The Last of Us season 2, episode 3: The biggest changes between the HBO show and the PlayStation game

We're fully into the swing of The Last of Us season 2 now as Ellie's story continues in the wake of Joel's death. The third episode focuses on the fallout of that horrific loss and the attack on Jackson as Ellie, Tommy, Dina, and Jesse try to pick up the pieces. So far, the heartbreaking show has played pretty fast and loose with the original game's chronology in season 2, and it seems like episode 3 continues along that route.

Below, we take a deep dive into both the bigger changes and the smaller tweaks that the HBO adaptation has made. It probably goes without saying here but because we'll be looking at both the TV show and the game at the same time, this article will feature major spoilers from both. So unless you don't mind not knowing the finer details of what is to come, we'd recommend you being up to speed on both.

Tommy's goodbye is different

One of the major changes made in the previous episode was that Tommy was not the one to join Joel on the ill-fated patrol out of Jackson. Instead, he stayed put and had to deal with an invasion of infected in the town, meaning that he was not present at Joel's horrific death. We do get to see a goodbye between the characters though.

Episode 3 opens with Tommy cleaning Joel's body as the town is still in flames around them. He tells his brother simply, "Give Sarah my love," referring to Joel's late daughter who he is now reunited with in death. It's a poignant farewell that is completely unique to the TV show.

Ellie gets longer to recover

Episode 3 begins with Ellie immediately in the aftermath of Joel's death, dealing with the trauma of what she's just witnessed. The show then jumps forward three months to show her at the end of her recovery in hospital. Here, she has a check over with one of the doctors before meeting with town therapist – and exclusive show character – Gail.

Meanwhile in the games, there is no indication of a time jump between Joel's death and Ellie dealing with the aftermath. In fact, it seems to continue almost straight on because Ellie has a black eye and is shown speaking to Tommy immediately after about wanting to find and kill Abby.

Ellie's last moment with Joel

Now this may not be a major change between the games and the shows and could just be the showrunners playing around with the chronology. In Ellie's conversation with Gail, she tells her that her last moment with Joel was the confrontation at the dance. The games reveal later on that there was another moment between these characters before Joel's death, but it's not yet clear if this will make it into the show.

Joel's house and final resting place

Most of the scene that takes place at Joel's house is very similar to the games as Ellie walks around and looks at his things. The similarities are even down to her looking inside the red box and seeing his watch and his gun. However, there are some small tweaks, including that in the game, Joel's grave is actually in town limits so Ellie can go visit it.

Likewise, unlike in the show, Dina is already with her at this point and when she's waiting downstairs, she's met by Maria. In the games, Tommy has already skipped town in order to try and find the WLF and Joel's killers. Maria then is the one who helps Dina and Ellie to go and try to find Tommy and bring him home.

The whole council storyline is new

As part of the adaptation's dedication to expanding beyond the game, they've really built out Jackson more. One of the big tweaks is making it into more of a self-contained town with a council and more members of the community. In the show, we see Ellie and Dina go to the council to try and get support to bring a patrol to Seattle to find Joel's killers. This is all completely new for the series and doesn't appear in the game.

The Seraphites arrive earlier

For anyone familiar with The Last of Us Part 2, you will know that the Seraphites play a big role in the narrative of the second game. However, we get our first look at them a lot earlier in The Last of Us season 2. In a sequence in this episode, we see them walking through the woods outside of Seattle where they mention "the prophet". Dina and Ellie later come across them dead.

Ellie and Dina's relationship moves slower

Ellie and Dina's relationship timeline is changed up a bit from the games, thanks in part to the decision in episode two to get Joel to go on patrol with Dina rather than Tommy. This means that Ellie and Dina haven't slept together by this point, like they have in the game.

Their earlier heart to heart about their first kiss – which we see when they're on patrol in Part 2 – actually takes place in this episode of the show when they're spending the night together in the tent. The actual content of the conversation is very similar though.

The Last of Us season 2 is airing weekly. For more, check out our guide to The Last of Us season 2 release schedule and read our The Last of Us season 2 review.