6 Video Game Easter Eggs/References In 'The Last Of Us' Season 1

The Last of Us, a TV adaptation of Naughty Dog's popular video game of the same, has just concluded it's first season. The series has proved a hit, easily hooking both new viewers (many looking a for a new post-apocalyptic series to sink their teeth into after the conclusion of The Walking Dead), and those who had come to the series as fans of the games.

The Last of Us season one has been praised for keeping the story and spirit of the series, while being unafraid to take detours from the source material in the interest of expanding on certain events and characters. Despite these few detours, the series contains plenty of Easter Eggs related to the games.

Here are some of the best game related Easter Eggs/References in The Last of Us season one.

1. Merle Dandridge reprises her role as Marlene

Initially best known for her work onstage and occasional television guest spots, actress Merle Dandridge stepped into the world of video games as the voice of Alyx Vance in the Half-Life series, before accepting the role of Marlene, leader of rebel group the Fireflies, in The Last of Us. The Last of Us was one of the first video games to make extensive use of Motion Capture technology. Dandridge performed voice and Motion Capture work for Marlene in both The Last of Us games.

Dandridge reprises her role as Marlene in The Last of Us television series. The decision was made to keep Dandridge in the role as she already bore a close resemblance to her video game counterpart, unlike the game's other actors, who either did not look like their character, or had aged out of their original role.

2. Shimmer

In both the video game and television incarnations of The Last of Us, at least part of Joel's reason for agreeing to transport Ellie for the Fireflies is to visit/track down his younger brother Tommy along the way. Joel eventually reunites with Tommy in Jackson, a rare settlement that is both thriving, while also completely independent of the militaristic FEDRA, the organisation running most of the other Quarantine Zones. In the first game, Jackson is just a brief pit-stop, during which a troubled Joel attempts to convince Tommy to take Ellie the rest of the way. By contrast, the TV series spends most of it's sixth episode, 'Kin', within the settlement.

The extended time spent in Jackson is likely due to build the settlement up for season two, which will adapt at least part of the second game, The Last of Us Part II. In that game, Jackson becomes a major hub location. Part of this set up comes in the scene in which Tommy's wife, Maria, gives Ellie a tour of this settlement. During this tour, Maria introduces Ellie to a Mother horse and her young foal, Shimmer.

In The Last of Us Part II, set four years after the first game, Shimmer is Ellie's personal horse.

3. The girl with the plait

In another scene in 'Kin', Ellie, while sharing a meal with Joel, Tommy, and Maria in Jackson's communal Dining Hall, spots a girl around her own age watching them. Ellie rather rudely dismisses the observer. Fans of the games took note of the girl's distinctive plaited hairstyle, and shortly after the episode aired, the show's creators confirmed fan suspicion that the character was a younger Dina.

Dina is a major character in The Last of Us Part II, as Ellie's friend, then major love interest.

4. Take on Me

A cover of A-Ha's 'Take on Me' was used in trailers for The Last of Us TV series. The song is also featured in the series' seventh episode, 'Left Behind', which draws heavily on the first game's DLC of the same name, detailing the events of Ellie's last night with her best friend/crush Riley, and the circumstances of her initial Cordyceps bite. The song first appears as an Easter Egg on one of Ellie's tapes, then as instrumental background music when Ellie and Riley ride the Mall's carousel.

The song is prominently featured in a memorable, albeit optional scene in The Last of Us Part II, in which Ellie plays the song on guitar for Dina after the pair break into an old Music Store.

This ties into another Easter Egg from the season finale, in which Joel muses about finding a guitar and teaching Ellie to play.

5. Does this guy sound familiar?

In both The Last of Us games, Joel's Motion Capture and voice work were performed by veteran voice actor and anime dub artist Troy Baker. The series' creators, Craig Maizin and Neil Druckman, insisted on including Baker in the TV show thanks to his important role in the origins of the franchise. Baker, who does not often work in live action mediums, expected, and would have been happy with, a small cameo.

Instead, he was pleasantly surprised to land a prominent guest role. In season one's penultimate episode, 'When We Are In Need', Baker played James, the right hand man of creepy Cannibal cult-leader David.

6. Ellie gives birth to Ellie

The role of Ellie in The Last of Us Games was performed by former child star Ashley Johnson. In recent years, Johnson has beome a Jack-of-All-Trades in the Entertainment world, performing various voice and live-action roles. As with Troy Baker, Maizin and Druckman were eager to honour Johnson in the TV series, and found a surprisingly perfect role for her: That of Anna, Ellie's Mother, who births Ellie in dramatic circumstances in the season finale's opening flashback.

Druckman, who also worked on the games, had planned to include Anna's story as a DLC, but these plans fell through. Upon reading Druckman's work, co-creator Maizin was eager to include the tale in the series.

After being cast as Anna, Ashley Johnson studied the mannerisms of Bella Ramsey, the live-action Ellie, so as to more believably portray the character's Mother. While some fans were initially skeptical of Ramsey's casting, Johnson has been supportive of her successor from the start. The actress has even gone so far as to say she is glad an earlier attempt to adapt The Last of Us as a movie fell through, as if the universe had just been waiting until Ramsey, who perfectly embodies Ellie, was old enough for the role.

We can't wait to see how this series moves forward.