The Last of Us season 2: What's the meaning of Ellie's tattoo, explained

Modified Apr 24, 2025 09:01 GMT

Bella Ramsey as seen in the dystopian series The Last of Us season 2 (Custom cover edited by Sportskeeda, Original Image [HBO])

The highly-anticipated The Last of Us season 2 arrived on HBO on April 13, 2025, and will conclude on May 25, 2025. Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show's second season is based on the highly-successful video game of the same name that was released in 2020.

The show's second chapter is set five years after the events of the first season and focuses heavily on Ellie as she grapples with themes of revenge, forgiveness, and acceptance of one's fate.

Ellie has the tattoo of a fern and moth on her right forearm, which represents new beginnings and transformation.

The official synopsis of The Last of Us season 2, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:

"Joel and Ellie must survive ruthless killers and monsters on a trek across America after an outbreak."

Everything to know about Ellie's tattoo in The Last of Us season 2

Bella Ramsey stars as Ellie in the dystopian series The Last of Us season 2 (Image via Instagram/@thelastofus)

Ellie's tattoo is a significant aspect of the character and symbolizes her journey through the infection-ravaged world.

She gets bitten by an Infected, along with her friend Riley, in episode 7 of season 1, titled Left Behind. Although she survives due to her immunity, Riley is not as lucky and dies from the bite.

Since the unmistakable bite marks can prove detrimental to Ellie's survival in Jackson, she decides to hide it with a chemical burn and a tattoo.

As per the game, Ellie's ex-girlfriend and tattoo artist, Cat, came up with the design of the tattoo, which runs the length of her right forearm, to cover up the chemical burns.

During the release of the video game, The Last of Us Part II in June 2020 (the source material for The Last of Us season 2), the game's co-creator, Neil Druckmann, shed light on Ellie's tattoo by telling The Post:

"There’s a functional reason for the tattoo, which is covering up the bite. The idea that Joel instilled in her is the bite is dangerous. So, she starts by doing a chemical burn."

The California-based tattoo artist, Natalie Hall, came up with the idea of combining a moth and a fern for the tattoo's design.

Druckmann stated that the moth closely resembles the firefly, which is also the name of the rebel group tracking down Ellie in the game and its television adaptation.

Moreover, he likened the design to a "symbol of death and compulsion" and felt that it symbolized her relationship "with Joel to her old life."

Ellie's journey in The Last of Us season 2 explained

The Last of Us season 2 has only released two episodes of the season, as of this writing. It picks up five years after Joel and Ellie reach the settlement in Jackson, Wyoming, run by his brother, Tommy, and his wife, Maria.

Ellie learns that Joel lied to her about the Fireflies not finding a cure to the Cordyceps infection, to justify taking her away from the hospital in the finale of The Last of Us season 1.

Although Ellie was willing to sacrifice herself to develop a vaccine and save the world, Joel ultimately took that decision away from her.

Due to the revelation, her relationship with Joel is strained at the start of The Last of Us season 2. She becomes increasingly independent and less reliant on Joel.

Ellie begins a romantic relationship with Dina after the two share a kiss at the New Year's party.

However her life takes a sudden turn when Abby brutally murders Joel in episode 2 as revenge for him killing her father, a Firefly soldier in Salt Lake City.

Ellie watches helplessly as Joel dies in front of her eyes and vows to avenge his death in the episode's final moments, which sets her on a perilous path for the rest of the season.

The latest episodes of The Last of Us season 2 will air weekly on Sundays on HBO.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande