The Last of Us season 2, episode 4 vs. the game: What changed and what didn’t

With episode 4 of The Last of Us season 2 now behind us, we’ve officially crossed the halfway mark. And if it wasn’t clear already, this season isn’t shy about taking big swings with its adaptation. With the adaptation comes plenty of changes and tweaks, and HBO’s The Last of Us is no stranger to that.

The show retains much from the already emotionally driven, narrative-heavy game, but just as much seems to have changed. From its structure to its pacing, the show is diverging meaningfully from the game, and whether it’s the early introduction of the Seraphites and Isaac or how it shuffles Ellie and Dina’s moments, it’s clear HBO is charting its own path through Seattle.

Major spoilers for HBO's The Last of Us Season 2, episode 4, and The Last of Us Part II.

Isaac’s introduction is way earlier in the show

The threat has a face

Isaac Dixon, the leader of the WLF, is shown rather early in the show, coinciding with Ellie’s first day in Seattle itself. We see Dixon when he was a commander in the fascist FEDRA, betraying his team and leaving them for dead as he joins the Washington Liberation Front. In fact, we see even more of Jeffrey Wright’s fantastic Isaac when he holds a Seraphite captive, torturing them for information about the “next attack” on the WLF.

In the game, players didn’t see Isaac until the end of Abby’s first day, halfway through the game. Abby and Manny approach Isaac to talk about Owen, while their leader reveals his plans for the Seraphites. Watching Isaac on screen this early was a welcome change, as it presents and cements the ever-looming threat of the WLF and its ruthless leader in the streets where Ellie and Dina walk. If anything, Naughty Dog has always known how to set the stakes.

Valiant Music Store

Take on me

Early in the show, Ellie and Dina enter an abandoned music shop after deciding to wait for nightfall to approach the WLF TV tower. As Dina checks out the drum set in the store, Ellie moves upstairs to find a guitar, uncovering it to then sing a soft and beautiful rendition of A-ha’s Take on Me. Dina sits down to listen, her growing infatuation for Ellie apparent in her eyes as she tears up listening to her.

This sequence, one of the most memorable optional missions I’ve ever played, has been taken almost shot-for-shot from the game, right down to the room being sunlit behind Ellie as Dina sits down to listen to her. The only difference here is the omission of Ellie's first gentle playing and singing of Pearl Jam’s Future Days. However, that decision makes sense since Pedro Pascal’s Joel didn’t sing it at the opening of the show, either.

Ellie’s immunity reveal is vastly different

Secrets begin to come out

As Ellie and Dina struggle to get past a revolving gate in the subway station, Ellie takes what would’ve been a certain bite for Dina, lunging her arm forward to let a zombie bite her instead. Dina is then wary of Ellie, internally debating whether to shoot her, and pointing a gun at her as the duo gets to the theater. This is where Ellie, with no other option, finally reveals her immunity to Dina. She even attempts to prove it, stating that she will sleep in front of Dina and still wake up human.

In the game, however, things are rather different. From the very first season, the HBO show decided not to have spores — an airborne form of the virus that immediately infects anyone who breathes them — in the TV adaptation. As Ellie and Dina escape a horde of zombies, a skirmish with a rogue zombie leads to Ellie’s mask being broken while in a room full of spores, prompting Dina to try to take her own mask off to share with Ellie.

This is where Ellie stops Dina, telling her she’s immune. In the Sony PlayStation version of the game, Dina quickly believes Ellie, with just a couple of follow-up questions, before submitting to Ellie’s revelation.

Dina’s pregnancy prompted a very different response in Ellie

The show changed Ellie’s reaction to Dina’s secret

In the theater, with Ellie’s secret about her immunity now finally out, Dina chooses to share one of her own, revealing that she is pregnant. The near-death experience, paired with this impromptu sharing of close secrets, results in both Ellie and Dina embracing each other and coming closer, cementing their relationship. As beautiful and poignant as this was in the show, things went down a lot differently when Ellie learned that Dina is with child.

In The Last of Us Part II — one of the finest PlayStation exclusive games — when Dina tells Ellie she’s pregnant, Ellie’s knee-jerk reaction is one of anger and confusion. She wonders out loud what the two are supposed to do, saying they could have turned back to Jackson if Dina had told her earlier. However, the worst was yet to come, and Ellie called Dina a burden before going away to secure the theater.

Although Ellie’s reaction to the news in the game has always made more thematic sense, it was good to see her take the news in stride, going so far as to picture a family with Jesse and Dina.

Dina’s decision to go with Ellie to find Nora

You go, I go

Towards the end of the episode, Ellie and Dina hear the name “Nora” uttered, listening in on a walkie-talkie that they would find her at Lakehill Hospital. This is where the two rush out to see Seattle turned into a war zone, with multiple explosions happening around the Lakehill building in the distance. With the newfound revelation of Dina’s pregnancy, Ellie offers to let Dina stay back while she goes it alone, but Dina refuses, choosing to go together.

However, things were a lot different for the duo in the game. Firstly, Ellie went to find Tommy, who they knew would be in Seattle, since he had already left Jackson a day before Ellie and Dina’s departure. With Nora now being the force that drives Ellie to Lakehill hospital, we still don’t have any confirmation about whether Tommy is even in Seattle.

Moreover, Dina decides to stay back in the game, letting Ellie travel alone to Hillcrest, where Tommy was reportedly seen by the WLF. The pacing seems a bit off, but with a multi-season arc planned ahead, the show is definitely still finding its footing. After all, that's what comes with the package when the source game itself is flawed in its pacing.

What’s going to happen next?

By episode 4, The Last of Us season 2 is proving it doesn’t just want to mirror the game — it wants to reimagine it. While many moments are lovingly recreated, the changes add tension, surprise, and emotional nuance even for longtime fans.

Whether you love or question the decisions, there’s no denying the show is crafting something with its own pulse. And as we inch closer to the end, the only certainty is that nothing is sacred, and everything is up for reinterpretation.