The Last of Us fans worried for future infected after 'unkillable' bloater

The Last of Us continues to go from strength to strength. I’d even go as far as saying that ‘Endure and Survive’ may be the strongest episode to date. Then again, I still can’t stop thinking about Bill and Frank’s ‘Long Long Time’. We’re spoilt for choice.

There’s no doubt that ‘Endure and Survive’ is The Last of Us’ most important episode. Fans are still reeling over the latest deaths - and yes, there were several - with one being particularly gruesome. What’s majorly impressive is that the show’s infected horde scene was created almost entirely with practical effects. The bloater was the star of the show, but his inclusion has left fans worried about whether one of The Last of Us Part II’s best scenes will make the cut in a second season.

Excited for this week’s episode? Watch the promo for ‘Kin’ below.

Bloaters are pretty tricky to kill in the game but in the TV series, they’re quite literally unkillable. We see Perry’s bullets bounce off the big guy and in The Last of Us Podcast, showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed that “No one’s killing it, ever.” In the lore of the show, if you see a bloater, you better start running. The only issue is, fans are concerned about how this impacts one of The Last of Us Part II’s most impactful moments.

Part II will be adapted during the series’ second season and the sequel introduces several new types of infected. Shamblers are very similar to bloaters so there’s no major worries there. If bloaters are unkillable though, fans want to know how Abby will defeat the Rat King. Reddit user bpierce5732 wrote, “The idea that there is literally nothing you can do [to a bloater] but run is terrifying. That being said, it did get me scratching my head about whether or not the Rat King will be killable in the show. Do you even think they'll include it? They said that they debated not including bloaters in the show, so I wonder if we'll actually get to see Abby fight it. I would love to see it show up in season two.”

Iserrot99 added, “My opinion is that the Rat King encounter is the highest peak of anxiety in Part II, so if they choose to not include it in the series it would be a big error,” while repostersanonymous suggested, “I seriously doubt the Rat King is something to be killed. It’ll be a complete ‘oh s**t’ moment followed by what I imagine will be a lengthy chase sequence as it tears through the hospital with Abby narrowly escaping.” A chase sequence would work well. Perhaps Abby traps the Rat King in Ground Zero. It would be a shame not to see this epic scene brought to life.