Ellie Williams

“

I know you mean well. I know you want to protect me. You have. And when we're done, we'll go wherever you want. Tommy's... sheep ranch... the moon! I'll follow you anywhere you go. But there's no halfway with this. We finish what we started. ―Ellie's declaration to Joel.

”

Ellie Williams is a main character in HBO's The Last of Us. She is a 14-year-old orphan in post-apocalyptic America that has been ravaged by the Cordyceps brain infection, to which she is immune.^[3] In hopes of creating a vaccine, Marlene tasks Joel Miller with smuggling her out of Boston to the Fireflies.^[4]

Biography

Background and early life

Ellie was born in 2009 to Anna and an unnamed father. During Ellie's birth, Anna was bitten on the thigh by an infected woman. Because of the bite, Ellie was exposed to a trace amount of the Cordyceps brain infection. Ellie did not display any symptoms as Anna quickly cut the umbilical cord before she could receive a fatal dose. Hours later, Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies and Anna's childhood friend, found the two. Anna asked Marlene to take care of Ellie and gave her switchblade to her daughter. Marlene shot Anna in the head and brought Ellie to the Boston quarantine zone.^[5]

Ellie grew up in the FEDRA military preparatory school as an orphan in the Boston QZ. Marlene, while continuing to lead the Fireflies to liberate the Boston QZ from FEDRA, kept an eye on her growing up.^[4] At the school, Ellie was taught how to use a pistol, though with a one-handed grip rather than a two-handed grip.^[6]

In late summer 2023,^[7] Ellie snuck into an abandoned mall in the zone with her friend Riley, where she was attacked and bitten on the right arm.^[8] However, she did not turn as the Cordyceps that had grown with her since birth produced a chemical messenger that made the infection think she's Cordyceps, thereby not infecting her any further. Riley began to turn and Ellie was forced to kill her. Ellie wandered back to Boston where Marlene found her and brought her to a Firefly safehouse. Marlene gave Ellie the alias Veronica and confiscated her bag and switchblade. Ellie was chained up and monitored by the Fireflies in the safehouse for several days to track the progress of her infection.^[4]

Events of HBO's The Last of Us

Meeting Joel

Three weeks later, the Fireflies tested Ellie's cognitive functions through simple and repetitive tasks. Frustrated, she swore at her captors, insisting she was not meant to be locked up. They left her again to stare at their mantra on the wall: "When you're lost in the darkness".

Hours later, Marlene arrived and returned Ellie her bag and switchblade, unlocked her from her chains and revealed her plan to sneak Ellie from the city. She mentioned a girl named Riley, as justification that not all Fireflies were terrorists, a remark which made Ellie quiet.

A while later, Marlene let in a group of smugglers led by Robert to secure a car battery from them to help transport Ellie. However, the battery was a dud, leading to a shootout. Ellie hid in her room until a man and woman found a wounded Marlene. Ellie jumped out at the man but was disarmed quickly, training his gun on her. Subdued, Ellie listened as the man and his partner—revealed to be Joel and Tess—agreed to smuggle Ellie to the State House where Firefly members would be waiting for them. Despite not trusting Joel or Tess, Ellie agreed to go with them when Marlene insisted.

The pair then take Ellie back to their apartment. Ellie is left alone, deciding to read a book on the desk. Joel enters and snatches it from her, dismissing her questions about his trading arrangement with two people named Bill and Frank. Ellie asks him what the plan is, to which Joel tells her is to wait for Tess to come back. Frustrated, she points out that Joel's watch is broken. She then spends her time looking out the window at the zone's walls until nightfall, when Tess returns.

Joel and Tess take Ellie outside the walls. However, a soldier spots them as makes them kneel for scanning. Knowing what the scans result will show, Ellie panics and stabs the soldier in the knee. Joel comes to her defense and beats the man, killing him. The scanner then beeps, revealing Ellie is infected. Ellie pleads with Tess that she isn't, stating her bite has healed and is three weeks old. Soldiers suddenly run towards them, forcing the trio to flee.^[4]

The trio get to an abandoned salon where Ellie falls asleep in the middle of the room. When she awakes, she finds Joel and Tess staring at her, the pair still in disbelief Ellie is immune. Tess asks her what Ellie's plan was, with Ellie revealing Marlene's intentions to use her to make a vaccine against the Cordyceps. After debating, Joel and Tess decide to believe Ellie. She asks them for a gun but they firmly deny her that.

The group then leave the salon and traverse downtown Boston. Ellie asks numerous questions about life outside the zone, with Tess answering, from the military bombing cities, to the presence of numerous infected variants. Tess asks Ellie about her past, with Ellie insisting she was alone when she was infected and that she lacked any she cared about. They eventually reach a flooded hotel. Ellie reveals she can't swim, but Joel assures her the water is shallow. Ellie then plays make believe that she is checking in to the hotel, but falls back when a skeleton collapses by her. Joel helps her up and the trio head upstairs.

They climb to a higher floor and Tess climbs some rubble to check the other side of the street. Ellie remains with Joel and tries asking about his personal past. The man avoids her questions. When Tess returns, they overlook the street and see the infected horde below. Tess tells Ellie that, though she immune, the infected can and will still kill her. The group then head back down to head through the The Bostonian Museum.

When they get there, they find the Cordyceps fungus dead outside but a freshly killed corpse within. They climb the stairs when the ceiling collapses in the hallway, trapping them in the Civil War exhibition. The noise attracts the attention of two clickers. Ellie stands by Joel, who non-verbally signals that clickers can't see them but can hear. Despite their efforts, the clickers detect them and attack. Ellie initially flees with Tess but is separated and scrambles back to Joel. The man protects her, killing the two clickers.

The group then climb to the roof. Once atop, Ellie walks along a beam to the opposite building and looks out at the view. Joel eventually approaches her and asks her if she likes it. Ellie says she does before Tess insists they keep going. Ellie and Tess then descends a set of maintenance ladders, leaving Joel to look at his broken watch.

A while later, they reach the State House but find it deserted. Ellie stays with Tess but, when Joel determines the Fireflies have died, Tess grabs Ellie and marches them into the building. Once inside, the discover all of the Fireflies are dead. Ellie watches Tess grow frantic that they failed and realizes she is infected. Tess confirms this and proves Ellie's immunity by comparing their bite marks. She then makes Joel promise her to get Ellie to the Fireflies somehow. Joel then grabs Ellie and forces her from the building as a horde of infected sprint towards it. The make it outside, turning around as an explosion erupts. Tess and the infected are dead. Ellie stands in shock as Joel marches off, heading towards Lincoln.^[8]

Seeking guidance

Joel and Ellie walked until they were around ten miles from Lincoln. They slept in the woodlands, Joel letting Ellie borrow his coat to keep warm. By morning, Ellie told Joel she wanted him to understand that she was sorry Tess died and to not blame her for Tess's death. The pair then walked along the path towards Lincoln, with Joel answering Ellie's questions about the outbreak and how FEDRA oppressed and even murdered civilians they were supposedly working to help. They reached an abandoned gas station not far from the town so Joel could collect supplies he had stashed there. Ellie wandered away to search for supplies, finding a tampon kit in a secret basement. She spotted a trapped infected while down there. Curious, she drew her switchblade and inspected it, before stabbing it, putting it out of its misery. When she returned upstairs, she did not tell Joel what she did.

Hours later, they reached Lincoln. Joel took Ellie to Bill and Frank's house, only to find it deserted. Ellie wandered the house before finding a letter from Bill. She opened it and read it to Joel, revealing Bill and Frank had opted to commit suicide but left everything they had for Joel to use. Ellie stayed in the house as Joel secured supplies then they showered and prepared to leave. Ellie once again asked for a gun but Joel refused despite Bill having collected many. Ellie secretly took a pistol and put it in her bag.

Once Joel set everything up, he offered Ellie the chance to travel with him to Wyoming to find his brother Tommy. Ellie agreed but Joel made her promise to follow his orders and never mention Tess. They then got in a truck, Joel helping Ellie put her seat belt on, then the pair left the town.^[7]

Detour in Kansas City

Joel and Ellie journeyed on the road together. However, because gas had aged over the twenty year period, they had to regularly stop so Joel to siphon fuel from abandoned vehicles. At one stop, Ellie took herself to the bathroom in an abandoned garage. She took out her gun, unloaded it, and played pretend with it. When she returned outside, she asked Joel how siphoning gas from cars worked and then took out a book, No Pun Intended: Volume Too to read to jokes to Joel. Once they refueled, they continued their journey.

While driving down the road, Ellie found a cassette, Alone and Forsaken by Hank Williams, and put it on the truck's radio. Ellie then took out a male pornography magazine she had stolen from Bill's house and teased Joel about it before eventually throwing it out the window. After more hours of driving, Joel eventually decided it was enough and drove the truck off the main road into the woods in the distance to set up camp for the night.

Before sleeping, Ellie told Joel another pun joke, one he finished for her—having known the joke—which playfully angered Ellie. However, Ellie then asked a serious question if whether hostile survivors could find them. Joel assured that no survivors would be out so far, comforting Ellie. She then slept through the night. She awoke to the sound of Joel boiling coffee, to which she expresses her dissatisfaction of.

The pair carried on driving across numerous highway. While doing so, Ellie determined with a map that the journey would take another twenty-six hours. To pass the time, Ellie asked Joel to tell her about his brother and why he was not with him. Giving in, Joel revealed how he and Tommy were together with a traveling group until Tommy left him to join the Fireflies. Joel then suggested Ellie go back to sleep, given they were up early. Ellie scoffed that she was not tired, followed promptly by her falling asleep.

Hours later, Ellie awoke when Joel slammed on the brakes, because they reached the blocked entrance to Kansas City. After a short debate, they decided to journey into the city to go around the blockade. Once in the city, the pair noticed the FEDRA quarantine zone section was abandoned—surprising Ellie, given FEDRA's influence in Boston. Straight after, a man calling for help entered the street. Ellie asked if they would help him, to which Joel ordered she put her seatbelt on. He hit the accelerator and drove straight towards the man, who dove away and ordered his group to attack. Despite Joel's efforts, the attackers managed to burst their tires and send the truck off road, crashing into an abandoned laundromat.

Ellie assured Joel she was alright, the man making her exit the vehicle as the attackers shot at them. Ellie watched as Joel retrieved his bolt-action rifle from the back of the truck and obeyed his order to hide behind a wall, trusting him when he said he wouldn't let the attackers shoot her. Ellie listened as gun fire erupted. She peeped out to see Joel had killed two of the attackers but was fighting the third on the ground. Ellie left cover, drew her pistol and fired at the attacker, shooting him in the spine and paralyzing him. Joel got up and took the pistol from Ellie, telling her to hide again. She sat and listened as Joel killed the attacker, a tear rolling down her face as he did. Ellie and Joel then fled the laundromat as other hostile survivors arrived.

Later on, Ellie and Joel hid in a Hi-Lo bar as the assailants conducted a city wide search for them. Joel asked Ellie if she was okay, which she confirmed. However, Joel sensed she wasn't and apologized for forcing her into a position where she had to shoot a man, to which Ellie responds saying it wasn't her first time. Joel then approached her and gave her the pistol and taught her how to grip it properly when shooting. Delighted, Ellie went with Joel through the streets, eventually sneaking into a high-rise building.

While climbing the staircase, Ellie asked him how he knew about the attacker's plan to ambush them. Joel tells her that the group he and Tommy traveled with did what they had to survive. As they reached the top. they entered an office and prepared to sleep. Joel lays down broken glass, explaining to Ellie that it was to ensure they could not be snuck up on. Ellie asks if it has to do with Joel's right ear, which she has noticed he has trouble hearing out of. As they lay down to sleep, Joel asked Ellie if she wanted to talk about the first time she shot someone. Ellie deflected and recited another one of her puns, eliciting a laugh out of Joel.^[6]

During the night, Ellie heard a man and a boy sneak up on her and Joel. She got up from her bed, holding her hands up as the man aimed his pistol at her. Panicked as the boy aimed his revolver at Joel, Ellie shouted Joel's name, waking him. Ellie listened as the man revealed he did not intend to hurt them and actually wanted to form an alliance. Joel agreed to the plan, with Ellie insisting he meant it despite his dry tone. The man introduced himself as Henry Burrell—a wanted man in Kansas City.

The group then ate together. Ellie made conversation with them, asking for the boy's name. Henry signs the question to his brother, who tells them that his name is Sam. She prompts Joel to also reveal his name as well. They then listened as Henry explained the people after him and Joel were the city's resistance movement, who had overthrown FEDRA, and offered to help them escape the city.

By morning, Ellie spent time with Sam, reading him puns from her book, laughing as Joel and Henry talked. She then left Sam when Joel called her, the men revealing their plan to escape through underground tunnels, which Sam also visualized. When Joel tried to dismiss Henry's claim that infected were not in the tunnels, Ellie reminded him how she saved her from two clickers, a remark that led Henry to assure her that Joel was the man to help them survive.

The group then left and snuck through the city to the tunnels. When Henry remarked he thought Joel was Ellie's father, both Joel and Ellie firmly denied the claim. After walking down the tunnels, they came to a painted door and went inside to find it was was an abandoned underground settlement. Ellie then remarked they should rest there, which they did. While waiting, Ellie and Sam played games together and talked about their favorite comic series, Savage Starlight.

By nightfall, the group left and made it to the suburbs. Ellie then offered Henry and Sam to join them on their trip to Wyoming. Joel disagreed with the suggestion, but she claimed he would change his mind. Their conversation was interrupted by gunfire, Ellie following Joel to cover behind a car. Joel told her he planned to flank the sniper down the street. Ellie protested, but Joel asked her to trust him, which she did. Ellie waited there with Henry and Sam, eventually hearing Joel's revolver go off.

However, their safety was halted when the resistance charged down the street in their plough trucks. Ellie ran towards the house with Henry and Sam, occasionally turning around and shooting at the lead truck. Joel shot the driver, causing the truck the crash, the resulting explosion knocking Ellie off her fee. Henry came to her aid, carrying her to cover further up the road. The resistance leader then called Henry to surrender to her. Henry trusted Sam in Ellie's care, the girl holding the boy's hand.

However, the burning truck caused a sinkhole in the ground, leading a large horde of infected to emerge from it. Ellie tried to flee the infected, Joel shooting the ones that tried to attack her. She hid in a car but a child clicker snuck inside, causing Ellie to exit the car and trap it inside. She then heard Henry and Sam's cries, seeing two clickers trying to bite them. Ellie drew her switchblade and ran towards them, stabbing both clickers dead. The trio eventually reached the house, with Joel meeting them downstairs. They then crossed the embankment, leaving the horde to kill the resistance soldiers.

That night, Ellie and the group stayed in an abandoned motel. Ellie and Sam shared a room together, Ellie reading more comics to him. Though Henry told Sam to sleep, Ellie woke him back up to keep reading. However, Sam grew serious and used his magic plate to ask her why she never seemed scared. Ellie replied she secretly was scared, prompting Sam to ask her what she most feared. Ellie initially tried to deflect—claiming it was scorpions—but Sam's serious demeanor led her to reveal she feared ending up all alone most of all. Sam then revealed he feared turning in to an infected and showed her a bite mark he sustained during the attack. Ellie explained to Sam that her immunity could heal him, then proceeded to cut her hand open and cover the wound in her blood, believing she that would transfer her immunity to him. She promised to stay awake with him and monitor him, checking for signs of infection.

Ellie did fall asleep in the night and, by morning, awoke to see Sam sitting on the bed, looking out the window. She tapped him on the shoulder, only to discover that Sam had transformed into an infected. He attacked her, sending the two of them crashing into Joel and Henry's room. Joel jumped for his revolver but Henry reached it first, firing a warning shot at Joel's feet to stop him. Soon after though, Henry changed his mind and shot Sam dead, saving Ellie. Henry, realizing what he had done, turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, to which Ellie cries out in shock. Devastated, Joel and Ellie buried the brother's bodies outside the motel. Ellie places Sam's Magic Slate on his grave with the words "I'm sorry" written on it. The then walked westward with Joel at her side.^[9]

Reaching Jackson

Three months after the deaths of Henry and Sam, Joel and Ellie reach a cabin near Cody. They interrogate the owners, Marlon and Florence, for information on Tommy's whereabouts. Marlon and Florence discourage them from heading west, as to go west means crossing a portion of the Yellowstone River they call the "River of Death", where they often find bodies of both people and infected that have been killed by whatever is on the other side. The pair leave, Ellie stealing one of their dead rabbits as they do. Joel suddenly falls against a nearby fence. Concerned Joel is dying, Ellie asks him to assure her he is okay. He does so.

The pair continue on their route, camping out in a cave next to a river. While Joel tapes his boot, Ellie observes the Northern Lights in the sky from a nearby rock, prompting Joel to tell her to come down. As they sit by the fire, Ellie asks what Joel would do if the cure from her blood worked and the world went back to normal. Joel replies he would find an old farmhouse and raise sheep, joking that at least sheep do what they are told. Ellie reveals she has always wanted to be an astronaut, having read about space travel at the library; Joel correctly guesses her favorite astronaut is Sally Ride. The mood turns somber as Ellie questions if the vaccine would actually work, admitting to what happened with Sam. Joel assures her that the cure is probably more complicated, and that Marlene knows what she is doing. Joel then tells Ellie to go to sleep while he keeps watch all night.

However, Joel falls asleep during the night. Ellie notices and takes watch instead. By moening, she tells Joel what she did. Joel scolds her for not waking him up, but Ellie retorts she did everything necessary for keeping watch before giving him back his gun. They continue trekking through the snow, crossing a bridge over what they assume is the "River of Death". At first, their journey continues uninterrupted as they encounter no dangers. As they trek along the riverbank, Ellie tries to whistle like Joel to no avail, and asks that he teach her how to hunt at some point.

They come across a hydroelectric dam, which Joel explains is how people used to get electricity. As they continue however, Ellie questions if the "River of Death" was referring to the location near the dam. They are soon interrupted by a party of armed survivors on horseback, who demand they drop their weapons. As their leader looks on, one of the men asks if they have been near any infected, before sending a dog to check for any signs of infection. The dog ignores Joel, but it is then sent to inspect Ellie. However, it instead plays with her. Having confirmed they are not infected, Joel explains he is looking for his brother; hearing this, the leader of the group suddenly steps forward and asks for his name.

Joel and Ellie are escorted by the party to the gated community of Jackson, where the two are stunned to find a thriving town full of families preparing to celebrate Christmas. Joel soon spots Tommy working on an outdoor construction project, and the two brothers emotionally reunite. Ellie watches on, somber at Joel's affection for Tommy instead of her. Tommy and the leader of the group, Maria, take Joel and Ellie into a cafeteria to have food, the first real meal the two have had in months. Joel urges Ellie to be polite to their hosts, which she attempts to do, though not before shouting at a shy girl she spots staring at her from across the room. Tommy and Maria apologize for getting off on the wrong foot, explaining they have to take extra precautions to protect Jackson from any dangers, revealing the bodies Marlon and Florence discovered were examples of such dangers. Joel suggests they have a private talk "between family," but Tommy reveals that Maria is actually his wife. Ellie forces Joel to congratulate them.

Tommy and Maria take them on a tour of the town, explaining Jackson was an abandoned gated community Maria and her crew found seven years ago and turned into a commune. They show Ellie their stables, where she befriends a foal named Shimmer. Tommy and Joel then walk away to catch up privately, leading Maria to take Ellie to her home.

After showering and receiving new clothes and a menstrual cup that Maria had left for her, Ellie heads over to Maria and Tommy's house. Above the fireplace, she finds a sign memorializing two children, "Kevin" and "Sarah". Maria arrives with a new winter coat for her and insists on giving her a haircut. While trimming Ellie's hair, Maria makes small talk, explaining she used to be an Assistant District Attorney, and asks if Ellie noticed Tommy's memorial above the fireplace. Ellie expresses condolences for Maria's children, but Maria reveals she only had one child, Kevin: "Sarah" was Joel's daughter. Maria quickly realizes Ellie did not know Joel had a daughter and apologizes, but Ellie admits it explains some things about him. Maria warns Ellie that she does not really know Joel and offers the advice that she should be careful of who she puts faith in, because the only people who can betray her are the people she trusts. Maria then takes Ellie to the town's weekly movie night.

However, while watching the film, Ellie grows restless as Joel has not shown up. She sneaks away to wander the streets, eventually spying Joel and Tommy talking in a workshop. She over hears Joel beg Tommy to take Ellie from him as he no longer wishes to travel with her. Angered, Ellie storms back to the house Maria took her to and hides in the bedroom. While there, she reads a diary from a teenage girl written before the outbreak and is baffled about the comparatively minor concerns she girl dealt with in her life.

Joel eventually arrives and confronts Ellie, the girl revealing she heard his conversation with Tommy. Ellie angrily confronts him, accusing him of trying to be too protective, pointedly telling him she is not Sarah. Joel tells her she does not understand loss, to which Ellie angrily points out everyone she has ever cared for has either died or left, all except Joel, and that she would be worse off without him. Joel quietly reiterates that she is not his daughter, and he is not her father, declaring they will go their separate ways in the morning.

Tommy arrives in the morning and takes Ellie to the stables, where they are surprised to find Joel trying to steal one of the horses. Joel admits Ellie deserves a choice of who she goes with, but he barely gets a word out before Ellie resolves to go with him. Saying goodbye the Tommy, the pair depart Jackson together.^[10]

Encountering David

As Joel and Ellie make their way to Colorado, they continue to bond, with Joel teaching Ellie how to shoot with the scoped rifle, telling her about his life as a contractor before the outbreak, and explaining the rules of football. As they enter the university campus, Joel admits he would like to change his answer from before: when he was a kid, he wanted to be a singer. Ellie finds this amusing and tells him he will have to sing for her later in return for her saving the world. They find some escaped monkeys on the campus and signs of Firefly presence, but no actual Fireflies—they learn the Fireflies abruptly packed up and moved to Salt Lake City.

They are interrupted by the arrival of some raiders and try to make their escape. While trying to get on the horse, Joel is ambushed by one of the raiders, whom he kills, only to realize he stabbed him. They manage to escape on the horse, but as they reach a set of railroad tracks, Joel falls off and loses consciousness as a panicked Ellie frantically tries to wake him up.^[10]

She eventually drags him to a house, getting him safely in to the basement. Joel orders her to leave him to die and head back to Jackson so Tommy can care for her. However, Ellie dismisses his order and instead finds a sowing kit, using it to stitch Joel's wound.^[11]

The following morning, Ellie inspects Joel's recently-stitched wound and tries to give him water and food, but Joel remains unconscious. Hoping to get him some more food, Ellie ventures out into the wild with a rifle. After failing to kill a rabbit, she manages to mortally wound a deer, but it runs away before she can get to it, two men stand over it. She holds them at gun point. One man reveals himself as David and the taller man as James. David offers to trade all or part of the deer for something from the town – after Ellie asks for medicine, David instructs James to head back to town and retrieve some penicillin and suggests he and Ellie wait in some nearby ruins and start a fire.

While they wait for James to come back, David tells Ellie (who refuses to give her name) that prior to the outbreak, he was a math teacher, but he found God and became a preacher. After the Pittsburgh QZ fell in 2017, he and some others left and formed their own community which he now leads. He expresses the viewpoint that everything happens for a reason: he offers proof by revealing some time back he sent a group to scavenge a nearby town, but one of them was killed by a "crazy man" who was traveling with a little girl, revealing to an alarmed Ellie he knows who she is. James, who had just returned with the medicine, overhears this and pulls his gun on Ellie, but David instructs him to stand down and give her the medicine. Ellie takes it and runs off, leaving James incredulous that they are just letting her go knowing she killed Alec. Ellie returns to the house and administers the penicillin to Joel's wound before going to sleep next to him.

The next morning, Ellie administers another dose of penicillin to the still-comatose Joel, before heading outside to feed the horse. Noticing a flock of crows being disturbed in the distance, she spots the search party led by David. Ellie runs back into the basement and wakes Joel up. She hands him a knife and explains she will lead David's men away, but Joel will have to defend himself if they get to him. Ellie gets on the horse and fires a warning shot at David's men before making a break for it. James manages to kill the horse, sending Ellie flying. Ellie loses consciousness. She eventually wakes up in a cage in Todd's Steakhouse at Silver Lake resort. David sits outside and advises her that everyone wants to kill her, but he can protect her, offering her a new beginning with him. He then leaves Ellie for a while.

Ellie tries to find a way to get out of her cage but is horrified by something she sees on the floor. David arrives with some food for her, only to notice what she is staring at: a human ear. David admits the town has resorted to cannibalism, although most of the community does not know. He argues he is only doing what he needs to defend his community, the same way Joel tried to defend Ellie, and indeed the same way Cordyceps spreads. He tries to convince Ellie to join him as leader of the settlement, telling her she has a violent heart and thus is his equal. Recognizing something dangerous in what he is saying, Ellie feigns interest, only to break David's finger in an attempt to grab his keys. Suddenly filled with rage, David changes his mind about sparing her, declaring they will instead serve her to the town.

Soon after, David returns with James and the pair force Ellie out of the cage and prepare to kill her with a meat cleaver, but Ellie claims she is infected. David puts down the cleaver and discovers the bite on her arm. Using their distraction as they discuss the bite, Ellie grabs the meat cleaver and kills James before narrowly escaping David, but finds the doors out of the building are locked. David takes the cleaver out of James' body and follows Ellie into the dining room.

She throws a piece of firewood at him, which narrowly misses and sets a nearby curtain ablaze, which slowly begins to spread across the room as David stalks around, taunting her as his threats grow increasingly disturbing. Ellie stabs him, causing him to drop his cleaver, but he recovers and kicks her while she is on the floor. He holds her down and prepares to sexually assault her, but Ellie manages to grab the cleaver and violently kills him.

Traumatized, Ellie stumbles out of the burning building where she is met by Joel. Joel comforts her, calling her "baby girl", the same name he called Sarah. The two stumble away from Silver Lake, arm in arm.^[12]

Reaching the Fireflies

By spring time in 2024, a sullen Ellie ventures with Joel through Salt Lake City. Joel, now settled into accepting Ellie as his child, tries to cheer her up by reminding her of some of the happier moments of their journey, scavenging can of Chef Boyardee and offering to teach her how to play guitar. Ellie quietly agrees to the offer. While climbing through an abandoned building to seek out a path to the hospital, they come across and interact with a giraffe, the sight of which briefly cheers up Ellie. As they take in the view, Joel points out that they do not have to go to the hospital, noting they could just as easily turn back to Jackson and live in Tommy's community. Ellie promises she will follow Joel to wherever he wants, but insists that they finish their journey first, claiming they have come too far and done too much to turn back now.

As they walk through an abandoned Army hospital, Joel stops and tells Ellie the truth about a gunshot wound to the head he mentioned back near Lincoln. Rather than from a fight, it was actually from a suicide attempt, prompted by Sarah's death as he once thought he had nothing left to live for. At the last second, he flinched. Ellie guesses that he is telling her the story to say that time heals all wounds, but Joel knowingly tells her, "It wasn't time that did it." Ellie remarks she is glad he failed to commit suicide. As they continue, he asks her to tell him some more bad puns. Due to the distraction, they fail to notice two guards following them until one throws a flashbang grenade, and Joel is soon knocked out.

The group is revealed to be Fireflies from Saint Mary's hospital. The doctors study Ellie, discovering her unusual birth when her mother was bitten is what makes her immune to Cordyceps. The doctors use anethetic to render Ellie unconscious. When Ellie awakes, she finds herself in the back of a truck. She notices Joel driving in the front seat. She asks him what happened, the man claiming that the doctors had several other immune subjects and had actually stopped trying to make a cure because they could not make any work. He then says that raiders invaded the hospital, forcing him to rescue her and make a hasty escape. Ellie asks if Marlene survived but Joel goes silent.

Joel's story is revealed to be a lie: in reality, Marlene had told him that the head surgeon had to operate on Ellie. Joel concluded that, as Cordyceps grows on the brain, the surgery would lead to Ellie's death. Refusing to let this happen, he fought against and killed every Firefly in his path, including Marlene and the head surgeon, to save Ellie.^[5]

Returning to Jackson

Sometime later, the car breaks down a few hours outside of Jackson, forcing Joel and Ellie to finish their journey on foot. As they walk, Joel tells Ellie about Sarah, commenting they were both very different, but would have liked each other. As they approach Jackson, Ellie stops. She tells about when she and Riley were bitten at the mall, admitting she was forced to kill Riley after she turned. She reminds him of how many people have been killed due to their meeting, including Tess and Sam and begs him to swear he was telling the truth about what happened at the hospital.

Joel tells her he swears. Ellie simply replies, "Okay."^[5]

Appearance

Ellie has dark brown eyes and hair. In the summer, she wears a purple and white raglan sleeve shirt with jeans and canvas sneakers.^[4] Later she changes into a red t-shirt with a palm tree graphic and a long sleeve shirt underneath.^[7] She also wears a red jacket and a green military jacket over it.^[9]

Her hair is put up in a ponytail with strands hanging down the sides of her face. She has a scar on her right eyebrow. Her right forearm has a healed bite wound and signs of infection that show no progress.^[5]

Personality

Having been raised in an environment where modern standards and values have deteriorated, Ellie is considerably rash, foul-mouthed, impulsive, and temperamental, and is unfazed by the notion of using violence as a means to an end or profanity as a way of expressing how she feels.^[4] However, she manages to maintain a particular innocence as she has yet to see the darkest sides of human nature, and retains a palpable trust in people.^[10] This serves as the juxtaposition to Joel's wary, morose, and cynical outlook on post-pandemic life.^[7]

Ellie is enthusiastic about the outside world, given her confinement to her quarantine zone during her childhood, asking Joel many questions about it during their journey^[7] and read extensively when in FEDRA school to learn about science and history. She was especially interested in space travel, expressing astonishment that people used to be able to fly in the sky^[7] and stated that Sally Ride was her favorite astronaut.^[10] Although she has grown up in a desolate and harsh world, she still possesses child-like traits. Notably, she is obsessed with things she collects from others, illustrated through her interest in music, movies, books, and video games. Ellie was fascinated with Mortal Kombat II, A-ha music she played through her Walkman and loved puns in her No Pun Intended books.^[11] She would even play make believe, from acting as a hotel visitor when wandering the Boston outskirts with Joel and Tess^[8] to pretending to be dancing monsters with Riley.^[11] She also had a passion for the Savage Starlight comic series, memorising their slogan "Endure and Survive"^[9] and Will Livingston's pun books.^[6]

Ellie suffers from a case of monophobia (fear of being alone) and states to Sam that she fears losing others she cares about such as Joel. She openly admits to Sam that "ending up alone" is what she fears most and made an emotional outburst to Joel that she feared he would abandon her.^[9][10] Her fear also links into her survivor's guilt she expresses to Joel when returning to Tommy's, where she expresses her guilt that Riley, Tess, and Sam all died from the disease yet she continues to survive.^[5]

Ellie's defiant nature is displayed her constant resistance to authority figures, especially in pursuing her fascination with violence. She would openly swear and shout at her Firefly captors and would be openly rude to Joel when he gave her vague answers.^[4] This was also demonstrated in her constant asking for a gun to protect herself, abhorring Tess and Joel preventing her from doing so because she was a teenager.^[8] In her eyes, she was mature enough to use weapons, especially her switchblade, having already killed infected with it.^[11] Despite having a bladed weapon, her fascination with having a gun led her to secretly steal a pistol from Bill's room.^[7] She then played pretend with the weapon, imagining herself using it to shoot people. However, when the time came to use it, she felt emotionally hurt after shooting Bryan, finding herself crying and feeling a sense of guilt that she hesitated using the weapon to save Joel's life.^[6][5]

She also takes justice into her own hands on her relationship with anyone, and does not think she requires any adults' consent, evidenced in her attacking Bethany to stop her belittling her friendship with Riley even though that landed her in trouble with Kwong.^[11] She would also aggressively shout at a girl in the Jackson mess hall because she was staring at her and Joel.^[10] Most of all, when Joel was bed ridden, she rode their horse out to confront David's men so they would attack her, willingly putting her life in danger to lure the hostile raiders away from Joel's position.^[12]

Although she had this tough exterior, she could be caring and selfless towards people she was affectionate for. An example is how, when Joel is left bed ridden from a stab wound, she was able to get him to safety, stitch his wound and care for him while he recovered, even confronting David and James in the woods to get medicine for Joel, displaying her selfless nature.^[12] She would also make concerned comments about Marlene's safety, even after she had not seen the woman in nearly a year,^[5] seek a close friendship with Sam while traveling in Kansas City together^[9] and even endanger her own life to save Riley from an infected in the Liberty Gardens mall.^[11]

Having firmly denied having a boyfriend in Boston,^[8] Ellie is romantically interested in women, having shared a kiss with Riley.^[11]

Relationships

Joel Miller

The first time Joel and Ellie interact, they are both hostile towards one another and neither enjoys the other's company. They reluctantly ally together at Marlene's insistence though Joel remains cold towards her, kicking her switchblade away from her out of spite and refusing to answer her questions at his flat.^[4] While traveling to the State House, Ellie struggled to form a connection with him, the man deflecting questions she asked. Although, she did develop a dependency on him, relying on the man to protect her from infected.^[8]

Despite being annoyances to each other during their time outside the quarantine zone, the two of them were both affected by the death of Tess. Ellie is insistent on talking about her with Joel, only for him to shut the topic down at any mention.^[7]

In time though, Ellie's energy and zest for life leads Joel to open up to her, the man starting to answer her questions about pre-outbreak life. This connection develops in their journey to Kansas City, Ellie bonding with Joel through her joke book and constant attempts to humor him. Joel even teaches her the proper grip for a pistol and protects her from hostile survivors in the city.^[6][9]

However, when Henry believed Ellie was Joel's daughter, Ellie dismissed the remark with firm denial.^[9] Ellie did aspire to be like Joel though, learning how to track prey with him and also stood guard when Joel fell asleep in the night once, something Joel disliked. Ellie's struggle to become Joel's equal climaxed when they reached Jackson, when Joel tried to abandon Ellie to his brother, Tommy. Ellie denied Joel any sense of resemblance with Sarah, his deceased daughter, and insisting she felt loss just as much as he did. This outburst between the pair eventually led to Joel offering to take Ellie with him instead; Ellie swiftly accepted, revealing she still desired to be with him over anyone else. On this part of the journey, Ellie learned more from Joel, such as how to shoot a rifle and managed to learn more about his past.^[10]

When Joel was badly wounded, Ellie was driven to save him, stitching him up and refusing to abandon him despite the man remaining near death. To keep Joel safe, Ellie risked her life and was captured by David's group. Joel once again rescued her, but this time Ellie was able to save herself from David, revealing how she had now become Joel's equal.^[12] The event left her emotionally scarred, causing her to become distant from Joel as they reached Salt Lake City. Although, her love for him remained strong, Ellie stating she would follow Joel wherever he wanted to travel.^[5] She even now felt comfortable mentioning Riley to Joel, showing she saw him as a man she could completely open up to now,^[6] whereas before she was relatively guarded on the topic.^[5]

Marlene

Ellie trusted Marlene, viewing Marlene's care and protection over her as something a mother would do. This led her to trying to protect her against Joel and Tess. When told to leave Marlene, the action confused Ellie, who did not wish to part from her.^[4]

Tess

Ellie initially struggled to connect with Tess as the woman was with Joel and aggressive with Marlene.^[4] However, Tess soon took a liking to Ellie, answering her questions about the Boston area and even cared for her, helping protect her against infected at the Bostonian Museum and even tried to educate her about how the infected functioned.^[8]

Sam Burrell

Ellie formed a friendship with Sam while traveling through Kansas City. The two bonded over their love for Savage Starlight, Sam even teaching her how to sign the book's slogan—"Endure and Survive". Ellie took a liking to the boy, sharing her puns with him, reading Savage Starlight together and playing soccer with him when in the underground settlement.

When Sam expressed his fears to her, Ellie initially tried to cheer him up but eventually responded to the question with a serious answer, understanding Sam wanted her to be genuine. When she learned he was infected, she desperately tried to help him, cutting her own hand in an effort to try to transfer her immunity to him. However, the boy turned the following morning, devastating Ellie that her idea had failed. In remorse, she wrote "I'm sorry" on Sam's magic slate, grieving his death.^[9]

Henry Burrell

Ellie trusted Henry while in Kansas City, even when Joel was cautious of him. Through Ellie's trust, she helped Henry gain Joel's appreciation and cemented their alliance while trying to escape the city. Ellie even felt comfortable inviting Henry to join her and Joel on their trip to Wyoming, despite knowing Joel would not. When Henry committed suicide, Ellie was distraught, breaking down in tears and overcome with guilt that she was unable to save his brother and blamed herself for Henry's death.^[9]

Riley

Riley was Ellie's best friend while growing up in the Boston quarantine zone. The pair looked out for each other, with Riley protecting Ellie from the other girls in the school, particularly the older girls who tried to bully her. Through Riley's influence, Ellie grew rebellious, regularly sneaking out with her to wander the city when they shouldn't. Ellie grew to be immensely loyal to Riley, starting a fight with Bethany when the girl smeared Riley's name. Even after weeks apart, Ellie's loyalty to Riley remained strong, the girl following her out and spending time with her in the abandoned Liberty Gardens mall.^[11]

However, Ellie could harbor anger towards Riley. While initially impressed with her joining the Fireflies, upon learning Riley was only able to see her because she was posted at the mall to kill FEDRA soldiers, Ellie grew angry and stormed off, berating her friend for her actions. Despite this, she returned to her and apologized, dancing with one another. Ellie also revealed her hidden feelings for Riley, kissing her in a plea to leave the Fireflies and stay with her.^[11]

After the infected attack, Ellie was devastated at losing her friend to the Cordyceps infection. She still does not speak openly about it and implies to Joel that she had to kill Riley's infected self, leaving her with survivor's guilt.^[6][5] However, this survivor's guilt spurred her on to find a cure, revealing Riley's impact on Ellie was immense. It also made her determined not to lose anyone else she grew close to, like Joel.^[11] Even one year on from Riley's death, Ellie still thought about her and would still harbor her guilt at having lived while Riley could not.^[5]

Behind the scenes

• Ellie is portrayed by English actor Bella Ramsey.^[13] More than 100 actors had been considered for Ellie^[14] as the producers sought a performer who could portray a resourceful, quirky, and potentially violent character.^[15] After watching Ramsey's audition tape, they reached out to Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss—a series in which Ramsey had starred previously—who assured them of their talent. Ramsey secured the role less than a month after their audition^[16] and received news of their casting during production on a different project.^[17]
  • Ramsey was aware of the game before their audition,^[18] but was encouraged not to play it to avoid replicating Ashley Johnson's original performance, instead watching some gameplay on YouTube to "get a sense of it".^[19] As of filming the series, they still hadn't played the game.^[20] Ramsey wanted their performance to be reminiscent of the games without copying them.^[21]
  • Ramsey, who is English, learned an American accent for the role,^[22] and had to cut off over 15 inches of hair.^[18]
  • Some fans expressed doubt regarding Ramsey's casting of Ellie. Ramsey admits that they were initially upset by the negative fan feedback, even causing them to doubt the casting choice. They eventually accepted their role as Ellie and responded to those who doubted them, saying "...and I can do it, I am a good actor, but this will last for a few weeks and then I'll think I'm terrible again. That’s just the process."^[18]

Quotes

“

A 14-year old orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet, struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world. ―Official description from HBO's website.[23]

”

---

Ellie: Endure. Survive. Fuck yeah man!

---

David: "You know what I see when I look at you? Me. You remind me of me. You're a natural leader. You're smart, loyal...violent."

Ellie: "You don't know anything about me"

David: "Oh but I do. If I let out of that cage, stuck that knife of yours in your hand, you'd stick me in a circuit. You have a violent heart and I should know. I've always had a violent heart."

---

Ellie: "There's no halfway with this. We finish what we started."

---

Ellie: "When I got bit in the mall, I wasn't on my own. My best friend was there and she got bit too. We didn't know what to do and she just said 'we can wait it out, be all poetic and just lose our minds together'. But then she did and I had to...Her name was Riley and she was the first to die and then it was Tess and then Sam."

Gallery

Season 1

Promotional images

Official stills

Behind the scenes

Season 2

Promotional images

References

v · d · e Characters and groups in HBO's The Last of Us
Groups	Cannibals · FEDRA · Fireflies · Infected (Runner · Stalker · Clicker · Bloater) · Jackson community · Kansas City resistance · Raiders · Smugglers · Survivors · United States military
Austin	Connie Adler · Danny Adler · Denise · Jimmy · Lauterstein · Mercy · Nana · Nasir · Sarah Miller · Tahira
Boston	Abe · Becca · Bethany · Carol · Ellie Williams · Gabriela · Jason Choi · Joel Miller · Maria Elisiano · Miguel · Robert · Tess
Cannibals	Alec · David · Hannah · James · Josiah · Joyce · Howard · Marco · Martin · Timothy
FEDRA	Knapp · Kwong · Lee
Fireflies	Kim Tembo · Marlene · Riley
Jackson	Maria Miller · Shimmer · Tommy Miller
Jakarta	Agus Hidayat · Ratna Pertiwi
Kansas City	The Bergquists · Carrie Schreiber · The Chans · Edelstein · Henry Burrell · Mark Anthony Halpin · Sam Burrell
Lincoln	Bill · Frank
Resistance	Anthony · Bryan · Kathleen Coghlan · Michael Coghlan · Perry
Wyoming	Florence · Marlon
Other characters	Abby Anderson · Anna · Dina · Isaac · Jesse · Kevin · Manny · Mel · Murray · Neuman · Nora · Owen · Schoenheiss