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The Last of Us season 2 is a post-apocalyptic drama television series that premiered on HBO on April 13, 2025. Based on the video game franchise of the same name, it centers around the few remaining survivors in a world overrun by humans infected by a fungus called cordyceps. While the infected behave like zombies and pass on the disease, the main character Ellie is seemingly immune to the effect.
In the first season of The Last of Us, Ellie is seen testing positive for the infection without showing any external symptoms. She also admits to being bitten by an infected three weeks prior. It demonstrates that the fungus does not affect her like other people. The reason for this is revealed in the season finale, which shows Ellie’s mother Anna giving birth to her while fighting off an infected and being bit in the process.
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Anna lies to the Fireflies leader Marlene, saying that she severed Ellie’s umbilical cord before being bitten. However, she does refuse to nurse the baby for fear of infection. It is presumed that some of the antigens in Anna’s body traveled to Ellie before the cord was severed, which is enough to make her produce antibodies and not get a full-blown infection.
How does Ellie’s immunity work in The Last of Us?
An explanation for Ellie’s unusual condition is provided halfway through The Last of Us season 1 episode 9, after she and Joel make it to the Fireflies' hospital base in Salt Lake City. Joel is informed that the doctor at the base has a theory on why Ellie is seemingly immune to cordyceps, and is therefore prepping her for surgery.
"Our doctor, he thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth," Marlene, leader of the Fireflies, explains Joel. "It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps think that she's cordyceps; it's why she's immune. He's going to remove it from her, multiply the cells in a lab, produce those chemical messengers...and then we can give it to everyone."
However, since cordyceps take over the brain, the attempt to synthesize a cure would require the sacrifice of Ellie’s life. Not being okay with the trade, Joel kills everyone at the base and takes the girl away to safety.
Who is aware of Ellie’s immunity in The Last of Us?
Joel remains the only person alive, other than Ellie, who is aware of her immunity by the end of the first season. However, in The Last of Us season 2 episode 1, it is revealed that Joel let his brother Tommy in on the secret.
Both Joel and Tommy appear determined to keep the information between them. When Ellie herself mentions at one point that she cannot be infected, Tommy proceeds to shut her up, saying, “We don’t talk about that.”
It suggests that the brothers have had a conversation and decided that it is in Ellie’s best interest to hide her condition. Otherwise, she will be having a target on her back, as many may attempt to see the Fireflies’ plans through for her.
In The Last of Us season 2 episode 2, Joel dies a gruesome death at the hands of Abby, the daughter of the Fireflies’ doctor whom he killed for trying to operate on Ellie. This leaves Tommy as the sole guardian of Ellie’s secret.
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