Is Tess really dead in ‘The Last Of Us’?

The second episode of The Last Of Us continues the show’s trend of heartbreaking and surprising deaths.

Created by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and the original game’s co-director Neil Druckmann, the series follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) 20 years after modern civilisation has been ravaged by a deadly infection.

The second episode, titled Infection, shows Joel and Ellie’s first encounter with Clickers, a particularly aggressive mutation of the Cordyceps fungus. It’s also a big episode for Tess (Anna Torv) who joins the duo in their attempt to rendezvous with the Fireflies.

Is Tess dead after The Last Of Us episode two?

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The Last Of Us
Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Anna Torv as Tess in ‘The Last Of Us’. CREDIT: HBO / Warner Media

Sadly, she’s super dead. After the trio discover the Fireflies they were supposed to meet have been killed, Tess reveals a bite mark on her neck to Joel and Ellie.

Tess decides to stay at the building in order to give the pair time to escape from a horde of infected, sacrificing herself by setting the place ablaze. While her death isn’t fully shown on screen, as she’s been bitten, her death is an inevitability regardless.

Does Tess’s death play out in the games in the same way?

In regards to Tess’s death, The Last Of Us is mostly very faithful to the original game. The only difference is who Tess sacrifices herself against – instead of a horde of infected, she makes her last stand against a group of FEDRA soldiers who arrive on the scene. She manages to kill two soldiers, before she’s shot dead.

It’s a small change but by wiping out a horde of infected, the HBO adaptation arguably makes Tess’s sacrifice more impactful.

Tess is played by Anna Torv, who is best known for roles in Fringe and Netflix crime thriller Mindhunter. She also played the lead role of Nariko in the 2007 game Heavenly Sword.

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