The Last of Us' Sneakiest Easter Egg Yet Is Hiding in Plain Sight During the Show's Most Horrifying Battle

Joel in a brown jacket in front of Ellie in a beanie and winter coat from The Last of Us Season 2.

The Last of Us is a couple of episodes into Season 2, and a lot has happened already. A major character death that video game fans were dreading has already happened, but Season 2, Episode 2 - "Through the Valley" had so much more packed into it than just one substantial death. This episode made a few major changes from The Last of Us Part II (2020), but arguably, the changes are for the better.

In "Through the Valley," Jackson, Wyoming, faces its most dangerous threat yet. In the middle of a blizzard, hundreds of Infected climb out of the thick snow and head straight for the town full of survivors. This struggle between humanity and the Infected is epic, full of tense moments, and results in devastation. It also delivers some of the most incredible gaming Easter eggs the series has seen.

Jackson Faces Its Most Dangerous Battle Yet

The Isolated Settlement Prepares for the Worst

Tommy holds up a gun and fights off the infected in The Last of Us

In Season 2, Episode 1 - "Future Days," the audience gets a few hints of the horrors yet to come. The first comes in the form of a Stalker, a new type of Infected that has adapted to become more intelligent than a typical Infected. In "Future Days," viewers get their first glimpse of what a Stalker is capable of as one hunts Ellie through an abandoned convenience store. It stays out of sight, stalks its prey, waits for the best time to strike, and even lures Ellie out into a vulnerable vantage point. The Stalker manages to bite Ellie, which would have been a death sentence if she weren't immune to the Cordyceps brain infection (CBI).

"Future Days" also shows the audience that Cordyceps has already infiltrated Jackson, but not in the way one might think. There are no Infected lurking inside Jackson's borders and no one hides a fresh bite. Instead, the fungus itself has grown through root-riddled pipes, hiding just under what the townsfolk believe to be normal roots. As fans know from Season 1, disturbing even the smallest sample of Cordyceps is enough to alert Infected to your location.

Ellie and Dina report the Stalker's intelligence to Jackson's council and, thankfully, they do listen to her. They also find proof of Cordyceps hidden in the pipes, and they discuss an incident where dozens of Infected used dead Infected for insolation to keep the living Infected from freezing to death in the snow. Realizing that the Infected are learning to survive and hiding beneath the thick snow surrounding the town, Jackson creates a plan of action in case they're overrun.

Tommy: So, you're saying it was, what? Smart?

Ellie: I'm not saying it could do math or anything, but it didn't run at me. It did what we do--took cover, planned, waited, lured me in. Stalking.

- Ellie reporting the Stalker to Tommy and Maria

Unfortunately, Jackson has to put their plan into action way sooner than expected. After Abby slips down a steep, snow-covered slope and disturbs a whole hoard of Infected, the Cordyceps roots inside Jackson draw the hoard straight to the town. Tommy and his wife, Maria, take the lead as they prep Jackson for the invasion. They barricade the main gates with heavy vehicles and equipment. Numerous men and women take up position along the outer wall, equipped with snipers and other firearms to shoot down as many Infected as possible. They even rig barrels full of oil to launch out at the incoming horde so they can blow them up.

Meanwhile, children and adults who aren't prepared to fight take refuge inside safe buildings that have minimal points of entry. They lock and barricade the doors as best they can and stay quiet, hoping not to draw attention to themselves amidst the battle taking place outside. With all the commotion happening from the ongoing battle, most of the Infected won't pay much mind to people who aren't making any noise.

What's interesting about the Infected invasion of Jackson is that it doesn't happen in the video game at all. In the game, Joel and Tommy go out on patrol together and get caught up in the raging blizzard. Tommy is with Joel when they first cross paths with Abby. Joel saves Abby's life and, together, Joel and Tommy help protect her from Infected and the harsh weather. This time spent with Abby is part of what makes Abby's future betrayal sting players as badly as it does.

In HBO's The Last of Us, the writers decided to let Tommy play a much bigger role. Instead of going on patrol with Joel, Dina goes out with Joel instead. Dina and Joel get caught up in the blizzard and cross paths with Abby. Meanwhile, Tommy stays back in Jackson, so he's there when the Infected swarm the settlement. This allows Tommy to play a much bigger role as one of the leaders and protectors of Jackson. Most of the battle is shown from Tommy's perspective, so viewers get to see how far Tommy's willing to go to protect his people.

The Citizens Respond In the Most Video Game Way Possible

The Epic Battle Features Numerous Iconic Gaming Mechanics

Tommy Miller fighting a bloater with a flamethrower on The Last of Us

Arguably, Jackson's battle against the Infected is one of the best changes the series could have made from the video game. It reminds viewers that the state of this world is absolutely horrifying. Even remote settlements full of good people aren't safe from the Infected. Cordyceps will, somehow, find a way. It also allows characters like Tommy and Maria to shine in a way that they simply didn't in the video game, by making them more plot relevant and fixating them as important leaders. Without Tommy and Maria's efforts, Jackson wouldn't be where it is now.

Despite this epic battle not being part of the video game, the invasion does feature many gaming Easter eggs in subtle and effective ways. On the surface, the fight to protect Jackson just looks like a fight, but any gamer will recognize multiple common battle mechanics from a mile away. Many of these methods are used in The Last of Us games, but they are much bigger than just The Last of Us. The Battle of Jackson is a love letter to gamers who have fought off hordes of enemies throughout the history of gaming.

Classic Gaming Mechanics Featured in the Battle of Jackson

Barricades: Jackson forms barricades around weak areas and points of entry. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is a common video game mechanic. For example, in game franchises like Resident Evil, players can collect wooden planks to put up temporary barricades over windows. These barricades can often break, but they do help slow down the hordes of zombies trying to get to players. Inevitably, these barricades fail, but they give survivors time to hide, get away, or prepare for battle. The same happens in Jackson.
Explosive Barrels: Almost every game that features guns will also feature an explosive barrel mechanic. Players can shoot conveniently placed barrels that will explode on impact, taking out nearby enemies in an AoE (area of effect). Jackson pays tribute to this by rolling oil barrels into the incoming horde. They do make it a little more realistic by shooting the barrels so they begin spilling oil and then throwing torches at them to ignite them, but it's still a clear callback.
Snipers Taking Out the First Wave: When dealing with a horde or a large group of enemies, many video games will give players a vantage point where they will be temporarily safe to shoot from a distance. This allows players to pick off as many incoming enemies as possible before inevitably being overrun by the horde. Jackson displays this with numerous snipers lined up along Jackson's border, taking out as many Infected as they can before they hit the wall. Even Tommy is seen sniping both enemies and barrels.
Rotating Weapons: Most games, especially survival games, will supply players with numerous weapons. They'll usually start with something small, like a pistol that doesn't do much damage, but as they explore, they'll gather bigger and badder weapons. Shotguns, sniper rifles, semi-automatic rifles, machine guns, and sometimes even bigger weapons like flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Players will need to manage their ammunition for each weapon, often being forced to rotate between weapons to avoid running out of ammo and to avoid being killed while reloading. Jackson demonstrated this too, by showing how most of the battle-ready townsfolk have multiple weapons and routinely interchange between them. Fans see pistols, shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, sniper rifles, and more.
Bringing Out the Big Guns: When players face an incredibly powerful enemy, they'll likely pull out the "big guns." Players will often save hard-hitting weapons that have minimal ammo available for boss fights or powerful enemies that are hard to take down otherwise, like The Last of Us' Bloater. This is when weapons like rocket launchers, one-shot Magnums, and flamethrowers come out. Jackson utilizes flamethrowers when a Bloater manages to breach the border, allowing dozens of Infected to pour into the town. The flamethrowers are clearly the last line of defense.
The Boss Enemy: Most video games feature "boss fights" that focus on more powerful and unique enemies. An upcoming Last of Us monster known as the Rat King is a great example of a boss enemy. That said, there is usually a "boss" hidden somewhere in the sections of games that are just hoards of enemies. In The Last of Us universe, that usually means a Bloater or two. This enemy is always the most dangerous enemy of the horde and one that will make protecting oneself from the rest of the horde extremely difficult. The Battle of Jackson features a Bloater enemy that not only helps the rest of the horde but poses more of a threat than any other Infected.
The One-on-One: Often, after facing an army of enemies, players will come face-to-face with the boss. This can be a separate encounter that happens right after a horde fight, or it can take place during the swarm, but it usually results in a one-on-one fight between the player and the boss enemy. Episode 2 does a great job of showing this off by having the Bloater chase after Tommy and back him into a corner, cutting him off from the rest of the town.

These aren't the only gaming Easter eggs and callbacks to The Last of Us games that exist in the HBO series. Season 2, Episode 1 - "Future Days" featured a stealth section where Ellie distracted a Clicker by throwing a glass bottle, which is a classic move in most survival games. Abby's escape from the Infected and her crawling under the collapsing fence in Episode 2 are also taken directly out of the video game, just to name a couple. That said, it's amazing to see how much care went into the Battle of Jackson. It truly felt like watching an epic game battle.

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