How Did Tess Die in 'The Last of Us?'
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RIP, smuggler queen.
The Last of Us series wasted no any time in moving along the events from the game. In The Last of Us Episode 2, Joel, Ellie and Tess make their way to the Capitol, but not all of them make it out alive.
Beware for The Last of Us spoilers ahead for both the game and the series.
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Tess, played by Anna Torv, ultimately sacrificed herself so Joel (Pedro Pascal) could get Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to safety and so her immunity could be further researched to hopefully find a cure for the cordyceps fungus infection.
However, the way it goes down in the show is a significant shift from The Last of Us video game.
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Related: Everything to Know About The Last of Us
How did Tess die in The Last Of Us?
In The Last of Us Episode 2, Tess dies when she gets bitten by an infected Clicker. She hides her injury from the team until they arrive at the Capitol, where she encourages Joel and Ellie to keep going. She stays behind and lies still, fumbling with a lighter to ignite a stash of gasoline.
While Tess is working to set off the blast and sacrifice herself for the cause—and for Joel and Ellie—a Clicker comes and kisses her, against her will, just as the explosion goes off.
HBO
Showrunner Craig Mazin explained to Variety that the "clicker kiss" happened for a few reasons.
"We were already talking about tendrils coming out and we were asking these philosophical questions," Mazin said. "'Why are infected people violent? If the point is to spread the fungus, why do they need to be violent?' We landed on that they don’t. They’re violent because we resist, but what if you don’t? What does it look like if you just stand perfectly still and let them do this to you?"
You can relive the gross moment here:
"Then we landed on this nightmare fuel," Mazin added. "It’s disturbing and it’s violative. I think it’s very primal in the way it invades your own body. To use an overused word, it’s triggering. It’s a remarkable combination of Neil’s direction, Anna Torv’s acting when there isn’t obviously anything there and our visual effects department doing this gorgeous work to make it all come together and feel real and terrible."
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How did Tess die in The Last Of Us game?
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In The Last of Us video game, Tess, Joel and Ellie arrive at the Capitol building to a slew of corpses of Fireflies. Tess reveals she was bitten an hour prior and urges Joel to take Ellie and keep going. FEDRA soldiers arrive Tess goes out in a firefight with FEDRA soldiers. In the game, we don't see her take on the soldiers, but we hear it as Joel and Ellie "keep pushing forward."
Tess took out two guards and bought Ellie and Joel time to make their way and keep moving. You can watch the scene from the game below.
Is Tess dead in The Last Of Us?
In a word: Yes. Though we'd have loved to see her stay longer than two episodes, Tess really is dead. We likely won't see her return except potentially in flashbacks.
