Warning: This post includes spoilers for The Last of Us episode 5.The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann expose they discussed letting a character who carries out in the video game reside in the program. In The Last of Us episode 5, entitled “Endure and Survive,” Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) leave the city with Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson). Like in the initial computer game, Sam is bitten on the leg after a run-in with a contaminated and turns the next day, which triggers Henry to eliminate him and devote suicide.


Now, on the most recent episode of The Last of Us Podcast, Mazin discusses that he had practically let Henry reside in The Last of Us episode 5, even after eliminating Sam by his own hands.

Reflecting how ruthless of a minute it remains in the video game, Mazin and Druckmann remember their long discussions on how to approach this turning point in the series while likewise exposing that Henry practically resided in the video game. Check out what they stated on the matter (by means of Winter is Coming), below:

Mazin: “I was really nervous about this ending. In the game, it was so shocking and so brutal. But I also knew, like… I remember the screen goes black, and then we move ahead, and it’s a different season. And I go [deep inhale], and I’m just breathing, but I’m watching [Joel and Ellie] in a different moment, a different time and place, and then I can keep kind of going. But we don’t let you keep going, we know we have to stop this episode. And so the question is, ‘Should Henry kill himself or not?”

Druckmann: “We had a lot of long conversations. I don’t know if we should get into the alternatives because people might get mad at us that there were alternatives. But… it’s almost an identical process to what we went through in the game, because in the game, initially, Henry didn’t die. But again, it’s like if you’re trying to reflect the worst possible outcome for a parent, I felt like we had to take it all the way to show, like, then you have nothing left. There’s nothing left.”


How Henry Surviving Episode 5 Would’ve Changed The Last of Us

Henry talking to Joel about the plan in The Last of Us

As Mazin and Druckmann describe, dealing with Henry’s suicide in The Last of Us was a precarious circumstance for both the program and the initial video game. In the video game, the character’s death is a turning point for Joel and Ellie, who initially connected themselves to Sam and Henry up until things get worse. While players do not see the after-effects of their deaths head-on, as compared to the series, which sees Joel and Ellie digging their tombs, it still is a crucial minute that even more establishes their character arcs– particularly near completion where Joel is tortured by compromising Ellie to the Fireflies for the higher good of human society or letting her live.

Letting Henry reside in the program would’ve definitely been an unexpected twist, however it’s one that might have likewise pushed away audiences who have actually regularly applauded the series for remaining faithful to the initial video game’s primary story while broadening on aspects just quickly discussed. The reveal does broaden more on Henry and Sam’s arcs by providing a flashback series that causes their encounter with Joel and Ellie at the start of episode 5.

However, it does not divert excessive from what happens in the video game, and it becomes part of the reason that the program is a hit amongst critics and fans of the initial source product. While both The Last of Us computer game have actually had their reasonable share of criticisms, letting Henry make it through would’ve obstructed Joel and Ellie’s character advancement while likewise dissatisfying fans of the video game while doing so. The effect is much more psychological when the following scenes reveal Joel and Ellie burying them prior to proceeding to discover Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Most modifications from the initial video game have actually been an enhancement for HBO’s adjustment, however when it comes to The Last of Us episode 5, adhering to the video game’s story was plainly the best option.

Source: The Last of Us Podcast