The Last Of Us Episode 4 Ending Explained

Warning! This article contains spoilers for both The Last of Us episode 4 and the original game.The Last of Us episode 4’s ending provides the biggest cliffhanger since the foreboding “Never Let Me Down Again“ rang out over the premiere’s final shots, with a lot of big questions for the show going forward. The Last of Us episode 4 began adapting an iconic section of the game in which Joel and Ellie come into conflict with the ruthless Hunters. In the original game, the Hunters are found in Pittsburgh, with The Last of Us episode 4 opting to change this to Kansas City.

While the location has been altered slightly, much of the story setup remains the same. From the ambush in which a group of Hunters damages Joel and Ellie’s truck to the promise of some other Hunter enemies providing potential allies for the central duo, The Last of Us episode 4 ramps up the tension after the amazing The Last of Us episode 3’s slower, love-centric outing. With that being said, here is everything explained about The Last of Us episode 4, and its teasing ending.

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Who Snuck Up On Joel & Ellie?

In the episode’s last shot, Joel is suddenly awoken by a panicked Ellie after two intruders invade their hideout. This begs the question of who the intruders were in The Last of Us episode 4’s ending. Throughout the episode, the Hunters are shown looking for two men named Henry and Sam, the same people featured in the ending scene. Henry and Sam – played by Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard, respectively – are two characters from the original game like Bill and Frank from The Last of Us episode 3, who come into contact with the Hunters.

One thing that is evident about The Last of Us episode 4 is that Henry and Sam’s story has been changed somewhat. In The Last of Us game, Henry and Sam are simply part of a traveling group that enters Pittsburgh for supplies. Their group is then attacked by the Hunters with Henry and Sam being the only survivors. In The Last of Us episode 4, however, Henry and Sam’s story seems to be changed – which will undoubtedly be explored in episode 5 – and tied directly to the Hunters and their motivations.

The Last Of Us Episode 4’s Hunters Explained: Motivations & History

A new faction introduced in HBO’s The Last of Us episode 4 is the aforementioned Hunters, whose story has also been developed more than the original game allowed for. In The Last of Us game, the Hunters were aptly named for their tendency to attack anyone who entered their territory and steal their supplies with little to no diplomacy. In The Last of Us episode 4, their history is similar in that they were residents of the Kansas City QZ (Pittsburgh in the game). They then formed a revolutionist group who grew tired of FEDRA’s militaristic ways and overthrew the government.

There are many hints to this throughout the episode, such as the lack of FEDRA soldiers and the fact that Kathleen – the Hunters’ leader – is using FEDRA lockups to the Hunters’ advantage. The inclusion of Kathleen allows the faction to have much more depth than was provided in the original game. Kathleen – played by Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey – is shown in The Last of Us episode 4 as desperate, on the warpath against a group of people who have wronged her. She is looking for specific people – Sam and Henry included – who were responsible for the deaths of some revolutionaries after turning them in to FEDRA.

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One thing that stands out about Kathleen in The Last of Us episode 4 is that she holds an extra grudge against Henry. This is revealed to be because Henry was the one who sold her brother out to FEDRA, which resulted in the latter being beaten to death by the military organization. This is why the Hunters are also so keen to find Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as Kathleen believes they are allies of Henry from outside the city.

What Is Beneath The Cracked Basement In Last Of Us Episode 4?

Another mysterious sequence in The Last of Us episode 4 comes shortly after Kathleen and Perry, her second-in-command, find one of Henry and Sam’s hideouts. Perry leads Kathleen into a basement with a cracked floor, which has something big moving beneath it. This greatly panics Kathleen and Perry, after which the latter asks when they should tell the others. This hints that these two at least know what lies under the basement, something that could pay off some previous The Last of Us hints and a shot from the trailers.

A Bloater likely lies beneath the basement. In the original game, Bloaters are infected that have lived with the Cordyceps parasite for over two decades. Bloaters have hardened fungal plates all over their body, much like the Clickers of The Last of Us episode 2 were shown to have on their heads. In the Pittsburgh section of the game, a Bloater is found beneath a hotel which hints that this is what lies beneath the basement in The Last of Us episode 4. The trailer shot also shows a Bloater emerging from underground, again providing evidence that a Bloater will be faced in The Last of Us episode 5.

Joel & Ellie’s Final Scene Shows Their Bond Growing

An important scene in The Last of Us episode 4’s ending comes just before the final shot of Henry and Sam. In the scene, Joel and Ellie settle to sleep when their first true bonding moment is shown. Joel becomes more inquisitive, asking Ellie about her past after Ellie recently stated that the Hunter she shot is not the first person she has killed. This contradicts one of Joel’s rules from The Last of Us episode 3’s ending stating that neither should mention their respective histories.

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After this, Ellie tells Joel one of the jokes from her book of puns which provides the first true moment of happiness Joel has exhibited since his scenes with Sarah in The Last of Us episode 1’s opening. Joel openly laughs at the joke after attempting to hide it and masks it by saying he is losing his mind. The scene fades to black with Joel and Ellie laughing with one another, beginning the setup of the bond that will continue growing in The Last of Us’ coming episodes.

Why Didn’t Joel Hear Henry & Sam?

One of the questions raised by episode 4’s ending is why Joel did not hear The Last of Us‘ Henry and Sam sneak in after taking precautions to avoid this. This is answered in a subtle way by Ellie, who explains earlier in the scene that Joel’s hearing is not as good on his right side as a result of years of shooting. In an obvious detail that would have been surprisingly easy to miss by either Pascal or the director, Joel is laying with his damaged right ear to the room when Henry and Sam sneak in, leading to the cliffhanger of The Last of Us episode 4.

New episodes of The Last of Us release every Sunday on HBO.

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