Perhaps one of the most honest and successful video game adaptations of all time, HBO’s treatment of television Our Last had some great nod to the game, including many Easter eggs and guests. However, one of the most poignant is a flashback scene in last episodeshows Ellie’s date of birth and possible source of immunity, along with her mother, Anna. And she is portrayed by none other than Ellie’s voice actress in the game, Ashley Johnson. What you might not know, however, is that Johnson kept an out-of-frame prop from the original game in her pocket, using it as a reminder of the characters’ history.
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Our Last, in both video game and TV form, shows humanity’s struggle after an irreversible outbreak that nearly wiped out all of human civilization. The story of the first game and the first season focuses on the journey of Ellie, who, by some fate, has become immune to the infectious disease that has destroyed the world. However, Ellie’s origins are only recorded up to a certain point, mainly chronicling her youth with childhood friend Riley via DLC and attached comics. The knowledge of who her parents are, however, remains largely outside the scope of the game. Beside a Naughty Dog’s . in-game easter eggs discover 4and understand that at least one other character knows her mother, whose parents are not shown or know much. Up until the last episode of the first season, all we had ever seen of Ellie’s mother in this world was a note Ellie keeps in her backpack, which can be read in chapter nine of the first game where the player takes control of Ellie. However, a recent interview with Ellie’s in-game voice actor revealed that the note itself was recreated and out of frame, helping Johnson get into the character of Anna.
Ashley Johnson: ‘I wrote that letter down and just kept it in my pocket’
Talk to Duration Regarding her performance as Ellie in the game and her appearance as Anna in the final season of the TV adaptation, Johnson revealed that she recreated the prop in the game. Play record Anna’s last words with Ellie. Johnson shared that it was part of the process of bringing Anna to life:
In the game, there is a letter that Anna wrote and Ellie left in her backpack. And I wrote that letter out and just kept it in my pocket as a reminder to myself of the origins of this character and the kind of history of that. But most of it was like, you know what? I’ll bring my version of what I did to Ellie [in the game] and the little pieces of Bella [Ramsey].
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The letter itself speaks to Anna’s immediate love for her daughter, “You’re not even a day old,” it says “and holding you is the most incredible thing I’ve done in my life—a life that is about to get cut a little short.”
The in-game letter concludes with a message to Ellie that resonates with much of what Joel would go on to tell her about surviving and persisting through a fallen world: “I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won’t be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that, life is worth living. Find your purpose and fight for it.”
While I for one would’ve loved to see more recreated in-game props As for the show, it’s hard to deny that it’s clearly one of the best and most impactful recreations of all—but it’s not even on screen.
