"That Was a Him Thing": 'The Last of Us' Creators on Why They Changed Ellie's Gravestone Tribute to Joel

The Last of Us' latest episode of a painful series delivered one of its most emotional moments yet — Ellie (Bella Ramsey) quietly saying goodbye to Joel (Pedro Pascal, also cruelly now missing from the show's opening titled) at his grave. But fans of the game noticed a subtle change from how that moment originally played out, and according to the creators, it was a deliberate, deeply personal choice. In the original The Last of Us Part II game, Ellie kneels by Joel’s grave and touches the dirt as a way of connecting to him. But in the HBO series, Ellie leaves a small offering: coffee beans.