Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 6.
The latest episode ofThe Last of UsSeason 2, “The Price,” hits many emotional notes, but it also fills in some gaps left by the original game,The Last of Us: Part II. Among themany flashbacksthat make up the episode, one of them actually shows Ellie (Bella Ramsey) getting her iconic tattoo, something that the game only mentions. The whole scene is very touching becauseit’s not only about the tattoo, but also about Ellie coming to terms with who she is and the scars she bears, as well as about Joel (Pedro Pascal) learning about who his surrogate daughter really is. Ellie’s decision to get a tattoo ultimately proves to be a crucial moment in their relationship, with unexpected consequences for both.
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Finally Reveals the Story Behind Ellie’s Moth Tattoo
Ellie’s tattoo is one of the character’s major changes between the two games, so with Season 2 adapting the first part of the second game, it had to be featured.In the game, Ellie getting her tattoo happens off-screen, although we learn that the tattoo was given to her by her girlfriend at the time, Kat, who also created the design. They eventually break up in the four-year gap between the first and second game, but it seems they still get along afterward, because Ellie keeps her picture next to Dina’s (Isabela Merced) and Jesse’s (Young Mazino) at a later point in the story.
HBO’s adaptation provides more context for Ellie’s tattoo, which also serves asa way to further hide the bite mark on her forearm, keeping her immunity to the Cordyceps infection a secret. Before getting the tattoo, Ellie attempts different methods of hiding the mark, including something more drastic. In one of the flashbacks in “The Price,“Tommy(Gabriel Luna) brings her home to Joel after she tries to cover the scar left by the bite mark by purposefully burning herself. It’s heartbreaking when she expresses her desire to blend in with other people, but can’t even wear short sleeves. In a later flashback, Joel comes home early from a patrol to surprise Ellie with a birthday cake, but discovers her alone in her room with a girl, who’s revealed to be Kat (Noah Lamanna). Although their relationship status isn’t clarified, it doesn’t seem like she and Ellie are really dating at that point.
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Gross also discusses which scene was brought into the show that was originally scrapped from the game, and the meaning of Ellie’s tattoo.
Similar to the game, however,Kat is the person who gives Ellie her tattoo. The whole scene also doubles as a forced coming-out moment for Ellie, but one that’s beautifully built by the writers. Her confrontation with Joel may feel familiar to anyone who’s ever gone through a similar experience, although Joel later makes up for his rudeness with Ellie and Kat by agreeing to let Ellie move into the garage. Ellieholds her ground, making it clear who she is without having to spell it out for Joel, and he understands and agrees to give her her space.
Ellie’s Moth Tattoo Carries a Lot of Significance and Symbolism
Later in “The Price,” Joel asks Ellie about her attachment to moth imagery, now that she has one tattooed on her in addition to the many drawings on her bedroom walls. According to Ellie, its meaning comes from something she read in a book about dreams, but that doesn’t explain much.AsGail(Catherine O’Hara) explains to Joel in a later scene, moths are actually symbols of death, which leads him to worry, but Ellie’s attachment to moths has nothing to do with the idea of her or anyone close to her dying, at least not in principle.
Ellie is someone who carries death within her. At the end of Season 1, Marlene (Merle Dandridge) explains to Joel that Ellie is immune because she was born with Cordyceps — death, in other words — settled in her brain, and “it makes normal Cordyceps think that she’s Cordyceps.” Ellie believes she wassupposed to diein the Firefly hospital so they could produce a cure and maybe even a vaccine for the Cordyceps. Because of Joel’s intervention, she believes her life now has no value or meaning, as she tells him in the porch scene.
The moth is the main element in Ellie’s tattoo, but not the only one. Underneath it, there’s a fern, which also carries its own meaning. In many cultures,the fern is associated with new beginnings, growth, and resilience, all of which are traits Ellie has. Throughout her life, she had the opportunity to begin anew when she reached Jackson with Joel, and his saving her may alsosymbolize that. Resilience, however, is the trait she displays the most, with her ability to stand up and go on whenever tragedy strikes — and it strikes pretty often in her life.
Ellie’s Tattoo Has Unexpected Consequences for Her and Joel in ‘The Last of Us’
Based on Joel’s reaction to Ellie’s tattoo, it can be inferred that he is rather close-minded about subjects that are outside his own life experience. When he catches Ellie and Kat together, he accuses Ellie of surprising him with “all the teenage sh*t all at once,” because, in his mind, that’s what getting tattoos and fooling around is about, especially with people of the same gender. It takes a few hours, but Joel eventually concludes that, even ifhe doesn’t understand, he only needs to respect Ellie for who she is.What he doesn’t expect are the more serious consequences that come with Ellie’s self-actualization.
Tattoos are usually one of the first ways many young adults find to express themselves in ways that test the limits of what society permits, so it’s natural that Ellie would want one, but she also never truly stops testing these limits and questioning her world. After getting her tattoo, she expands her world enough to get more freedom and clarity of thought. It’s no coincidence thatthis is also when Ellie starts questioning whether Joel really told her the truthabout what happened in Salt Lake City, which ultimately leads to her confronting him about his lie in the hours leading up to his death. Now, every time Ellie looks at her tattoo, she has a permanent reminder of the lengths she went to to hide the truth about herself, but also a reminder of the death that surrounds her — as well as the resilience she’ll have to draw from in her ultimate pursuit of revenge.
