Warning: the following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode eight, “When We Are In Need,” and The Last of Us Part II video game. 

Recommended Videos

Given that Ellie has been bitten in the past and turned out to be immune to cordyceps, does that mean that she can still infect other people? It’s a pretty fair question, and one that we can answer for you. 

You’ve probably landed here after the intense events of The Last of Us episode eight, “When We Are in Need” during which Ellie’s life was in serious danger at the hands of David and James, literally on the chopping block.

Before David is able to swing his knife and maim Ellie, she is able to think fast and exclaim that she is infected, stopping David in his tracks. Given that mere moments ago, she had bitten David’s hand while struggling to escape his grasp, she then follows up with “and now so are you.” 

This puts David and James in enough of a panic to distract them just long enough for her to grab the knife and stick it in James’ throat and make her escape. If you’re here, you likely know most of what goes down next, but during the tense steakhouse sequence, David seems to call Ellie’s bluff on the matter as he searches for her. 

But what is the truth of the matter? Hypothetically speaking, if David lived to see another day, would he have eventually turned into yet another mindless victim of the cordyceps infection? 

At this point in the story of The Last of Us, this is not a question that Ellie herself knows the answer to, so before we dive in, consider yourself warned that we’re going into spoiler-ish territory. We will be drawing on some knowledge of The Last of Us Part II video game, the events of which will most likely be covered in the next season of the HBO adaptation. Bear in mind that what we’ll be explaining next will, to some degree, give away the ending of season one.  

Can Ellie infect others?

Whether Ellie knew it at the time or not, her desperate attempt to stall David was very much a bluff, and he would not have succumbed to cordyceps infection had he lived long enough to find out. Ellie discovers this about her immunity a few years down the road and before the events of The Last of Us Part II. This information isn’t available outright through the game’s cutscenes and surface-level exposition; they need to dive a little deeper in order to make this discovery for themselves, specifically by reading Ellie’s journal.

In short, Ellie is going to end up tattooing over her bite mark to conceal the truth of her immunity from the other residents of Jackson, and her tattoo artist is a girl named Cat. We don’t even meet Cat on screen, but the pair had a mutual attraction. After a tattoo session, Cat kisses Ellie, which sends her into a panic. The pair spend the night together, but Cat doesn’t end up developing any symptoms.

“I’ve just had the worst/best day of my life! Cat was finishing another session on my arm and then climbed on top of me and kissed me. I threw her off of me. I yelled at her. I thought I infected her. I mean…I’m infected…sort of. I don’t know how the fuck this shit transfers. What if she turns? What would I tell people? She’s got family. I told her we should take a walk.” 

“I lied and said I’d never kissed anyone and that I was just nervous. She was actually sweet about my freak out. We spent the day walking and talking. Then she came to my place for a movie. She fell asleep…I stayed up all night watching her. Looking for signs of infection. “

“The next morning she was fine. Nothing.” 

“I’m not contagious! And Cat likes me!!! What a fucking rollercoaster!!!!”

There we have it. If David had managed to live on, he wouldn’t have turned. Not that it mattered in the long run since that guy’s face was rightfully stabbed into a pulpy mess.