence that the game version didn't have until much later. Remember in Season 1 when she watched Joel beat that FEDRA guard to death? She didn't look away. She looked fascinated. That’s a seed the show planted early, suggesting that Ellie was always destined to become the "cautionary tale" we're seeing now.
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Facts You Might Have Missed
If you’re just casual-watching, some of these details fly by pretty fast.
- The Tattoo: That moth on her arm isn't just for style. It covers the chemical burn she gave herself to hide her bite mark, symbolizing her need to stay hidden even in a "safe" place like Jackson.
- The Guitar: It’s her only remaining physical connection to Joel. The fact that she struggles to play certain notes because of her injuries is a literal manifestation of her broken relationship with him.
- The Age Gap: In the show's timeline, the jump from Season 1 to Season 2 is a full five years, making her a young adult forced to lead patrols and make life-or-death calls for the community.
What Actually Matters for the Rest of the Season
The biggest hurdle for Ellie the Last of Us TV show right now is whether the audience can stay on her side. We're seeing her choose revenge over her friends, over Dina, and over her own safety. It's supposed to be frustrating. If you find yourself wanting to yell at the screen because she's making a "stupid" choice, the show is actually doing its job. She is a grieving teenager with a savior complex and a switchblade. She was never going to make the "rational" move.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you want to get the most out of Ellie's arc this season, stop looking for the game version. Start looking for the parallels between her and the people she hates.
- Watch her hands: Bella Ramsey uses a lot of physical tells—shaking hands, gripping her knife too tight—to show anxiety that the dialogue doesn't cover.
- Listen to the silence: The show uses quiet moments in the woods or empty houses to show Ellie's isolation. Even when she's with Dina, she's often miles away mentally.
- Compare the "Joels": Notice how Ellie starts to adopt Joel’s mannerisms—the way he stands, the way he interrogates people. She’s becoming the person she’s mad at.
The next time an episode drops, pay attention to the scenes where she doesn't talk. That’s where the real character development is happening. Whether you love this version or miss the 2013 original, there's no denying that this Ellie is one of the most complex characters on television right now.
To get a better handle on the nuances of her transformation, go back and re-watch the "Left Behind" episode from Season 1. Contrast that version of Ellie—the one who just wanted to dance to "I Got You Babe"—with the one standing in the rain in Seattle. The tragedy isn't that she changed; it's that the world never gave her a choice.