Our list of the best quotes from HBO post-apocalyptic drama television show based on the video game of the same name. The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed and follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler who is tasked with escorting 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic Amercia. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the US and depend on each other for survival.
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1. When You’re Lost in the Darkness
'You fight for twenty years, and you get nowhere, you're not a rebellion. Just spray paint.' - Marlene (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Dr. Schoenheiss: [1968] A new virus in Madagascar, say, could be in Chicago within a matter of weeks. And we end up with a global pandemic. Pan meaning “all”. The whole world becomes sick all at once.
Dr. Neuman: Mankind has been at war with the virus from the start. Sometimes, millions of people die, as in an actual war. But in the end, we always win.
'Three nails, plus one cross, equals four-given.' - Mrs. Adler (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Dr. Neuman: Fungi seem harmless enough. Many species know otherwise. Because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control.
Dr. Neuman: Viruses can make us ill, but fungi can alter our very minds. There’s a fungus that infects insects. Gets inside an ant, for example, travels through its circulatory system to the ant’s brain, and then floods it with hallucinogens, thus bending the ant’s mind to its will. The fungus starts to direct the ant’s behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a puppeteer with a marionette. And it gets worse. The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant’s flesh with its own. But it doesn’t let its victim die. No, it keeps its puppet alive by preventing decomposition.
'Mankind has been at war with the virus from the start.' - Dr. Neuman (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Dr. Neuman: One gene mutates and an ascomycete, candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus, any one of them could become capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control not of millions of us, but billions of us. Billions of puppets with poisoned minds permanently fixed on one unifying goal, to spread the infection to every last human alive by any means necessary. And there are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures. They don’t exist. It’s not even possible to make them.
Host: So if that happens?
Dr. Neuman: We lose.
2. Infected
'It's the long way or the “we're f***ing dead” way.' - Theresa 'Tess' Servopoulos, 'Well, I vote long way, just based on that limited information.' - Ellie Williams (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Agus Hidayat: [2003, Jakarta, in Indonesian] We need a vaccine, or a medicine.
Ibu Ratna: [in Indonesian] I have spent my life studying these things. So please listen carefully. There is no medicine. There is no vaccine.
Agus Hidayat: [in Indonesian] So what do we do?
Ibu Ratna: [in Indonesian] Bomb. Start bombing. Bomb this city, and everyone in it.
Theresa ‘Tess’ Servopoulos: What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?
Ellie Williams: I’m not infected. She found me after I was bitten.
Joel Miller: And she didn’t shoot you.
Ellie Williams: Clearly not.
Ellie Williams: They’d make me count to ten and hold out my hand and then keep it steady. But, you know, I think what really impressed them was the fact that I didn’t turn into a f***ing monster.
Ellie Williams: There’s not going to be anything bad in here?
Joel Miller: Just you.
Ellie Williams: Oh, funny.
3. Long Long Time'Paying attention to things, it's how we show love.' - Frank (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Ellie Williams: [to Joel] I wasn’t going to say I’m sorry. I was going to say that I’ve been thinking about what happened. Nobody made you or Tess take me. Nobody made you go along with this plan. You needed a truck battery, or whatever, and you made a choice. So don’t blame me for something that isn’t my fault.
'I've had a lot of bad days. I've had bad days with you too. But I've had more good days with you than with anyone else. Just give me one more good day' - Frank (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Ellie Williams: Are Bill and Frank nice?
Joel Miller: Frank is.
'Love me the way I want you to.' - Frank (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: [referring to how he got the scar on his head] Someone shot at me and missed.
Ellie Williams: See, that’s cool. You shoot back?
Joel Miller: Yeah.
Ellie Williams: You get him?
Joel Miller: No, I missed too. It happens more often than you think.
Ellie Williams: Because you suck at shooting, or like in general?
Joel Miller: In general.
'I'm old. I'm satisfied. And you were my purpose.' - Bill (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: You ask a lot of goddamn questions.
Ellie Williams: Yes, I do. So, are you going to answer me, or what?
'There was one person worth saving. That's what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That's why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do. And God help any mfers who stand in our way.' - Bill (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Ellie Williams: Is there anything bad in here?
Joel Miller: Just you.
Ellie Williams: Ah. Getting funnier.
4. Please Hold to My Hand
'You keep going for family. That's about it.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: [referring to the gas] This stuff’s almost water. Back in the day, we’d drive ten, twelve hours on one tank. You could go anywhere.
Ellie Williams: So where did you go?
Joel Miller: Pretty much nowhere.
Ellie Williams: Nice! How does that work?
Joel Miller: It’s a siphon. It’s when liquid travels against gravity because pressure…
Ellie Williams: You don’t know.
Joel Miller: I know it works.
Ellie Williams: “It doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery. No Pun Intended, Volume Too” by Will Livingston.
Ellie Williams: “What did the mermaid wear to her math class? An algae bra.” Like algae bra. “I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.”
Joel Miller: Feel free to wait in the truck.
Ellie Williams: Okay. But just know, you can’t escape Will Livingston. He’ll be back. There’s nothing you can do to stop him.
5. Endure and Survive'If you turn into a monster, is it still you inside?' - Sam (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Kathleen: You know, Perry, I used to be so scared of these people. Now look at them. Did it feel good, betraying your neighbors to FEDRA? Watching us get thrown in prison, watching us hang, so that you could get medicine, alcohol, f***ing apples? Did it make you feel better? Did it make you feel safe? How does it make you feel now?
'I am the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing. But you get it though. You might not be her father, but you were someone's. See, I could tell.' - Henry (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Kathleen: Well, I’m not FEDRA. Lucky for you, no one here has to die. Yeah, we could put you on trial. You’re all guilty, so that’s how that’ll go. And you’ll do some time. Easy. But first, you have to do something for me. Where is Henry? You’re informers. Inform.
'It ends the way it ends.' - Kathleen (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Kathleen: But things have gone great, haven’t you heard? Kansas City is free.
'I think it's easier when you're a kid anyway. You don't have anybody else relying on you. That's the hard part.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Perry: Are we really putting them on trial?
Kathleen: No. We are not really putting them on trial. When you’re done, burn the bodies. It’s faster.
'“Endure and survive.” That s**t's redundant.' - Henry (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Eldelstein: We weren’t shooting our way out of this anyway.
Henry: No. So we’ll sneak our way out.
Eldelstein: How?
Henry: Tunnels.
Eldelstein: Tunnels? Why go to the trouble? You can kill yourself right here.
6. Kin
'Be careful who you put your faith in. The only people who can betray us, are the ones we trust.' - Maria Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: I’m looking for my brother.
Marlon: Well, I ain’t seen him.
Joel Miller: I haven’t told you what he looks like.
Marlon: He look anything like you?
Joel Miller: A bit.
Marlon: Then I ain’t seen him.
'We survived the only way we knew how. But there were other ways. We just weren't any good at them.' - Tommy Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Ellie Williams: Joel, come on. They’re like a thousand.
Marlon: Who’s this little psycho?
'A bad reputation doesn't mean you're bad.' - Tommy Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: I need you to tell us where we are.
Marlon: If you got a map, why you lost?
Ellie Williams: Must’ve missed all the street signs in the enormous f***ing forest.
'I'm failing in my sleep. That's all I do. It's all I've ever done is fail her, again, and again, and again.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: So you haven’t heard the name Tommy?
Marlon: Nope.
Ellie Williams: What about the Fireflies?
Florence: We get those in the summer.
Ellie Williams: Not the bugs, the people.
Florence: There are firefly people?
7. Left Behind'It ends this way for everyone sooner or later, right? Some of us just get there faster than others. But we don't quit. Whether it's two minutes, or two days, we don't give that up.' - Riley Abel (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: [as he’s bleeding out] Leave. Leave.
Ellie Williams: Shut up, Joel.
Joel Miller: Take the gun.
Ellie Williams: Joel, shut the f*** up!
Joel Miller: You go. You go. You go north. You go to Tommy. You go.
Cpt. Kwong: [flashback, after she beats up Bethany] You’re smart, Ellie. You’re so smart, you’re stupid. You can’t see where this is going? Let me help you out. Two paths ahead of you. First path. You keep acting like a grunt, so you get the life of a grunt.
'You can't fight everything and everyone. You can pick and choose what's important.' - Riley Abel (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Cpt. Kwong: [to Ellie] There’s the other path. You swallow this pride of yours. You follow the rules. You become an officer. You get your own room. You get a nice bed. We eat well. We don’t go on patrol. We’re cool in the summer. We’re warm in the winter. And best of all, when you’re an officer, you get to tell the Bethanys of the world exactly where to shove it.
'We can just be all poetic and s**t and lose our minds together.' - Riley Abel (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Ellie Williams: Why do you even care?
Cpt. Kwong: I care because no matter what anyone out there says or thinks, we’re the only thing holding this all together. If we go down, the people in the zone will starve or murder each other. That much I know. There’s a leader in you. And one day, it could be your turn. Or not.
8. When We Are in Need
'So you went from teacher to preacher because, what? It f***ing rhymes?' - Ellie Williams (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
David: I sensed doubt in there.
James: They haven’t lost faith in you, David. They’re just scared.
David: Not from them.
James: I still believe.
Ellie Williams: [as they’re about to take the deer she’d killed] Don’t! Drop your rifles! Now! Turn and face me. Slow. Any sudden moves, I put one right between your eyes. Ditto for buddy boy.
David: You’re quite a hunter. We didn’t even hear you coming.
'There's no such thing as luck.' - David (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
David: We’re from a larger group, women, children, and we’re all very, very hungry.
Ellie Williams: I’m from a large group too. Also hungry.
David: [to Ellie] That’s your dad’s gun? He the one that’s sick? That’s why you’re out here on your own?
9. Look for the Light'Sometimes things don't work out the way we hope. You can feel like you've come to an end, and you don't know what to do next. But if you just keep going, you find something new to fight for.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Anna Williams: [flashback, after she’s attacked by an infected and gives birth] Hey. Oh. Yeah, you tell them. You f***ing tell them, Ellie.
'Maybe there's nothing bad out there, but so far there's always been something bad out there.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Anna Williams: [after it’s revealed she’s been bitten by the Infected] I want you to take her with you to Boston, find someone to bring her up, and make sure that she’s safe.
Marlene: I can’t do that.
Anna Williams: [referring to ther switchbalde knife] And I want you to give her this. Her name is Ellie.
Marlene: I can’t.
'After all we've been through, everything I've done, it can't be for nothing.' - Ellie Williams (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Anna Williams: How long have we known each other?
Marlene: Our whole lives.
Anna Williams: So you pick her up right now, and then you kill me.
Marlene: [as she takes Ellie] I can’t kill you.
Anna Williams: Please, please, please. Please!
'I know you want to protect me. You have. And when we're done, we'll go wherever you want. Tommy's, sheep ranch, the moon. I'll follow you anywhere you go.' - Ellie Williams (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: Well, I found this in there. Beefaroni. Chef Boyardee.
Ellie Williams: Oh, cool.
Joel Miller: And have you ever played this? Boggle? It’s a word game. Well, if you want to beat me at something, it would be this.
'So time heals all wounds, I guess.' - Ellie Williams, 'It wasn't time that did it.' - Joel Miller (The Last of Us) Click To Tweet
Joel Miller: They had a guitar in that RV. It was all smashed up, but got me thinking, maybe I should find one. I haven’t played in forever. In fact, I was thinking maybe I could teach you. I bet you’d be great at it. Do you want to learn how to play guitar? Ellie?
Ellie Williams: Oh, yeah. That’d be great.
Season 1 Trailer: