Survival is one of the core themes found in HBO’s adaptation ofThe Last of Us. The post-apocalyptic series wins widespread praise forits incredible soundtrack, the portrayal of the will to live, and its special focus on familial bonds.The Last of Usoffers a dark take on the loss of a child and the parental guilt that arises from the failure to protect a child.
It begins with Joel Miller having a birthday breakfast with his daughter, Sarah. Her arc has been captivated through incredibly heartbreaking dialogue, right from wanting to spend more time with her father to the events of the outbreak.
10"Literally? Today?"
The Last of Usseason 1, episode 1 “When You’re Lost in the Darkness,” opens with Sarah servingJoel (Pedro Pascal)eggs and orange juice. As they sit at the breakfast table, Joel’s brother, Tommy enters and starts to talk about their workday.
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Joel says he’s picking up a double shift on his birthday. As Sarah wants to spend more time with her father, he promises to be home by 9 PM. She realizes her father is overworked and that she would rather they spend his special day together.
9"Where’s The Cake? Come on, Man."
Joel, whosegame version is touted as a relatable introvert, returns home at 10 PM, and he finds that Sarah has stayed up for him. Not only is he late, but he’s pretty much forgotten to pick his birthday cake. The fact that this scene is among the handful of moments they have together before chaos erupts makes it incredibly heartbreaking.
Sarah looks disappointed because she didn’t get to do any of the special things she wanted for her dad’s birthday. At this point, both of them are blithely unaware of what’s coming for them and the rest of the world.
8"You Were Never Gonna Do It For Yourself, So…"
For Joel’s birthday, Sarah fixes his broken watch. It cost $20, and she admits upfront that she stole money to get it done. Sarah calls herself “an honest thief” and says she did so because she knows how little her father is invested in himself.
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Sarah and Joel’s lives aren’t easy before the outbreak day. He is the only parent she has, but he’s thrown himself into his work. Joel invests little time in himself, and Sarah is way beyond her years for realizing that.
7"Come On, Let’s Get You Home. C’mon, Mercy, Please."
Sarah’s last day alive is anything but calm. She has witnessed her classmates twitch, police cars and fire engines rush by, and sirens go off. To make matters worse, she wakes in the middle of the night and finds her father missing from their home.
Though Sarah isn’t the principal character in thepost-apocalyptic seriesThe Last of Us,the beginning of the outbreak is told through her eyes. The neighbor’s dog, Mercy, comes to Sarah’s home where she unsuccessfully tries to ease him down. Shortly afterward, Sarah walks into the Adler house and sees a badly wounded Mr. Adler as he begs for help. The young girl also witnesses Mrs. Adler kill her daughter. Unsurprisingly, Sarah is horrified and runs for her life.
6"You Killed Her."
Sarah fondly called Mrs. Adler “Nana” and paid her visits whenever she could. She is shaken to witness Joel kill Nana and quite obviously perceives the death as traumatic.
Joel holds Sarah tight and tries to talk sense into her. He asks her to be brave and rushes her inside the truck. Sarah is visibly rattled, but there’s nothing she can do.
5"Is It From Terrorists? Are We Sick? Why Did Things Blow Up?"
As Tommy drives away, Sarah watches her neighborhood plunge into chaos. She has a couple of questions on her mind and all she is told is the disordered state of affairs is due to some kind of “virus” and “parasite.” Her dad doesn’t know who it’s from, but he assures her that they aren’t sick.
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Sarah, who has seen far too many intense things for her age, wants to know more. The pair are trying to get to a safe place without any cell phone, radio coverage, or help from the government.
4"How Do You Know We Are Not Sick?"
Given Sarah has witnessed the early stages ofthe Cordyceps outbreak, she is in disbelief when Joel says they aren’t sick. Uncle Tommy tries to explain the virus outbreak has affected people in the city and that’s why the highway is blocked off.
Sarah comes across more devastating visuals on the road, such as Jimmy’s farmhouse in flames, causing her to cry. All she can do at this point is trust her dad and uncle when they try to assure her the infection is coming from hospitals.
3"But, You’d Have To Go A Lot, Right?"
The fourteen-year-old Sarah is inquisitive. It doesn’t take her long to figure out that the Adlers would take Nana into the city and that that’s where she got infected.
AlthoughThe Last of Uspremieremakes a couple of references to the Cordyceps spread, in that, it mutated and got into foods with flour and sugar, things are still unclear for the characters. The Adlers were shown baking cookies, while Sarah said they were out of pancake flour and Joel forgot to pick up his birthday cake. Uncle Tommy ate at Joel’s place and that’s why he was also safe from the infection. Sarah gets assurances from her elders, but each second is worse than the last.
2"We Could Put Them In The Back."
As Sarah visited the Adlers often, she has a strong sense of civic duty. When they come across a family with a kid, she is upset when her father orders Tommy to drive past and not help them.
While he isn’t the hardened person he becomes later down the road, Joel still only cares about nothing more than their survival. Sarah knows things are getting worse after Tommy cuts through a field and says they’re blocked off from almost all directions. She is perturbed when her dad says they are heading toward Mexico.
1"Maybe It’s Everywhere. Maybe, There’s No Way To Go."
By the end, Sarah has figured out the situation could be prevalent everywhere and that no place is safe. It’s one of the last things she expresses inThe Last of Usbefore she dies.
The next (and last) minutes of Sarah’s life are the most difficult. A passenger plane falls out of the sky, causing her to sustain an ankle injury. She sees people running away from the infected, and eventually, she is shot in the abdomen by a soldier.Sarah Miller’s heartbreaking deathchanges her dad, Joel, forever.
