The Last of Us season 2, episode 5: The biggest changes between the HBO show and the PlayStation game

The Last of Us season 2 is hurtling towards its finale now as Ellie and Dina become even more embedded in the chaos of Seattle. So far, the series has embraced much of the dark storyline of The Last of Us Part 2 game, but has added its fair share of new details too. By both playing with the chronology of the timeline as well as tweaking key moments, diehard fans of the Naughty Dog game will be able to spot a number of changes.

The latest episode is no different, playing with some key parts of the story, including introducing a new element of the infection, switching up flashbacks, and bringing in some new characters. For the finer details on these, as well as the sections that stay true to the source material, read on for our complete guide to the biggest changes between the HBO show and the PlayStation game below.

It goes without saying though that we'll be getting into big spoilers for both The Last of Us season 2 episode 3 below as well as the corresponding events of the game to this point. So make sure you're familiar with both before reading on.

The hospital sequence is all new

While the hospital does feature in the games, there's a whole new sequence at the beginning of the episode to introduce a new method of infection in the show. This sees Leon's mother detailing how they discovered that the Cordyceps infection is now able to be transmitted via the air.

She explains to one of the WLF members that her son and his crew had been exploring the basement levels of the hospital before they started choking on spores. "He said it's in the air," she explains before detailing how they closed off the area and left them to succumb to the infection. Yikes.

In both The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2, spores have always been a key part of the narrative. Whenever anyone but Ellie descends into a heavily infected zone, they put on a mask to make sure they don't get exposed. However, this is the first time it's been introduced in the adaptation.

Dina and Ellie hole up at the old theater

This sequence is all pretty similar to the game as Ellie and Dina try to work out where the WLF are and how they can find them. In the meantime, Ellie explores and goes and plays guitar on the stage. However, in Part 2, Dina doesn't go with her to the hospital as she does in the show. This is because she's really suffering with pregnancy sickness at this point. Another small tweak is that they don't go in search of Abby's crew but instead Ellie is trying to find Tommy who is already in Seattle.

Dina's backstory is deepened

While Dina in the game does reveal a little about the first man she killed to Ellie, the show deepens her backstory beyond this. When the pair are walking through Seattle, Dina reveals that he was a raider who killed her mom and sister when she was out playing. At just eight years old, she returned home and shot him dead.

Jesse's return is different

In the show, Ellie and Dina make it to the hospital through the building which is actually full of Stalkers. Things go south really quickly and they don't make it beyond the warehouse before Jesse comes and saves them. After this, the three of them escape and run towards the woods where they encounter the Seraphites again and see how they kill. Dina gets shot in the leg and her and Jesse go back and this is when Ellie heads to the hospital.

This plays out quite a bit differently in the game. Ellie is on her own at this point and on her journey she initially has more issues with Wolves than the Infected as she makes her way through Seattle. Jesse does still save her, but from WLF, and then they go back to the building instead where Dina is. It's only after this that Ellie then goes back out again where she ends up in the woods and she sees the Seraphites. Instead of Dina, Ellie is the one shot by an arrow.

Nora's fate is almost as grisly

In both the show and the game, Ellie finds Nora in the hospital as she taunts her about Joel's death before running deeper into the lower levels of the building. "The little bitch got what he deserved," Nora says of Joel in a piece of dialogue pulled directly from Part 2.

The only real difference between the sequences is that Ellie finds herself having to deal with a whole lot more Infected before she finds Nora choking on spores. One thing that stays consistent though is Ellie beating and torturing Nora for Abby's location, embracing her desire to do anything for revenge.

No flashbacks

The episode ends with a small flashback of Joel and Ellie, but by this point in the game, we've had quite a few flashbacks already. One of the first we get is Ellie and Joel at the museum and there's also a particularly poignant one between Ellie and Joel when they go on their first patrol. It's not clear if these have been cut or are being held for later on in the show.

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.