The Last of Us series is finally here after fans have waited for it so patiently, and they are happier than ever. The acting and storyline are brilliant so far, and a few minor changes have improved the series and made fans more than excited for the next episode. One of the most notable changes was the origin of the virus and the outbreak in The Last of Us TV series, and it has fans questioning their blind trust in bread.
Let’s look at how the two origins differ.
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Beginnings of the Outbreak in the Game
In The Last of Us, the virus is referred to as the Cordyceps Brain Infections, or CBI. It was caused by crops infected with a mutated strain of the fungus finding their way to the United States.
As a result, there was a sudden spike in hospital admittance, and companies began recalling the infected food products. But unfortunately, it was too late, and a few months later, 60% of humanity was either dead or infected by the fungus.
Those infected by the virus soon lost their humanity and became hyper-aggressive and incapable of rational thought. The 40% of humankind who remain learned to adapt quickly, avoiding enclosed areas as much as possible and choosing to live in open-air areas, where the infections were much less likely to spread from dead infected.
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Apparent Beginnings of the Outbreak in the Series
The series takes a slightly different approach but still follows the basic premise. The Last of Us starts with a 30-minute prologue showing what life was like for Joel and his daughter Sarah just before the outbreak happened. It also focuses on certain foods that had some fans believing that the culprit responsible for everything was none other than flour.
The two avoid two run-ins with flour and cordyceps from the beginning: Sarah makes Joel eggs for breakfast instead of pancakes because they’re out of the mix, and Joel turns down some biscuits from his neighbour because of the diet he’s on. The episode then focuses on the moment the neighbour gives Nana a biscuit; a little bit later, she’s one of the first infected Joel and Sarah face.
They avoid flour several times, such as when Sarah declines cookies she helps Connie bake because they have raisins in them and when Joel forgets about a birthday cake after work.
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All Signs Point to Flour
Besides some of the more obvious signs that flour seems to be the root of everyone’s problems (such as the fact that the outbreak started in Jakarta, home of the largest flour mill in the world), Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (co-creators of the show) are also pointing in that direction.
During a podcast, they mentioned biscuits and said, “careful viewers of this episode will be rewarded repeatedly because little bits of breadcrumbs have been planted that will pay off later in interesting ways.”
Was the use of the word “breadcrumbs” a coincidence? I think not.
Has flour betrayed us and brought about the end of the world, or are fans just obsessed with Joel’s neighbour’s biscuits?
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