The Last of Us season 2, episode 4: The biggest changes between the HBO show and the PlayStation game

Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last of Us season 2
(Image credit: HBO)

We're almost midway through The Last of Us season 2 - and we're not sure how much more our hearts can take.

Since The Last of Us season 2 is an adaptation of The Last of Us Part 2 video game, we know there's a whole lot more heartbreak to come - and given that the show has already been renewed for season 3 we know showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are just getting started.

Because adaptations are just that, the series differs quite a bit from the games at times, with key moments being altered to fit the narrative on screen. If you're curious as to what major events were changed in The Last of Us season 2 episode 4, we got you covered with a brief guide that compares and contrasts.

Warning: this article contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 4, as well as The Last of Us Part 2. If you haven't watched The Last of Us season 2 episode 4, turn back now. If you're all set, scroll on down to read more.

Isaac is introduced much earlier, and in a different way

The Last of Us season 2

(Image credit: HBO)

Episode 4 begins with a flashback to somewhere in Seattle, 20 years earlier, where a commanding officer betrays his fellow FEDRA soldiers by gassing them to death and joining a resistance movement known as the Washington Liberation Movement (WLF). This man is none other than Isaac Dixon, who goes on to become the leader of the WLF.

In The Last of Us Part 2, we meet Isaac when we're playing as Abby, at the end of Seattle Day One - around 9 hours into the game, after we've played through Ellie's perspective. Abby and Manny come upon him torturing a Seraphite in a disgusting, dimly lit bathroom for information, though we don't see said torture. Abby and Manny follow Isaac into an elevator, where he tells them it's time to wipe out the Seraphites - the main enemy of the WLF - once and for all.

Dina finds out Ellie is immune, but doesn't believe her right away

Isabela Merced as Dina in The Last of Us season 2

(Image credit: HBO)

In season 2 episode 4, Dina and Ellie are ambushed by a horde of infected in what appears be the ruins of a news station. While saving Dina's life, Ellie is bitten, and the two take shelter in a run-down theatre. After Ellie locks them in for safety, the camera pans to Dina, who is holding a gun while tears stream down her face. Ellie quickly realizes the bite, and tries to explain to Dina that she's immune. Dina doesn't believe her, and is still ready (though reluctant) to kill her. Ellie makes Dina a proposition: she's going to bandage her arm and go to sleep, while Dina keeps the gun on her and is free to shoot if Ellie turns. After some time passes and Ellie doesn't turn, she shows Dina her healing bite marks.

This scene goes down a bit differently in the game. After leaving the news station, Ellie and Dina make their way underground and end up in what looks to be a long-abandoned subway station. The two put on gas masks and forge ahead, and come upon not just another horde of infected - but spores. When an infected is killed in a dark, damp place, the host dies - but the fungi continue to grow until the body essentially becomes nothing more than a moss-covered skeleton - which poisons the air (though this is a bit different in the show itself). At some point, while saving Dina, Ellie whips off her broken gas mask and is completely and totally fine - telling Dina that she's immune. When the two make it back to the theatre, a confused Dina tells Ellie that she saw her breathe spores. Ellie reiterates that she's immune, explaining that she was bitten a long time ago and only Maria, Tommy, are the ones who knew. Dina recalls Ellie's chemical burn, where she tried to get rid of her permanent bite mark, and believes her.

Ellie reacts differently to Dina's pregnancy

Isabela Merced as Dina and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us season 2

(Image credit: HBO)

After Ellie reveals her healing bite marks, Dina reveals that she's pregnant. The two then kiss, share a passionate moment, and wake up the next morning to continue the conversation. Dina tells Ellie that she envisions a life together where they raise the baby together. Ellie touches her belly and asks her how far along she is, before jokingly saying, "I'm gonna be a dad."

In the game, however, Ellie doesn't have the same kind of response. After believing that Ellie is immune, Dina, through tears, tells her that she's pregnant. Ellie immediately responds with, "What are we supposed to do now?" and tells her that if she had known earlier, they could've turned back. Dina says that she doesn't want to be a burden, to which Ellie replies, "Well you're a burden now, aren't you?" and walks away. Sometime later, when Jesse finds them, she asks why Dina didn't tell him - but that's the most they talk about it until the last two hour so hours of the game.

Isaac tortures the Seraphite on screen

The Last of Us season 2

(Image credit: HBO)

Later in the episode, we see the aforementioned torture scene take place in real time. In the game, we see the bloody and bruised Seraphite and can infer what happened. In the show, however, we open with Isaac standing in a dirty kitchen and heating up a stove. He starts to tell a story about how, when he was younger, if he wanted to impress a woman he would cook for them. He says that he was good, good enough to use the proper tools, but didn't have the money for them and would go into an expensive cookware store just to stare at the very same pots and pans that are hanging up in the dirty kitchen. However, he always knew that he would own them, but just didn't think it would happen in this way, citing it as one of the "strange benefits of the apocalypse."

Eerily, Isaac explains that copper heats up very fast but doesn't stay hot for long - making it a less-than-ideal choice for interrogations. We then cut to a Seraphite, bloody and bruised, chained up on the floor who simply says, "She watches over us." "She" refers to the Prophet, the deceased woman who formed the Seraphites, and whom they still pray to. Isaac asks him where the cult plans on attacking next, but he refuses to say - and he brutally burns his flesh with the frying pan that he heated up on the stove. The torture lasts for several minutes before he, upon realizing the Seraphite will give up their whereabouts, gives up and shoots him dead.


The Last of Us airs on Sundays in the US on HBO and Max, before landing on Sky and NOW in the UK the following day. Ensure you don't miss an episode with our guide to The Last of Us season 2 release schedule.

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Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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