"Day One" is the fourth episode of the second season, and the thirteenth episode overall, of HBO's The Last of Us. Directed by Kate Herron and written by series co-creator Craig Mazin, the episode aired on HBO on May 4, 2025.
Synopsis[]
In 2018, Seattle FEDRA confronts an unexpected foe. Eleven years later, Ellie and Dina find themselves in the middle of a bloody battle between the zealous Seraphites and a ruthless militia.
Cast and characters[]
Main cast
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller (credit only)
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Young Mazino as Jesse (credit only)
Guest starring
Co-starring
- Carlos Rodriguez as Martinez
- Jag Bal as Patel
- Jake Allyn as Morello
- Leslie Kwan as the FEDRA driver
- Ryan Masson as Malcolm
- Shaine Jones as WLF soldier
- Joel Berg as WLF soldier
- Shalyn Ferdinand as WLF soldier
- Josh Chambers as WLF soldier
- Camden Filtness as WLF soldier
- Vince Song as young WLF guard
- Samuel Hoeksema as clicker
Plot[]
Eleven years ago[]
In a FEDRA van patrolling the Seattle quarantine zone, Janowicz tells what he finds to be a funny story involving his previous sergeant, Greenberg, and his ineptitude in dealing with some "voters" who were handing out pamphlets. Burton, a younger soldier, questions why he calls the citizens "Voters". Their sergeant, Isaac, bluntly explains it's because they took away their rights, including their right to vote, and so it's a form of mockery. They are interrupted when the van is surrounded by a group of WLF members, led by Hanrahan. Isaac instructs most of the squad to remain in the van, but asks Burton to come out with him. Isaac and Hanrahan confirm each other's identities before Isaac returns to the van, promptly unpins two grenades, tosses them inside, and slams the door shut, killing his soldiers and finishing off the driver with his gun. He shakes hands with Hanrahan, and then tells Burton to make his choice.
Exploring Seattle[]
Dina scavenges the remains of a Weston's Pharmacy for supplies, finding some tests for a yeast infection but no medication. Just as she is about to leave, she discovers something and tells Ellie she needs a few minutes to pee. A few minutes later, she rejoins Ellie and Shimmer and they continue their journey. They take in their environment, noting the lack of severe bombing and the presence of several rainbow flags and terms like "Pride" emblazoned in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. They stumble across an abandoned tank, surrounded by the skeletal remains of FEDRA soldiers, whom Ellie notes seem to have been fighting each other. She looks inside the tank, finding only three burnt skeletons, whom she compares to the Apollo 1 astronauts. Dina spots a graffiti tag for the WLF on a satellite dish in the distance, on top of a TV station. Ellie tries to charge ahead, but Dina points out it probably means the WLF has a heavy presence and would spot their approach, so they decide to wait until it gets dark to continue on foot. The pair hole up in an abandoned music store, and explore its collection of records and instruments. Upstairs, Ellie finds a bunch of moldy guitars. Her interest piqued, she searches around and finds an intact one preserved in its case thanks to some silica gel packets. She takes it out and begins playing an acoustic rendition of "Take On Me" by a-ha. Dina is drawn upstairs by the music and tearfully listens as Ellie serenades her.
In an abandoned restaurant kitchen, Isaac ignites a stove and waxes poetic about his younger days cooking for romantic partners and his dreams of owning proper restaurant equipment such as copper Mauviel saucepans. He takes one pan and starts heating it up, noting that it does not retain heat like a cast iron, and thus makes it inferior for interrogations. His prisoner is revealed to be Malcolm, a member of the Seraphites, whom Isaac refers to as "Scars." Isaac has had Malcolm stripped nude and tortures him for information on their next attack, burning his hand with the pan when he refuses to answer. The two spar over their attacks, Malcolm blaming Isaac and the "Wolves" for killing children, and Isaac in turn accusing the Seraphites of being equally brutal with bows and arrows. Malcolm spits that Isaac will lose to them, because while each day someone from the WLF defects to the Seraphites, no one is doing vice versa. Isaac attempts to continue the interrogation, but is stopped in his tracks when Malcolm freely offers up his hand to be burned. Realizing he will get no useful information, Isaac promptly shoots Malcolm. Outside the room, a young WLF guard listens to this with horror, while Burton dogmatically claims that the "Scar" got what he deserved.
Night falls[]
That night, Ellie and Dina approach the TV station, but find no patrol. Ellie assumes this means there is a security camera and proposes they go through a back entrance. Dina finds a broken window on the second floor, which Ellie surmises with some incredulity that this means someone else must have gotten through. They decide to press on, and decide if they encounter any WLF members they saw in Jackson, they will deal with them. Upon heading inside, they are stunned to immediately find the dead body of a WLF member killed with arrows. Venturing further, they discover even more brutality, finding the tortured and dismembered bodies of more WLF members, the sight of which causes Dina to vomit. Finding graffiti written in blood saying "Feel her love" accompanied by the symbol they saw on the group in the woods, Ellie realizes this was their work, prompting Dina to question "What the fuck is wrong with Seattle?" Just after Dina picks up a walkie-talkie, a squad of WLF members comes in, forcing Dina and Ellie to hide. The squad survey the bodies and decide to take out any "Scars" they encounter, ignoring Isaac's orders to take any of them alive. Ellie and Dina initially evade the soldiers, but eventually are forced to kill two as they escape outside and down a narrow shaft into a subway tunnel.
Inside the tunnel, the two find collapsed passageways and abandoned cars as they search for a safe exit. Eventually, the WLF squad enters the tunnel and begin lighting flares to smoke them out. However, one of the flares triggers an obscured group of Cordyceps tendrils. The squad hear the sound of Infected, and are quickly overwhelmed when an entire horde emerges from the tunnels. Ellie and Dina at first escape into one of the subway cars, which they are alarmed to find is already filled with skeletons. The infected attempt to break in, forcing the two to escape through a ceiling hatch. Ellie finds a rusted exit gate and pushes her way through. When Dina tries to follow her, a runner catches up to them and moves to bite her, but Ellie places her arm in front of Dina and takes the bite instead, giving Dina a chance to shoot the infected before making it through the gate and trapping the infected behind. Ellie urges Dina to continue running as Dina stares at the bite in horror. They emerge outside, and Ellie proposes they hole up inside an abandoned theater nearby, while Dina hesitantly readies her pistol.
Inside the theater lobby, Ellie barricades the door, only to turn around to find Dina tearfully holding her at gunpoint. Realizing what Dina thinks happened, Ellie reveals she has been bitten before and is actually immune, telling a disbelieving Dina that she can prove it by falling asleep and waking up exactly the same as before, allowing Dina to continue pointing her gun at her during that time.
Secrets revealed[]
Sometime later, Ellie is awoken by some water dripping on her face, finding Dina still holding her at gunpoint. She reveals she is still herself and shows the bite to Dina, proving her immunity by pointing out the absence of the infection. Dina stands up and tells Ellie she is pregnant, before dropping the gun and kissing her. The two are overcome with emotion and consummate their relationship.
The next morning, after waking up in each other's arms, Dina asks about her immunity, realizing that Ellie's tattoos are meant to cover up her previous bites. Ellie asks why Dina revealed her feelings now, to which Dina explains she had thought she was about to lose Ellie and the future she had imagined the two could have together. Dina admits she always knew about Ellie's feelings and herself reciprocated but felt pressure from her mother to hide her feelings for both boys and girls, and felt stuck with trying to make things work with Jesse. Ellie then asks how Dina knows she's pregnant. Dina explains she was tipped off with her getting sick after seeing the bodies in the woods as well as being late on her period, and she confirmed it after taking several pregnancy tests at the pharmacy. Ellie marvels at the idea that they―Dina, Ellie, and Jesse―are having a baby.
They are interrupted by a WLF transmission from the walkie-talkie that Dina stole, reporting a retreat after the attack in the subway. Overhearing the mention of "Nora" being based in Lakehill, they recall this was one of the people who killed Joel. Venturing to an upper floor to figure out their location, they are alarmed to see smoke from an armed conflict in the distance, close to Lakehill. Ellie offers to Dina that she could stay out of the fight given her condition, but Dina insists on continuing together.
Transcript[]
- Main article: Day One/Transcript
Behind the scenes[]
Featured music[]
Production[]
Easter eggs and references[]
- Ellie and Dina are puzzled by all of the rainbow flags and references to "pride" in the Capitol Hill district of Seattle. Capitol Hill is widely known as Seattle's "gayborhood", home to a concentrated LGBTQ+ community.
- Ellie compares the burnt out bodies in the tank to the Apollo 1 disaster, where astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died in a fire that broke out during a routine systems test on the launch pad on January 27, 1967, less than a month before their planned launch. Ellie's claim that they were going to be the first astronauts to reach the moon is somewhat erroneous, as Apollo 1 was only planned as a Low Earth orbit test flight.
- Ellie's method of convincing Dina of her immunity is the same method used by Joel and Tess in season 1's "Infected".
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Official stills[]
Behind the scenes[]
Videos[]
External links[]
References[]
| Season 1 | "When You're Lost in the Darkness" · "Infected" · "Long, Long Time" · "Please Hold to My Hand" · "Endure and Survive" · "Kin" · "Left Behind" · "When We Are in Need" · "Look for the Light" |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | "Future Days" · "Through the Valley" · "The Path" · "Day One" · "Feel Her Love" · "The Price" · "Convergence" |
| Season 3 | TBA |