The Last of Us Show Creators Explain Why They Made Big Changes to Bill and Frank's Story - IGN

Warning: The beneath contains full spoilers for Episode 3 of The Last of Us, which aired connected HBO connected Jan. 29. If you're not caught up, cheque retired our spoiler-free reappraisal of the archetypal first play here.

The 3rd occurrence of HBO's The Last of Us marked its biggest deviation from its video crippled root worldly yet, giving a standalone installment for broadside characters Bill and Frank and changing their communicative successful the astir drastic – and astir achingly romanticist – of ways.

In the game, Bill and Frank were defined arsenic "partners," though it was ne'er made wide whether they mightiness beryllium conscionable partners successful surviving the apocalypse unneurotic oregon romanticist partners. After getting bushed of Bill's ways, Frank leaves him and Lincoln, the municipality successful which they spent 20 years together. Frank's communicative has a tragic end, arsenic helium takes his ain beingness aft getting infected and leaves a enactment for Bill that reads, "I conjecture you were right. Trying to permission this municipality volition termination me. Still amended than spending different time with you."

But the amusement changes that astir entirely, leaving Ellie and Joel for a spot to springiness america an occurrence devoted to telling Bill and Frank's emotion story. It charts their narration from opening to end, which starts aft Bill (played present by Nick Offerman) finds Frank (Murray Bartlett) stuck successful 1 of his traps, and inactive ends with Frank deciding to extremity his ain life. But it's not due to the fact that helium was infected; it's due to the fact that he's succumbing to a terminal illness, and chooses to spell retired connected his ain terms. He asks Bill to lace his solid of vino with sleeping pills, and Bill does arsenic he's told... making himself a laced solid of vino arsenic well, arsenic helium can't bare to ideate beingness without his lover.

Before each that happens, the bid gives america glimpses into their narration passim the years, including their astir romanticist of highs and the realistic frustrations of immoderate romanticist concern surviving retired 20 years unneurotic successful the apocalypse. Showrunner Craig Mazin and crippled creator and amusement enforcement shaper Neil Druckmann spoke to IGN astir the gut-wrenching episode, explaining wherefore they chose to archer a communicative astir 2 radical who recovered emotion successful a hopeless place.

"When we got to this portion successful the season, Craig brought up a truly absorbing constituent which is... there's a batch of examples of things not turning retired good for people, and often those are reflections and cautionary tales for Joel of 'here's what you basal to lose," Druckmann says. "It was, what if we amusement them what you could basal to win?

"But successful a way, it's besides inactive a informing motion for Joel of particularly connected the heels of losing Tess astatine the extremity of [Episode 2]. In the TV amusement we could permission our main character's perspective, which successful the crippled we're precise overmuch adhered to purely Joel oregon purely Ellie. Here, we could spot what happened with Bill successful the outbreak. And past what was it similar to conscionable Frank and autumn successful emotion with Frank and turn aged with Frank, and past the afloat rhythm of emotion and surviving unneurotic with idiosyncratic and experiencing loss, but nonaccomplishment is tinged with happiness of having lived a afloat beingness filled with love."

"I deliberation it is simply a blessed ending," Mazin adds. "I deliberation we thin to presumption decease arsenic failure, peculiarly successful erstwhile you're talking astir playing a video game. It is virtually failure. And for our amusement truthful far, there's been immoderate brutal moments wherever Joel has failed oregon astatine slightest perceives that he's failed: helium failed his daughter, he's failed Tess, and he's surely feeling that value astatine some the opening and extremity of this episode."

Notably, Joel and Ellie bash find a enactment erstwhile they marque it Bill and Frank's location successful Lincoln aft the second 2 person died, but it's not similar Frank's vindictive 1 successful the game. Instead, it's from Bill, and it motivates Joel successful a mode that's important to the people of the show.

"I'm peculiarly blessed astir the mode Bill.. has managed to animate Joel to instrumentality Ellie west," Mazin says. "He's fixed Joel this posthumous acquisition that men similar you and maine are present for 1 reason, to support the radical we love, and God assistance immoderate motherfuckers who basal successful our way. And it's hard for Joel to say, 'Well, it didn't enactment with Tess, but present what americium I expected to do? Stop being who I am? This is legitimately wherefore I'm here.' And truthful it's the blessed ending and Bill's knowing of who helium was arsenic a quality being that inspires Joel to bash the close happening here. The question is that is it ever going to animate Joel to bash the close thing? We'll person to hold and see."

In summation to being an unusually hopeful look astatine The Last of Us' bleak world, Episode 3 is important for different reason: being, hands down, the biggest alteration from the root worldly yet. It's not the lone change, of people – for example, the bid has swapped spores for tendrils arsenic the mode infected dispersed the pandemic – but it does springiness america conscionable astir an full occurrence of communicative that wasn't successful the game.

Druckmann explains that they ne'er attack their changes from the position of “okay, it's clip to truly astonishment radical acquainted with the game.” “It's much like, wherever are we astatine with the communicative and what's the champion section we could archer close present that volition talk to the themes of emotion and assistance rise the stakes for what Joel and Ellie basal to summation oregon suffer if they win oregon neglect connected their journey? That was the opening point.”

“And past we had immoderate aboriginal speech of wanting to spot Frank due to the fact that we had this accidental to spell back, but past Craig came to maine with a beauteous implicit transportation of what this communicative could look like, and I fell successful emotion with it,” helium goes on.

Druckmann admits that helium might’ve said “fuck no” to these kinds of changes to his characters a fewer years ago, but “I deliberation it speaks to the benignant of process that Craig and I have, which was ever being unfastened to caller ideas and past measure and past bash mathematics homework. Do the mathematics of, what does this springiness us? How does it impact the remainder of the story? Are we amended successful this mentation of the story, successful this different medium, oregon are we worse? If we're better, we should clasp it fully. And this was specified a beauteous story. It was precise casual for maine to say, 'Let's bash it. Sounds amazing.’”

Mazin praises Druckmann for his openness successful making changes to his beloved root material: “He, it seemed to me, ever understood this would beryllium large to spot connected tv and the satellite that helium created with the publication helium wrote for the game… As acold arsenic I'm concerned, it's analyzable capable and it's wide capable and absorbing capable and philosophical capable to beryllium flexible to alteration successful [how] it is adapted into a antithetic medium.

“I anticipation that fans of the crippled spot however overmuch emotion we enactment into it and besides consciousness what we feel, which is that it's inactive wrong the DNA of The Last of Us. It's a parallel universe, but it's besides a shared universe.”

For much connected past night’s heartbreaking occurrence of The Last of Us, check retired IGN’s review, which hails it arsenic a 10/10 masterpiece.

Alex Stedman is simply a News Editor for IGN, overseeing amusement reporting. When she's not penning oregon editing, you tin find her speechmaking phantasy novels oregon playing Dungeons & Dragons.