The Last Of Us fans are debating whether Ellie killed Riley

The first season of The Last of Us has almost drawn to a close. In just two episodes time, it’ll all be over - and that’s a thought that makes me very sad. The good news is, we know that season two is on the way. Based on how long it took to film season one though, and given that The Last of Us Part II is a much larger beast, I’d imagine it’ll be several years until it ends up on our screens.

‘Left Behind’ is personally one of my favorite episodes of The Last of Us, but it happens to be the lowest-rated to date. Unfortunately, the episode has been subject to review-bombing so I would take the rating with a pinch of salt. Riley actress Storm Reid had the perfect response for the show’s homophobic haters. Ellie and Riley’s kiss has even been censored in some countries. Warning, spoilers lie ahead. The episode, of course, ended with both Ellie and Riley getting bit and fans cannot stop debating what happened to Riley.

Excited for episode eight? Take a look at the promo for ‘When We Are In Need’ below.

Reddit user Dragonfly_Material asked, “So, what happened to Riley? In episode seven, just like in the game, we never find out the specifics of Riley’s fate. I actually expected that the show would give us the answers. I figured Riley would slowly turn, Ellie would be forced to kill her, and eventually Marlene would find Ellie. Ellie made a comment in episode four, to the effect that she had ´hurt someone before’. I figured that she was referring to Riley.”

They continued, “I wonder if the writers thought that actually depicting this would have perhaps been a bridge too far, and that it would make for TV that is too disturbing.” I would say that’s very close to being the reason. We know that Ellie doesn’t turn as she discovers she’s immune, but Riley will definitely have done so. As Dragonfly_Material points out, Ellie made reference to hurting someone. It’s widely assumed that when she realised she wasn’t turning but Riley was, she would’ve had to eventually kill her best friend.

It’s tragic to think about which perhaps justifies why they didn’t need to show it. The thought alone is powerful. Plenty agreed. User chelski365 wrote, “Sounds silly, but I don’t think it matters too much. Either Ellie had to kill her or she had to leave Riley which would have given her horrific guilt either way,” while Corgi_Koala added, “Agreed. They don’t outright say it but this is really the only point in her past that she would have had to kill someone. [I’m] 99% sure that the implication is she killed her.” Poor Ellie.