How did Joel not get infected in 'The Last of Us'?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The premiere of ‘The Last of Us’ gave a glimpse of the horrifying Cordyceps infection spreading like wildfire across the globe and turning people into flesh-eating zombies. Joel, along with his daughter Sarah, and brother Tommy, tries getting out of their hometown before they are outnumbered by the infected. Even before getting separated due to all the hysteria, the trio never got infected. Since that moment, a lot of people have been thinking about the origin of the infection and how did it manage to infect so many people at once.
The terrifying opening sequence of ‘The Last of Us’ gives us an idea about how the infection could be tied to global warming. On the other hand, Episode 2 of HBO’s post-apocalyptic series changed the entire narrative and moved the epicenter of the Cordyceps infection to Asia. Even though the latest episode of the series didn’t feature any flashback sequence related to the infection’s origin, a conversation between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) unveiled some really important details about the infection’s origin and gave the fans an idea about how it could have spread in such a massive way.
RELATED ARTICLES
When will 'The Last of Us' Episode 4 air on HBO and HBO Max? Here's what to expect
But most importantly, how did Joel manage to stay safe from the infection? Let’s take a look.
How did the Cordyceps infection spread?
In one of the scenes in Episode 3, Ellie asks Joel about the infection and how it killed almost everyone. At first, Joel was reluctant to talk about it, but Ellie kept on asking the same question repeatedly and that’s when Joel answered her question about how the infection takes out almost the entire population. Joel explained that the Cordyceps mutated and infected the food supplies across the world, such as flour and sugar. The infection made its way to every household when the aforementioned things made from the infected crops were distributed in shops and supermarkets. Meanwhile, regular shelf items such as bread or cereal also carried the infection which, when enough was ingested, made people become infected.
Even in the game, a newspaper found in Joel’s house states that the crops were being recalled after infections began.
How did Joel not get infected?
While talking about the infection, Joel reveals that the infection got into the food supply because certain brands of food were sold everywhere and that’s how the infection got everywhere. However, the things he told Ellie might have also revealed the reason why Joel didn’t get infected and was saved from the Cordyceps infection.
“Best guess, Cordyceps mutated and some of it got into the food supply — probably a basic ingredient like flour or sugar. There were certain brands of food that were sold everywhere. All across the country, and across the world. Bread, cereal, pancake mix. You eat enough of it, it'll get you infected,” Joel said.
If you saw the first episode closely, then the words “pancake mix” should have stood out.
During the first episode, Joel’s daughter, Sarah, planned to make her father pancakes for his birthday. But she discovers that they were out of the pancake mix and she was forced to make eggs for him. This is not the only instance where Sarah and Joel saved themselves from getting infected. The premiere also saw their neighbor offer them biscuits, but they politely refused. Later, when the outbreak took place, that older woman became infected and killed her family members as well. On the other hand, Joel forgot to pick up a cake from the bakery to celebrate his birthday. But it seems, the decision not to pick up the cake saved them from getting infected.
This is one of the main reasons that make Cordyceps infection so terrifying. Flour and grain can act as the perfect substrate for the infection to spread to everyone and this real-world element makes everything even more horrifying.
'The Last of Us' returns to HBO with a new episode every Sunday at 9 pm EST.
