5 biggest changes from the game in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 rewrites the rules of revenge with a quieter kind of violence. Gone is the hunt for Tommy. Gone are the spores. And gone too is the weight of “Future Days.” In their place, we get a haunting subway chase, a softer pregnancy reveal, and a new song echoing off the walls of an empty music shop.

Rather than follow the game beat by beat, the episode reshapes key moments into something more intimate, more urgent, and more emotionally exposed. These are not just cosmetic tweaks. They change how we see Ellie, how we feel about Dina, and how the journey through Seattle unfolds onscreen.

Here are the five biggest changes from the game in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 and why they matter.

1. No rescue, just revenge: Ellie and Dina aren’t looking for Tommy

In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie and Dina’s journey to Seattle begins with a search for Tommy. He leaves Jackson first, chasing Abby on his own, and they follow behind, worried and unsure. Along the way, they find signs of his passage, like radio updates, bloodied corpses, and the aftermath of interrogations that feel more familiar than they should. Revenge is brewing under the surface, but their main goal, at least early on, is to bring Tommy back.

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 removes that thread entirely. Tommy never leaves Jackson. Ellie and Dina aren’t tracking anyone. They sneak out without permission, driven by one thing only: Ellie’s desire to kill Abby. There are no breadcrumbs leading to a missing brother. There’s no call for help and no sense of duty. The show strips away the emotional ambiguity and replaces it with focused rage.

That change tightens the story but also sharpens the emotional stakes. Without Tommy in the picture, every decision Ellie makes belongs to her alone. There’s no obligation, no family mission, and no middle ground. Just two young women entering a war zone with nothing to lose and nothing to retrieve. The moment they step into Seattle, it’s already too late to turn back.

2. Darkness instead of decay: the subway scene changes everything

In the game, Ellie and Dina’s escape into the subway happens during the day. There’s natural light cutting through broken ceilings, long stretches of eerie silence, and a constant feeling of being watched. It’s a slow, dreadful descent. There’s time to get lost. Time to notice the spores floating in the air. Time for the panic to simmer. The tension comes from what you don’t see.

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 makes that descent fast and brutal. It’s nighttime now. The tunnels are darker, wetter, and alive with sound. The infected don’t sneak up on you. They crash through windows and chase you through swaying train cars. The spores are gone, so the fear has to come from somewhere else. Director Kate Herron leans into claustrophobia and chaos, turning the sequence into a full-blown nightmare.

This change isn’t just about visuals. It’s about pacing. The show doesn’t want the viewer to wander. It wants the panic to hit immediately. By making the subway a relentless assault rather than a slow burn, the scene shifts from atmospheric to visceral. It’s not dread. It’s survival. And that urgency redefines how Ellie and Dina move through this world.

3. No masks, no hiding: Ellie’s immunity reveal plays out differently

In the game, Ellie’s immunity is exposed when her mask breaks during the subway escape. Spores fill the air, and Dina watches in horror as Ellie breathes them in without flinching. It’s a moment that says everything without needing a word.

The cordyceps world is defined by spores, and seeing someone resist that threat is as shocking as it is powerful. For Dina, it’s the moment when trust and fear collide.

But in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4, spores don’t exist. That change has been part of the HBO adaptation since the first season, so the show had to find a new way to get to the same emotional beat. This time, the reveal happens through an act of protection.

Ellie throws herself in front of Dina to shield her and takes a bite to the arm. When Dina points a gun at her, panicking, Ellie rolls up her sleeve. There’s no mask to remove, no spores in the air. Just a scar, a bite mark, and the truth.

The effect is different, but not weaker. In fact, it might hit harder. There’s no ambiguity. No slow realization. Just raw fear and instant vulnerability. Ellie doesn’t hide it. She faces it. And the weight of that reveal lands entirely on her shoulders. For a show that trades in silence and tension, this moment speaks volumes.

4. Secrets traded for softness: Dina’s pregnancy reveal changes the tone

In The Last of Us Part II, Dina’s pregnancy is revealed under pressure. She gets sick during the escape and collapses at the theater. Ellie is worried, then furious. She demands an answer, and Dina finally admits the truth. The scene is raw and messy, full of frustration. Ellie’s reaction is sharp. The moment feels like another burden in an already impossible situation.

In The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4, that reveal unfolds in a completely different register. Dina is calm. She tells Ellie about the pregnancy after learning about Ellie’s immunity, not as a confession but as an offering. It’s not a complication. It’s a connection. Ellie doesn’t snap. She smiles. She jokes that she’s going to be a dad. Then they kiss, and then they fall into each other in the lobby of an abandoned theater.

It’s a moment of comfort in a show that rarely allows softness. The game treats the pregnancy as a wedge between them. The show uses it as a bridge. That choice shifts the tone of their entire relationship. Instead of bracing for fallout, we get to feel what it means to choose each other in the middle of chaos. There’s no guilt. Just closeness.

5. A new song for a new bond: Ellie doesn’t play “Future Days”

In the game, Ellie plays Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” at the theater. It’s a quiet moment, but a loaded one. The song is directly tied to Joel, who plays it for her for the first time in Part II of The Last of Us video game, and it represents all that she loses. It feels like Ellie is pursuing a ghost when she plays it again. The tune conveys melancholy, and there is more weight in the subsequent quiet.

In The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4, the scene happens earlier and the song is completely different. Ellie finds the guitar in a music shop and plays “Take On Me” by A-ha. It’s soft, hesitant, and just for Dina. The shift isn’t random. The season premiere was titled “Future Days,” anchoring that song firmly to Joel’s legacy. That emotional weight has already been established. What Ellie offers here is something lighter, something new.

This choice reframes the moment. It’s not about honoring the past. It’s about creating something separate from grief. “Take On Me” isn’t a song of mourning. It’s playful, nostalgic, and honest. And by placing it in a quiet, broken music store, the show gives Ellie and Dina their own soundtrack. One that belongs only to them.

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 and the art of adaptation: What these changes really mean

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 doesn’t try to outdo the game. It doesn’t need to. What it does instead is translate it, not line for line, but feeling for feeling. Every change in this episode comes down to perspective. Less about the mission, more about the people. Less about lore, more about the weight they carry in silence, in scars, in songs.

By shifting motivations, reimagining tension, and reframing intimacy, the episode redefines what this journey looks like on screen. It proves that adaptation isn’t about accuracy. It’s about honesty.

Ellie and Dina aren’t just walking through a different Seattle. They’re moving through a story that’s still rooted in the same grief, fear, and hope. It just speaks in a new language now.