The COMPLETE Last of Us Timeline Explained

The Complete Last of Us Timeline Explained

Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re checking our supplies and gas masks as we attempt to survive the events of The Last of Us, detailing what led to the end of the world and the events of the series. Beyond the fact that it most likely began in South America and quickly spread across the world through infected crops, overwhelming hospitals and emergency services, we know very little about the origins of the Cordyceps infection that started the events of The Last of Us. However, it is based on the real-life cordyceps fungi that takes over its host by infecting its brain, turning them into a zombie-like vehicle whose only purpose is to continue to spread the infection. Despite warnings of the fast moving contagion, little could be done to stop the spread and it soon crept its way through Mexico and Central America before reaching the United States. Our first encounter with the Cordyceps infection began on September 16th, 2013, in what would forever be known as “Outbreak Day”. After surprising her father Joel with a last minute birthday gift, Sarah is awoken in the middle of the night by her Uncle Tommy, calling desperately, trying to reach Joel before the line goes dead. Exploring the house, Sarah finds newspapers alluding to hospital admittance skyrocketing over 300% before eventually making her way downstairs to find her father Joel rushing into the house from the backyard in a panic. Just as Joel manages to grab his gun, their neighbor crashes through the back door, forcing Joel to shoot and kill him before he could get to Sarah. As the two run out the front door, they are greeted by Tommy, who managed to make his way to Joel’s. As the group escapes in Tommy’s car, Joel and Tommy try to understand what’s happening, with the two agreeing that the worst places hit were the densely populated cities so their best course of action is to get as far away as possible. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea and the group is trapped by large numbers of people also attempting to flee the outbreak and worse, the infected. Just as they find a way through, their vehicle is hit by a large truck, sending them flying and knocking them unconscious. Joel awakens and breaks himself and Sarah out of the car, but her leg is broken forcing Joel to carry her to safety. Witnessing an infected man attacking others, Joel gives his gun to Tommy, telling him to “keep them safe” as the group continues their attempt to flee the city. However, the infection is quickly spreading and more and more infected are attacking anything that moves, forcing Joel and Tommy to make their way through back alleys looking for a way out. Eventually, Joel, Sarah and Tommy are separated as Tommy stays behind to hold back the infected, allowing Joel and Sarah to escape. Just as the infected are about to pounce, a soldier guns them down before being ordered to contain the outbreak at all costs, turning his gun on Joel and Sarah. He opens fire, sending Joel and Sarah rolling down a ravine. Just as he’s about to shoot Joel, Tommy arrives, killing the soldier. Their relief is short-lived however as Sarah has been shot and is bleeding out. Joel holds her, pleading for her to hold on, but unfortunately Sarah quickly succumbs to her injuries and dies in Joel’s arms. From here, the game skips ahead 20 years, with news reports detailing the fall of civilization as those who are left alive attempt to survive in what remains of humanity. However, before we pick up once again with Joel, there are some other important events that occur during this time that we need to cover. As the news of the outbreak spread, some towns and communities were evacuated to quarantine zones before the infection completely took over. The military was quickly overrun by the infected, resorting to bombing highly populated areas in an attempt to stop not only the spread of the infection but also the infected from escaping. Despite their best efforts, the military and various other government agencies were unable to contain the outbreak, and by early 2014, the infection won and humanity became an endangered species as more than 60% of the world’s population was either infected or dead. The Federal Disaster Response Agency, or FEDRA, converted numerous large cities into quarantine zones with a strong military presence, and in many cases, enormous walls shielding its residents from the infection. FEDRA would also set out to rescue and round up civilians from smaller communities in order to slow the spread of the infection by cutting down on its food supply. Outside the Seattle city limits, FEDRA discovered a settlement in which a woman had managed to keep her entire community safe from the Cordyceps. Her devoted group of followers referred to her as “The Prophet” and she claimed to have been given visions about the end of the world from God and taught her disciples to lead a sin-free existence to survive the end of days. Her followers would come to call themselves the Seraphites or “Scars”, and stuck to her words and teachings as if they were gospel, worshipping their savior. A short time later, FEDRA ceased all rescue operations and declared martial law, with FEDRA becoming the de facto authority in quarantine zones. Naturally, opposition to this police state rose up in the form of the Fireflies, who fought to restore the original government and find a cure for the Cordyceps. With supplies already running low, the Fireflies inspired numerous other groups to fight back against FEDRA, eventually taking down and freeing numerous quarantine zones. Clashes between the groups led to even stricter crackdowns in quarantine zones such as Boston where Fireflies were publicly executed to deter any further resistance. Numerous other forms of resistance to FEDRA’s police state rose up such as the Hunters in Pittsburg and the eventual formation of the WLF in Seattle, each with their own way of dealing with both FEDRA and also the citizens of the quarantine zones. And these are only the ones we know of, as with the collapse of society so too fell the lines of communication. With nearly all quarantine zones falling due to resistance, most took their chances out in the world, forming new groups or communities, each with their own way of surviving the infection and the end of the world. All the while, the Cordyceps continued to evolve and numerous forms of the infection began to emerge over time. The base infected are referred to as “Runners”, “Stalkers”, “Clickers” and “Bloaters”, with the latter’s infection taking over a decade to grow and form while the rest occurred within a year. Part II would introduce new forms of the infection such as Shamblers, and given the multiple different biomes and environments just in the US alone, there’s no telling how many more types of infected could be out there. It’s during this time in the late 2010s that Ellie Williams and Abby Anderson are born. Unfortunately, Ellie’s mother passes away shortly after, entrusting her baby daughter to one of the leaders of the Fireflies, Marlene, who in turn gives her to FEDRA for her own safety. Ellie is raised with the other orphaned children of the Boston QZ. It’s also during this time in Seattle in the late 2020s that Jason and Emma Patterson and Isaac Dickson form their own version of the Fireflies, the Washington Liberation Front, or WLF. Unlike the Fireflies however, the goal of the WLF is simply the abolition of FEDRA in Seattle and eventually the numerous clashes between the groups lead to the deaths of its core founders Jason and Emma. The WLF eventually overruns FEDRA, killing or displacing the entire agency from Seattle. With FEDRA gone, the WLF creates a surprisingly stable community and by all accounts thrives under their leadership. However, continued conflicts with the fanatical Seraphites lead to constant confrontations between the groups that would continue for years. Outside of these groups, others find their own way of surviving the apocalypse. Some would steal and rob any survivors unfortunate enough to cross their paths while others like the Rattlers, turn to slave labor and human trafficking. Even more disturbing, some survivors turn to cannibalism in order to survive as supplies continue to become more and more scarce over the years. Now 13, Ellie attends one of FEDRA’s military boarding schools where she is isolated until she makes friends with another young girl, Riley Able. The two would routinely sneak out of the school and explore the outer areas of the QZ. It’s during one of these explorations that Ellie and Riley finally meet Marlene, who recognizes Ellie and tells her she knew her mother before giving Ellie what would become her most prized possession, a switchblade which originally belonged to Ellie’s mother, Anna. We don’t know a lot about Joel’s time in the years between Outbreak Day and when he ended up in Boston, but what we do know is that Joel did whatever it took to survive. After Sarah’s death, it’s hinted that Joel contemplated ending his own life before he and Tommy set out on the road looking to survive the collapse of society. Through numerous in-game dialogue we find out that Joel and Tommy likely joined other Hunters, robbing and murdering any group unfortunate enough to fall into one of their many traps. Eventually, the brothers find their way to Boston, where Tommy joins the Fireflies with Marlene. This leads to a lot of tension between Tommy and Joel before Tommy eventually leaves Boston and Joel behind, heading for Wyoming. Joel would then team up with another smuggler named Tess and make a name for himself as a brutal, yet reliable smuggler within the Boston QZ. A year after meeting Marlene, Riley has left the FEDRA boarding school with dreams of joining the Fireflies, leaving Ellie behind. One night Riley sneaks into Ellie’s room and invites her out for a surprise. Ellie, upset that Riley had left her alone, begrudgingly agrees and the two sneak off to a nearby mall. Riley reveals that she’s joined the Fireflies and that she’ll be leaving with them for another city in the morning. Ellie is naturally upset by this news as not only is Riley one of her only friends in Boston, but Ellie has also started to develop feelings for Riley. Romantic styles. The two continue exploring the mall, playing with numerous oddities they find while reminiscing about their favorite memories together. Finally, with their time coming to an end, Riley and Ellie dance to a store’s stereo system with Ellie finally revealing her feelings for Riley. The two share a kiss, with Riley deciding not to leave with the Fireflies and stay with Ellie. Their bittersweet moment is interrupted by the infected, however, drawn to the two by the sound of the store’s loud music. Riley and Ellie attempt to escape but are overwhelmed and even though the two emerge victorious, Riley reveals she’s been bitten and Ellie discovers a bite on her own arm as well. The pair contemplate ending it all before they can turn, but instead decide to wait it out and turn together, to “be all poetic and lose our minds together.” However, as we learn, Riley is the only one to succumb to the infection as Ellie discovers she is immune. Three weeks later, Tess turns up at Joel’s door, beaten and bruised. She explains their shipment was hijacked by another smuggler and in their attempt to reclaim their stolen goods, the pair end up crossing paths with Marlene, who is suffering from a gunshot wound, likely from the exchange between the Fireflies and FEDRA only a short while earlier. She explains she knows where Joel and Tess’s guns are, but that she’ll only return them if they smuggle something out of the city for them: Ellie. Marlene explains she needs them to get Ellie out of the city to another group of Fireflies waiting outside the QZ, and after Tess checks on their stolen stock, Joel and Tess reluctantly sneak Ellie out of the city. Almost immediately, the group is caught by patrolling FEDRA soldiers and after a quick exchange that ends with soldiers dead, Tess discovers Ellie is infected. Ellie explains her bite is over 3 weeks old and that Marlene believes Ellie is immune and the last possible hope for a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Although Joel protests, the two agree to fulfill their promise and deliver Ellie to the Fireflies. Making their way through the devastated Boston, they encounter multiple groups of infected and worse, Clickers. After finally making their way to the planned drop off, Joel discovers all the Fireflies have been killed. Tess, particularly disturbed by this discovery, reveals she had been bitten during one of their confrontations with the infected and pleads with Joel to get Ellie to Tommy, who could possibly link him up with the Fireflies once again to hopefully, finally find a cure. As FEDRA descends on the group, Tess stays behind to give Joel and Ellie time to escape, sacrificing herself and taking out as many soldiers as she can in the process. After laying down some ground rules, the pair begin their trek to a town defended by eccentric prepper Bill, and after narrowly surviving Bill’s booby-trapped town and a particularly disgruntled Bloater, manage to secure a vehicle to continue their journey west. As the pair continue west into Pittsburg, they encounter a large group of roaming hunters who have taken over the city, preying on helpless victims who dare to enter, killing and stealing whatever they happen to be carrying. After narrowly surviving one of these encounters, Joel and Ellie gradually make their way through the city, making one horrific discovery after another. Eventually, the two become separated by a collapsing elevator and Joel must make his way out of the building's basement to rejoin Ellie. Just as he’s about to make his way out, Joel is attacked and nearly killed by one of the hunters before being saved at the last minute by Ellie, who uses Joel’s gun to kill the hunter. This is the first time Ellie kills anyone who isn’t infected. Joel and Ellie then cross paths with brothers Henry and Sam, who are also attempting to escape the Pittsburgh city limits. After their escape attempt goes horribly wrong, the group is separated and pursued by the Hunters’ armored vehicle, leading Joel and Ellie to jump off a broken bridge into the river below, even though Ellie can’t swim. Rejoining Henry and Sam, the group makes their way through a sewer system that was used as a makeshift home for a group of survivors who ultimately didn’t survive. Always remember to lock your doors, people. Emerging on the other side, they are once again accosted by the relentless Hunters before accidentally unleashing a horde of infected. After narrowly avoiding death, the group beds down for the night, but when Ellie goes to wake Sam, she discovers he’s been bitten and turned overnight. Joel attempts to kill Sam but is stopped by Henry who is forced to kill his own brother. Driven by grief, he ultimately takes his own life as well. A couple months later, Joel and Ellie find themselves at a heavily guarded dam that just so happens to be under construction by Joel’s brother Tommy and others from his community. Joel takes Tommy aside and after years apart, tells Tommy about Ellie and her immunity, asking Tommy to escort Ellie the rest of the way to the Fireflies. Upon learning that Joel plans to abandon her, Ellie flees to a nearby farmhouse where Joel and Tommy eventually find her and Joel and Ellie have their first truly open heart-to-heart discussion. As the group heads back to Tommy’s community of Jackson, Joel relents and tells Tommy he’ll take Ellie the rest of the way to the Fireflies himself. Tommy tells Joel about a research site the Fireflies were using at the University of Eastern Colorado, and the pair set off. After finally finding the lab, they discover the Fireflies abandoned the facility long ago. However, just as they learn about the Fireflies' next possible whereabouts, a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, Joel and Ellie are ambushed by more Hunters and Joel is unfortunately gravely injured in the assault. Ellie narrowly manages to get her and Joel out alive, retreating into the mountains as winter approaches. Ellie manages to find a medical kit in a crashed helicopter in a long abandoned mall with enough supplies to keep Joel alive while she figures out what to do next. Now deep into winter, Ellie hunts for game and supplies in the wilderness outside the small abandoned suburb her and Joel have been hiding out in. It’s after killing a deer that she encounters David and his companion. After arguing over the right to the deer, Ellie accepts a trade of medicine for the deer and David’s companion leaves to get it. While David and Ellie wait for his return, they’re surrounded by a horde of infected, Clickers and even a Bloater. It’s after barely surviving this encounter that David reveals he knows who Ellie is, having sent a party out for supplies only for the entire group to be killed by a “mad man” and a “little girl”. David lets Ellie leave with her medicine, sending a hunting party to track her down after she escapes. After giving Joel the life-saving medicine and resting for a bit, Ellie realizes she’s been followed, and during her attempt to lead the hunters away from Joel, she’s captured by David and taken back to his small town. It’s here that Ellie discovers that David is a cannibal and a bit of a pervert, hoping Ellie will join him in leading his group of cannibals. After breaking David’s finger and nearly ending up on the menu, Ellie distracts David and his butcher with her infected bite long enough to barely escape into the town. Meanwhile, Joel regains consciousness and discovers Ellie missing and hunters roaming the town. After interrogating a couple of hunters he’d captured, Joel makes his way to David’s town in search of Ellie. Ellie continues to look for a way to escape David and his cannibals, using the blizzard as cover until she makes her way into a large restaurant. Unfortunately, David finds her and traps her, mercilessly hunting the young girl through the restaurant. At the same time, Joel has made his way to the town and fights his way through waves of Hunters, using the same blizzard as Ellie to mask his approach. During her confrontation with David, a fire breaks out and at the last second, Ellie gains the upper hand on David, turning his own machete on him. Joel, having seen the fire, finds Ellie endlessly striking David over and over again before grabbing her and comforting her. As Spring arrives, now almost a full year after their journey began, Joel and Ellie arrive at the outskirts of Salt Lake City and continue on their path to the hospital. With so much having happened during their time together, Joel and Ellie have bonded and Joel discusses what they’ll do after they’re done with the Fireflies. Joel notices Ellie is distracted, likely from everything she’s endured or the realization that all their struggles might finally be over. On their final approach to the hospital, the pair encounter a group of wild Giraffes roaming the area. During this brief moment of peace as the two watch the majestic creatures, Joel proposes to Ellie they turn back and spend their days in Jackson with Tommy. Ellie tells Joel everything they’ve been through can’t be for nothing. Just before the two begin the final stretch to the hospital, Ellie gives Joel a picture of him and Sarah she had stolen while back with Tommy. After a brief moment, the pair continue into the underground tunnel leading to the hospital. Unfortunately, Joel falls into the flooded tunnel and as Ellie attempts to save him, the two are swept up in the current and Joel finds Ellie lifelessly floating in the water. As Joel tries desperately to save her, a pair of Fireflies approach him and rather than offering aid, knock him unconscious and bring them both back to their home base at the hospital. It’s at this time that a young Abby is searching for her father, Jerry, and finds him with a zebra trapped in a barbed wire fence. Abby’s friend and Firefly member Owen appears to help the father and daughter cut the Zebra free before telling Jerry that Ellie had been found and was waiting at the hospital. The group rush back to the hospital to begin tests on Ellie to determine her immunity. Later, Abby finds Marlene and Jerry arguing over how to proceed with creating the vaccine, knowing it will kill Ellie since the Cordyceps infect the brain. Marlene eventually relents, giving Jerry permission to operate on Ellie in the hopes of creating a vaccine, and leaves to go check on Joel and give him the news. Joel wakes up in a hospital room to Marlene watching over him. She informs Joel that Ellie is a good candidate for the vaccine. When Joel asks to see Ellie, Marlene tells him that she’s being prepped for surgery to remove the Cordyceps to create the vaccine. Naturally this doesn’t sit well with Joel, knowing full well the surgery would kill Ellie. While being escorted from the building, Joel escapes his capture and begins mercilessly killing his way through the Fireflies to reach the surgery wing and find Ellie. With no more opposition between him and the room, Joel walks in to discover Ellie unconscious on the table. Jerry tries valiantly to stand between Joel and Ellie, reminding Joel of what’s at stake. Joel immediately kills Jerry and picks up Ellie, escaping out the back of the room and down the elevator to the garage below. Just as he enters the garage, Marlene stops him, once again pleading with Joel for the greater good, one life versus thousands. Joel shoots Marlene and after securing Ellie in a vehicle returns to finish her off to ensure she doesn’t come looking for them. Amidst all the chaos, Abby finally manages to make it to the surgery wing, only to find her father lying dead on the floor, killed by Joel during his rescue of Ellie. Abby collapses in Owen’s arms as he tries to comfort her. Ellie finally regains consciousness in the back seat and after asking Joel what happened, rather than telling her the truth, Joel tells her the Fireflies had given up finding a cure and had sent them away. Finally on the outskirts of Jackson, Ellie once again confronts Joel about the events back at Saint Mary’s, demanding he swear that he was telling her the truth about the cure. Joel does so and Ellie chooses to believe him. A short time later, Joel and Ellie have begun to settle into Jackson with Tommy and his wife Maria helping them get situated. While out on patrol one day, Joel tells Tommy about the events at Saint Mary’s, explaining the surgery would have killed Ellie so he did what he had to do to save her. Tommy agrees to keep Joel’s secret for him as the two part ways. Joel finds Ellie, who now wears a bandage at all times to hide her bite mark, has set up her living quarters in Joel’s garage and gifts her a guitar, reminding her that he’d promised to teach her. He then plays her Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” which motivates Ellie to take Joel up on his offer for lessons. Meanwhile, with the Fireflies all but wiped out, Abby, Owen and the few remaining members make their way to Seattle and join the WLF. Her obsession with getting revenge on Joel for her father’s death drives her to become one of the WLF’s most skilled and respected soldiers. A year later, on Ellie’s birthday, Joel and Ellie are exploring the surrounding area outside of Jackson as Joel has promised Ellie a surprise for her birthday. Joel playfully shoves Ellie into a nearby creek and thankfully, Ellie has finally learned how to swim. She also promptly returns the favor while the pair are watching a nearby deer. Joel continues to play coy about Ellie’s surprise as her guesses as to what it could be grow more outlandish. Eventually they emerge at the Wyoming Museum of Science and History which immediately fills Ellie with childish glee. The pair explore the abandoned museum with Ellie getting more and more excited with each discovery until they eventually make their way to the space exhibit. Knowing Ellie’s love of space and dreams of being an astronaut, Joel and Ellie climb inside the cockpit of a spaceship where Joel gives Ellie her real present: a recording of a real space launch countdown. Ellie closes her eyes and imagines the rocket shooting into the stars. While trying to find a way out, Ellie discovers graffiti on a wall of the Fireflies logo with the words “Liars” scrawled underneath it, further fueling her suspicions about what really happened in Salt Lake City. In Seattle, Owen and Abby continue their training with the WLF but take some downtime to explore an abandoned aquarium near the WLF headquarters. As the two explore, it becomes clear they have no idea what they’ve found, describing the aquarium as a zoo for fish. While exploring, the pair discover a sailboat someone attempted to hide within the aquarium but had long since abandoned. After discovering the boat most likely belonged to a family attempting to flee the infection, they find the remains of the captain, having been left alone by his children when they joined the Scars after the death of their mother. They continue their exploration, uncovering the hundreds of drawings and paintings done by the children before they left their father behind. After finding a dome deep underwater at the bottom of the aquarium, Owen and Abby share a kiss before Abby stops him. Abby confesses she’s still determined to find Joel and exact her revenge for killing her father, even though they have zero leads as to where he has gone. Owen is more reluctant, wanting to move on with their lives, while Abby returns to training with the WLF to become more efficient for her inevitable confrontation with Joel. The following year, Joel, Ellie and Tommy are clearing out some nearby infected in an outpost. Joel and Ellie have since become well adjusted in Jackson, with Ellie becoming close friends with Jesse, Dina and her girlfriend Cat who has also started designing Ellie’s tattoo to cover her bite mark. Tensions between Joel and Ellie are strained as Ellie attempts to distance herself from Joel, leading to Tommy suggesting the two of them go out and search for some replacement strings for Ellie’s guitar. The two are reluctant but eventually agree and set out for the music shop nearby. Finding the direct route blocked, the pair make their way inside a nearby hotel to find a way through. Finding the hotel overrun by infected, Joel and Ellie proceed to clear them out, and after an unfortunate encounter with a Bloater, they discover the remains of the couple that left Jackson the year prior, one of them having been mutated into a Clicker. After finding a note explaining the pair wanted to find ways to help people outside of Jackson but were cornered by a horde of infected, Ellie again confronts Joel about what happened at Saint Mary’s, feeling guilty that her immunity wasn’t able to prevent this and others needlessly losing their lives to the infection. Joel once again reiterates his lie that there was no possibility for a cure and shuts down any further discussion on the matter. Ellie relinquishes her push for answers and the two head out to rejoin Tommy. Another year passes and Ellie sneaks off to return to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City to find answers of her own. After rummaging through the things the Fireflies left behind, Ellie finds a tape recorder of a Firefly discussing what they are going to do now that the only person immune to the Cordyceps is gone and the only doctor who knew how to make a cure is dead. While replaying that one line over and over again, Joel arrives, having tracked her down after she left Jackson. Ellie demands once again that Joel tell her what happened at Saint Mary’s, threatening to leave forever if he lies to her. Joel relents and explains to her that creating the cure would have killed her so he did what he needed to do in order to save her life. Ellie breaks down and refuses Joel’s attempts to comfort her. Ellie agrees to return to Jackson but tells Joel that she wants nothing to do with him anymore. A few months later, Abby finds Owen at the aquarium once again, the two of them having broken up long ago, and Owen has started seeing their mutual friend Mel. Owen has made a second home at the aquarium and decorated it for Christmas as it is also his and Mel’s one year anniversary. The two exchange friendly banter before Abby reveals she’s managed to locate Tommy with some Fireflies who made their way to Seattle giving her his location. Abby tells Owen she got clearance from the WLF to pursue this lead and that all the remaining Fireflies from Salt Lake City have agreed to join her. Abby convinces Owen to go with the group even though he’s far less enthusiastic than she is and they leave for Jackson the following week. Another few months go by and the town of Jackson is throwing a dance at the community center. Ellie stands off to the side feeling awkward amongst all the happy people, watching her crush Dina dance in the center of the dance floor. Ellie’s friend and Dina’s ex-boyfriend Jesse makes small talk with Ellie before Dina strolls over and drags Ellie onto the dance floor. The two casually flirt with one another before Dina kisses Ellie on the dance floor in front of everyone. One of the residents takes issue with the display and confronts the two which leads Joel to intervene. When Joel attempts to talk to Ellie immediately after, she brushes him off telling him to mind his own business. Later that night, Ellie finds Joel sitting on his porch strumming his guitar. After embarrassing him in front of the entire town, Ellie attempts to reconcile their relationship. The two exchange small talk with Ellie telling Joel she doesn’t want him always watching over her shoulder. Ellie once again reiterates her frustrations that Joel didn’t let the Fireflies attempt a cure by using her immunity, while Joel tells her he wouldn’t have done anything different and still would have saved her. Ellie tells Joel that while she doesn’t know if she will ever forgive him for what he did, she wants to try and rebuild her relationship with him, to which Joel agrees and Ellie heads off to bed for the night. Bright and early the following morning, Ellie is awoken by Jesse banging on her door as she overslept and is late for her patrol. After getting resupplied and having a brief snowball fight with the community kids, Ellie and Dina set out on their route to sweep for infected. At the same time, Abby wakes to find Owen is already awake, having scouted their planned route before sunrise. Owen invites Abby to see what he discovered and the two set out into the frozen wilderness. When they emerge, Owen shows Abby he’s found the Jackson settlement, where Tommy is reportedly living. The scale of Jackson and their armaments gives Owen pause about their mission while Abby remains undeterred. While trying to figure out their next move, Owen reveals Mel is pregnant. With this new information, Owen is much more hesitant about their mission and heads back to the group's encampment in the lodge. Abby, frustrated and angry and determined to continue with her mission of revenge, sets out on her own and heads towards one of the Jackson outposts Owen mentioned earlier. Naturally, this proves to be a poor decision and Abby quickly finds herself accosted by numerous infected. Meanwhile, Ellie and Dina continue along their patrol route, clearing out infected from a shaping center before getting overrun by a blizzard. After briefly getting separated, the two end up in a library and during their exploration, discover it had been used as a hideout for Dina’s former patrol partner Eugene to grow his medicinal herbs. While partaking in Eugene’s stash, the two discuss their kiss from the night before and after some awkward flirting, the two become romantically entwined. Lost in the blizzard, Abby continues to contend with the infected as she follows the horse tracks to the outpost. With the infected numbers increasing, Abby is left with no choice but to flee, with the growing number of infected close behind her. After narrowly becoming an infected’s next meal, Abby is saved at the last second by none other than Joel and Tommy. After fighting off multiple waves of infected, Abby suggests they make their way to her encampment at the lodge where the rest of her group is. Joel and Tommy quickly agree to this for some reason and with Abby joining Joel on his horse, they make their way out into the blizzard for the lodge. Upon reaching the lodge, the group narrowly makes it inside the gates before the infected overrun them, and once inside, Joel and Tommy introduce themselves and are quickly subdued by the group with Abby using a shotgun on Joel’s knee to prevent any resistance or escape. A short while later, Ellie and Dina are discussing their injuries surviving the apocalypse and Ellie confesses to her that she is immune while showing her bite mark. Dina naturally doesn’t believe her but before Ellie can explain further, they are discovered by Jesse who informs them that Joel and Tommy never returned from their patrol. Ellie immediately sets out on her own to track them down while Dina and Jesse search elsewhere. Ellie eventually finds the lodge and after making her way inside, finds a bloody and beaten Joel lying motionless on the floor, Abby towering over him with a golf club in her hand. Ellie attempts to rescue Joel but is quickly taken down by the rest of Abby’s group and is forced to watch as Abby delivers the final blow, killing Joel in front of her as Ellie pleads for his life. Ellie is knocked unconscious and awakens a while later to find Dina and Jesse have managed to track her down. Abby and her group having long since disappeared. A short time later, Tommy visits Ellie and Ellie lays out her plans to track down and kill those responsible for Joel’s death. Tommy protests but the next morning after visiting Joel’s grave and grabbing some supplies from Joel’s house, Maria finds Ellie and Dina and tells them that Tommy had left in the night to go after Abby and the rest of the group responsible for Joel’s death. Maria tells the girls to find Tommy and bring him home and the girls set off for Seattle. A few months later, Ellie and Dina finally arrive in the outskirts of Seattle. After finding numerous abandoned checkpoints and gassing up a nearby generator to open a gate, Ellie and Abby find their way inside a building seemingly used by the WLF at one point during the group’s uprising against FEDRA. Inside, there are numerous dead WLF members and upstairs they find one from Abby’s group having been tortured for information by Tommy. Tommy clearly learned a thing or two from Joel as he made good use of Joel’s interrogation techniques. Back outside, the pair is ambushed by an IED trap and while Ellie is captured, Dina manages to escape by falling into a nearby basement after the blast. RIP Shimmer. Knocked unconscious and kidnapped, Ellie is taken to a makeshift base for the WLF to be interrogated. While one of the men from Abby’s group, Jordan, argues with another WLF member, Dina appears and saves Ellie at the last second before she is executed. Ellie manages to escape and returns the favor, saving Dina from Jordan. After finding a letter and making their way out of the base, Ellie and Dina make their way to a nearby TV station to track down their next lead. Hot on the trail of both Tommy and the rest of Abby’s group, Ellie and Dina arrive at the TV station and are introduced to the Seraphites’ brutality as they find bodies hanging from the ceiling. Upstairs they find the body of another of Abby’s companions, Leah, having been killed by the Seraphites during their assault on the TV station. Ellie finds photos of all the members that went to Jackson looking for Joel and Tommy and learns Abby’s name as well as the other members. With 3 of Abby’s crew already dead and more WLF support en route, Ellie and Dina attempt to escape the TV station but are caught and forced to fight their way out before finding themselves lost in an underground parking garage overrun by infected. After encountering more WLF and a new infected, the Shambler, Ellie and Dina manage to find a way out but are attacked, and Ellie’s mask gets broken. Dina immediately offers her so Ellie doesn’t get infected by the spores but Ellie quickly stops her, once again reiterating she’s immune to the Cordyceps. Unfortunately all their commotion alerts the rest of the horde and Ellie and Dina narrowly escape the encroaching infected, finally making their way outside. They head to a nearby run-down theater to regroup and rest. Once secure inside, Ellie breaks down her immunity to Dina and Dina reveals she’s pregnant with Jesse’s child. While Dina rests, Ellie explores the rest of the theater, and finding an old guitar, plays “Future Days” while reminiscing about Joel. While Ellie has been systematically working her way through Seattle and Abby’s companions, on the other side of town, Abby begins her day with the WLF, having returned from Jackson and settled back in, confident of her revenge and that the worst is behind her. She joins companions Manny and Owen’s new squeeze, a very pregnant Mel, on a routine patrol and Abby discovers Owen has been avoiding almost everyone after the events at Jackson. After narrowly surviving an extended encounter with the Seraphites, the group returns to base to find Nora, another of Abby’s friends, waiting for them. She takes Abby and Manny through their morgue, explaining the Seraphites are becoming more hostile and aggressive, and after showing them the body of one of their friends, Danny, she tells Abby that Owen is somewhere out in Seattle on his own. Abby and Manny head up to talk to Isaac, who tells them he’s planning a large-scale retaliation against the Serpahites under the cover of a large incoming storm, and he wants Abby and Manny to lead the main squad. Abby tells Isaac she wants Owen on her team and Isaac tells her that Owen was the one who shot Danny to apparently protect a Seraphite. Refusing to believe Isaac, Abby sneaks out of the compound with Manny’s help, determined to find Owen for herself. After an unlucky encounter with a group of Seraphites, Abby is captured and strung up in preparation to be made an example of. However, before Abby can be sacrificed, she is saved by two outcast Seraphites Yara and Lev, and together they not only take out the fanatical Seraphites but also the infected drawn by the commotion. Yara’s arm is busted up during the encounter and Abby is forced to help her would-be rescuers escape the area. After securing Yara and Lev in an office trailer, Abby continues her trek into the night towards the aquarium where she’s sure that Owen has secluded himself. After making her way inside, Abby finds Owen in the sailboat the two discovered all those years ago. Owen, initially believing Abby had been sent to kill him by Isaac, confesses to Abby what happened between him and Danny that led to Danny’s death while also expressing his desire to leave the WLF, fix up the sailboat, leave Seattle, and head for Santa Barbara, believing what’s left of the Fireflies have made their way there. After a heated exchange, the two engage in intercourse, and Abby spends the night on Owen’s boat. The next morning, Ellie is stirred by the sound of a CB radio that Dina has managed to get working. Following a lead through radio chatter that might be Tommy, Ellie prepares to head out to a neighborhood on the northern side of Seattle. With Ellie’s blessing, Dina stays behind, but not before gifting her bracelet to Ellie for good luck. After fighting her way through multiple infected, WLF and their dogs, Ellie eventually runs into Jesse, who had followed after them to bring the girls and Tommy back home. Jesse and Ellie attempt to escape their pursuers by hijacking one of the WLF’s vehicles but during their getaway are pursued relentlessly by more WLF convoys and inadvertently release hordes of infected and Clickers. Narrowly escaping death once again by crashing into a nearby river, Jesse and Ellie emerge on the river bank and Ellie takes Jesse back to the theater and rejoin Dina to figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, Abby has decided to head back to where she left Yara and Lev, feeling guilty for leaving her rescuers on their own. She finds the Seraphites closing in on them and after dealing with them, finds Yara’s condition has significantly worsened and Abby has no choice but to take her and Lev back to the aquarium in hopes of getting her the medical attention she desperately needs. Although initially hesitant, Mel and Owen agree to look at Yara’s arm. Lacking the necessary medical supplies necessary to amputate Yara’s arm and save her life, Lev and Abby set out to a WLF hospital across town using the Seraphites sky bridges. Leaving Lev behind for their own safety, Abby makes her way to the hospital and is almost immediately arrested for going AWOL to find Owen. Nora finds her restrained and after freeing her, Abby lies to her that it's Owen that needs the medical supplies and Nora tells her the only place with the supplies she needs is the lower levels and guides Abby towards the uncharted lower floors of the hospital. After exploring the unsettling floors, she finally finds the medical supplies she needs inside an ambulance only to find herself fighting for her life against the “Rat King”, an abomination of Clickers and infected that had fused together after being trapped in one of the rooms. Just barely, and we do mean barely, surviving this encounter, Abby rejoins Lev and using a nearby boat, the two make their way back to the aquarium. The pair make it back and thanks to Mel, are able to amputate Yara’s arm and save her life. It’s also around this time that Dina tells Ellie she heard one of Abby’s friends Nora is stationed at a nearby hospital and Ellie sets out to find her. After fighting her way through stalkers and a river, Ellie encounters the Seraphites head on. After surviving multiple factions of Seraphites, Ellie eventually makes her way to the hospital and sneaks inside, cornering Nora and demanding to know Abby’s whereabouts. Nora manages to distract Ellie enough to escape and after a short pursuit through the hospital, Ellie corners Nora on the lower floors. Nora quickly begins to succumb to the spores and upon seeing Ellie, realizes she was the immune girl Joel killed everyone to save. Ellie once again demands to know where Abby has gone and after Nora refuses, Ellie unleashes all of her rage to get the information she needs. After making her way back to the theater and getting some rest, Ellie wakes early the next day and finds Jesse watching over a sleeping Dina. Knowing Dina needs more medical care than they can provide, Ellie and Jesse decide to head to the aquarium, assuming Tommy has tracked Abby there as well and will head back home once they find him. After overhearing some WLF talking about a sniper down by the marina, Jesse wants to shift their plans and head for what he assumes is Tommy. Ellie insists they continue to the aquarium to go after Abby. Realizing Abby was Ellie’s goal all along, Jesse leaves her to find Tommy while Ellie hijacks a boat and heads towards the aquarium. At the aquarium, Abby wakes to find Yara and Lev arguing. Mell tells Abby that Owen invited Yara and Lev to come with him and Mel to Santa Barbara and Lev is refusing to leave Seattle. After Lev storms off, Abby and Yara search for him only to find he’s stolen a boat, intent on heading back to the Seraphite’s island to confront their mother. While attempting to get to the marina to find a boat and go after Lev, and upon hearing gunfire, Abby leaves Yara to go find a boat. Abby then runs into Manny who narrowly saves her from sniper fire. The two battle their way towards the marina to confront the sniper, but Manny is quickly killed while Abby continues to narrowly avoid death herself. Finally, Abby, with a little help from Yara, manages to throw the sniper, who naturally turns out to be Tommy, into the marina. With the threat averted, the two steal a boat and make their way to the Seraphites’ island in pursuit of Lev. With the storm approaching, Ellie finally manages to make her way to the aquarium. Making her way inside, Ellie doesn’t find Abby but instead Owen and Mel. Ellie attempts to use one of Joel’s interrogation tricks but when Owen rushes her, she kills him, and after fighting off Mel, kills her too. With his dying breaths, Owen tells Ellie that Mel was pregnant and upon discovering this, Ellie crashes out, horrified by what she has just done. Tommy and Jesse find her and bring her back to the theater, unfortunately leaving Ellie’s map of Seattle behind. Finally making landfall, Abby and Yara make their way to the Seraphites village, sneaking their way through the patrols until they reach Yara and Lev’s home. Inside, they find a distraught Lev, having accidentally killed their mother after she attacked her own child, still radicalized by her beliefs. With the WLF’s assault on the Seraphites’ island beginning, the group attempts to flee the island before the full invasion. Now fighting their way through WLF, Yara is shot as the group is confronted by Isaac himself. Attempting to explain herself, Isaac isn’t interested and just before he’s about to kill Abby and Lev, Yara shoots and kills Isaac only to be gunned down by his soldiers while Abby and Lev flee some nearby buildings. With the invasion fully under way and the Speraphites village burning, Abby and Lev manage to find a horse and ride directly through the main conflict, attempting to reach their boat and escape the island. Unable to reach their boat, they instead find a row boat and Abby puts all those gains to use fighting against the storm’s current to get them back to the aquarium. Once inside, the pair follow a trail of blood and are horrified to find Owen and Mel’s bodies lying dead on the floor. While Abby is overcome with grief, Lev finds the map Ellie left behind which points them towards the theater where Ellie and the others have been staying. Inside, Ellie, Tommy and Jesse discuss the quickest route back to Jackson while Tommy reassures Ellie everyone she killed got what they deserved. Ellie is still upset she didn’t find Abby but knows she needs to do what’s best for Dina and agrees they head back home. Outside the theater, Abby and Lev have managed to track the group down and after sneaking their way inside, confront Tommy. After making enough commotion, Ellie and Jesse rush in, only for a surprised Abby to kill Jesse on the spot with a well placed headshot. Abby demands Ellie surrender or she’ll kill Tommy and upon complying, Abby realizes who Ellie is, recognizing her from the day she killed Joel. As Abby raises her gun to kill Ellie, Tommy attacks her, catching an arrow in the knee from Lev and a grazed headshot from Abby as Ellie makes her escape into the theater. After a tense confrontation backstage in which the pair nearly kill each other multiple times, Abby gains the upper hand and Ellie is saved at the last second by Dina who is nearly beaten to death by Abby before Ellie pleads for her life, telling Abby that Dina’s pregnant. In her blind rage, Abby still intends to kill Dina and is only stopped by Lev. Abby warns Ellie to not pursue her any further and her and Lev leave Ellie and Dina beaten and broken, but alive. A year later, Ellie and Dina and their new baby JJ have settled into a quiet farm life and despite still suffering from PTSD due to Joel’s death and the events of Seattle, Ellie and Dina have developed the quiet, happy life they always wanted together. After returning from a hunting trip, Ellie finds Tommy has come to pay them a visit, explaining he’d heard word that Abby had been seen off the coast of California and hopes that Ellie will follow up on the lead. After Ellie and Dina explain they’re trying to move on and leave that behind them, an enraged Tommy lashes out at Ellie before storming out of the house, still obsessed with getting revenge for Joel’s and now Jesse’s deaths. Later that night, Dina finds Ellie packing to go after Abby. Despite her protests, Ellie tells Dina she needs to see this through and Dina tells her that if she goes through with this, when she comes back her and JJ won’t be there. Unable to move on, Ellie walks out the door. Around this time, Abby and Lev are still searching for the rumored Firefly encampment in Santa Barbara. Inside one of the suspected safehouses, they find a radio and manage to make contact with the Fireflies, who point them to Catalina Island. With a newfound hope, the pair exit the safehouse and are ambushed by a group known as the Rattlers and are immediately caught and captured. A couple months later, Ellie, having discovered Abby’s sailboat, attempts to track down Abby’s new location. Following Abby’s map, Ellie heads towards the safehouse Abby had just been at and is caught in one of the Rattler’s traps and injured on a nearby tree in the process. A couple of Rattlers appear a short time later and after tricking them into one of their own traps, Ellie escapes, having gotten the information she needed from the remaining Rattler. Ellie fights her way through the Rattlers compound and eventually finds herself in the holding cells where one of the escaping prisoners tells her where to find Abby. Making her way down to the beach, Ellie finds Abby strung up, sunburnt, starving and quite a lot less jacked than before. Cutting her down, Abby immediately rescues Lev and carries him down to a boat resting on the shore. Ellie staggers after them and demands the two finish what they started back in Seattle. Abby declines until Ellie threatens Lev, forcing Abby’s hand. The two, beaten, battered and bruised battle it out in the waves, until Ellie eventually gains the upper hand, holding the weakened Abby under the water, waiting for her to drown. Ellie, overcome with grief, remembers the last time she saw Joel, and realizing nothing will change what happened, she relinquished and lets Abby free. She tells Abby to take Lev and go, watching them drive off into the fog, nursing her wounds and quietly crying to herself, reflecting on all she’d lost in her pursuit of revenge. A couple months later, Ellie returns to her farmhouse to find Dina had followed through on her promise and had left the farmhouse empty and abandoned, save for Ellie’s belongings. Ellie finds her guitar in one of the rooms and finding herself unable to play the instrument that reminded her of Joel due to the loss of two of her fingers in her final battle with Abby, Ellie leaves the guitar and the farmhouse behind and heads off into the woods. And that was the complete Last of Us timeline. Did we miss any important or favorite moments from the games? Share your thoughts down in the comments.