The Last Of Us finale shows Ellie's brutal birth and explains her immunity

The season finale of HBO’s The Last of Us has now aired and oh my, there is so much to discuss. We have to address Ashley Johnson’s incredible cameo as Anna Williams which answered a question we’ve been asking for years: How is Ellie immune?

Ashley, of course, portrays Ellie in Naughty Dog’s video game series, but she’s not the only The Last of Us game actor to cameo in the show. Merle Dandridge, who also featured in the final episode, reprised the role of Marlene. Here at GAMINGbible, we got to speak to Tommy actor Jeffrey Pierce and Joel actor Troy Baker about bringing Perry and James to life, respectively, plus did you spot the episode’s Laura Bailey cameo? Laura played Abby in Part II. Back to Ashley though. Fans have been theorising about Ellie’s immunity for years but in recent weeks, that discussion has certainly seen a resurgence and now, we have the answer we’ve been seeking.

The Last of Us Part I launches on PC on 28 March.

Just as fans suspected after the finale promo was released last week, Ellie’s mum Anna was bitten as she gave birth. We see Anna find refuge in an abandoned house but she’s chased into the house by a runner. Anna managed to embed her switchblade in the runner’s head but not before it successfully landed a bite on her leg. She quickly severs the umbilical cord but we can assume a very small amount of cordyceps reached Ellie, hence the immunity.

Ellie then starts crying and dearest reader, the next line made me sob. Anna told her daughter, “Yeah, you tell ‘em. You f**king tell ‘em Ellie.” Knowing how much Ashley has poured into playing Ellie across the last decade, this is quite honestly the most perfect full-circle cameo role.

For those who are saying, ‘Couldn’t this process be replicated?’, I’m imagining the answer is no. The timing and the location of the bite, plus the speed with which Anna cut the umbilical cord all played into contributing to Ellie’s immunity, you’d assume. It would be nigh impossible to replicate that, plus you’d have to sacrifice endless mothers and The Last of Us is dark, but it isn’t quite that dark.