Following the release of HBO’s The Last of Us Episode 6, fans are convinced that a particularly important character appeared.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episode 6 of The Last of Us.
Episode 6, titled Kin, aired this past Sunday and finally found Joel and Ellie reaching Jackson, where Joel was reunited with his brother Tommy. During a certain scene earlier on in the episode, the duo is eating dinner in a dining hall when Ellie notices someone spying on her from across the room. She shouts out to them and they quickly run away.
Viewers who haven’t played the games wouldn’t think anything of the moment, but those familiar with The Last of Us Part 2 think that the mystery girl looking at Ellie was Dina–Ellie’s future girlfriend. The actress who plays the girl who is simply credited as “staring girl” on IMDB–via Kotaku–is played by Paolina van Kleef and looks similar to Dina in appearance.
At this time, it’s not outright confirmed that this girl is actually Dina, but in the shows’ official podcast, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann spoke about the scene and said it was an Easter egg, with Mazin saying, “It’s ambiguous, somebody’s staring at Ellie… wonder who that could be, theoretically or not. We’ll find out maybe one day.”
Druckmann adds, “Yeah, because in Part 2, there is a story about the first time Dina met Ellie that is very similar to what happens here.” Mazin responds by saying, “That doesn’t mean that that’s Dina, but it doesn’t mean it’s not.”
That scene Druckmann is talking about is a gameplay sequence where Ellie and Dina are talking about their first time in Jackson. Ellie says, “I was overwhelmed by all the food,” and Dina responds with, “I saw that… I remember thinking, ‘Who is this string bean girl stealing all the jerky?'” The scene in Episode 6 could be laying the foundations for their relationship later on, or it could just be an Easter egg like the showrunners said.
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