Warning: spoilers ahead for The Last of Us episode 8….
During The Last of Us, it becomes clear that heroine Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is terrified of being left alone.
The dread is realised in episode 8 of the TV programme, when she is kidnapped by the terrifying monster David (Scott Shepherd) just as Joel (Pedro Pascal) is about to die.
While there are infected wandering the Earth, the video game and its TV adaptation show that humans are still to be feared in this post-apocalyptic world, especially in villages like David’s, where they physically devour other people.
The cannibals profess to be a civilised community, but David’s true character gradually reveals itself after Ellie is abducted, when she realises the reality behind the food patterns and that their leader is a sadistic monster.
Has Ellie saved Joel’s life? They’re not in the all-clear yet
Ellie faced the danger of losing her friend and father figure Joel in episode seven after he was stabbed in the stomach by an intruder.
As he was bleeding, she ultimately found a needle and thread and stitched up his wound.
By episode eight, they’re still not out of the woods, as Joel’s wound has grown extremely infected and he’s in desperate need of treatment.
While searching for deer in the wilderness, Ellie encounters a man named David and his associate James (Troy Baker, who portrayed Joel in the computer game), and she manages to make a bargain for medication in return for some deer while holding them at gunpoint.
Ellie meets David – a preacher with a horrifying secret up his sleeve
As Ellie threatens David’s life, he speaks gently to her, stating that he hails from a huge society that, while starving, has enough to spare for another member.
David progressively reveals that he has some past knowledge of Ellie, since he is aware that she is with a guy who killed one of their own after telling his narrative, revealing that he became a preacher and a leader following the Cordyceps epidemic.
Ellie rushes back to Joel after she obtains the promised medication, injecting him with the much-needed treatment… Nevertheless, David’s squad is looking for them and seeking vengeance for Joel’s death.
Ellie attempts to lead the gang away from Joel and is apprehended, ending up in a cell at the resort where David’s group is staying.
Once inside, she notices a mutilated ear on the ground… Recognizing that David’s tribe is cannibalistic, even if the bulk of them are unaware of the source of the flesh they eat at their meals.
As David makes a move on her, she breaks his finger before he threatens to hack her up into small bits, she realises that he is not only a cannibal, but also a paedophile.
Joel goes on a rampage while Ellie fights for her life
Back where Ellie left Joel, he’s regaining some of his strength when he realises his surrogate daughter has been stolen away from him.
Joel murders one of David’s men and catches two more, torturing them to obtain information about Ellie’s location before murdering them as well.
He rushes to the resort, passing by the abattoir where dismembered human carcasses are being strung up, while inside, Ellie is about to be butchered for the group’s next meal.
Ellie is dragged to the table by David and James in an effort to murder her with their blade, but she stops them in their tracks when she informs them she’s sick and shows them her bitten arm to prove it.
David gets his just desserts after horrifying true nature is revealed
Stalling David and James by informing them she’s infected allows Ellie just enough time to flee, taking the knife David had banged into the table next to her and stabbing James through the neck.
She runs out of the room as David tries to shoot her, and the two have a last brawl in the dining room, where the teenager starts a fire.
In genuinely terrible moments, David teases Ellie while searching for her, suggesting that she needs a ‘father’.
As she attacks David with a knife she found in the kitchen, he horrifyingly climbs on top of her, revealing his real aggressive and paedophilic nature.
Ellie frantically grabs the huge knife that had fallen to the ground, stabbing David before cutting at him till he dies.
When she walks outside, she is taken aback when Joel approaches her from behind, before they embrace and he delivers the words that cement Ellie’s status as a daughter figure to him: ‘Don’t worry, darling daughter, I’ve got you.’
After previously referring to his own daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) as “baby girl,” there is just one episode left in The Last of Us’ first season as Joel and Ellie continue their search for the Fireflies.
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW with new episodes released on Mondays.
Source My Celebrity Life.