Who is Riley in HBO’s The Last of Us? The first episode of HBO’s The Last of Us gave a massive hint about Ellie’s story by mentioning Riley. Ellie is first seen in The Last of Us episode 1 as a prisoner of the Fireflies, a revolutionary force seeking to stop military repression throughout the post-apocalyptic United States.
Ellie is presented to Marlene after a sequence in which she appears to be tested for an unknown reason, revealed by her immunity to the Cordyceps virus. In the Boston quarantine zone, Merle Dandridge’s Marlene reveals herself as the Fireflies’ leader and releases Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
After Ellie assumes the alias Veronica, Marlene, a character from the video game The Last of Us, admits she knows Ellie’s identity during this chat. Marlene responds, “Was Riley a terrorist?” after Ellie accuses the Fireflies of being terrorists. The fact that Riley is brought up is a massive tease for Ellie’s character development since she is moved.
Who is Riley in HBO’s The Last of Us?
Riley Abel is a popular video game character from the Last Of Us series. Yaani King provides the voice for the part. Despite not appearing in the main game (the first installment in the franchise), Ellie does make casual references to the character.
In the Left Behind stand-alone DLC, the character makes her first (and only) appearance. Ellie and Riley become more than just a relationship in the DLC, which depicts the melancholy tale of young love in the post-apocalyptic world. She is also mentioned in The Last Of Us: American Dreams, a graphic novel.
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The events leading up to Ellie’s encounter with Joel and their time together in a military boarding school served as the inspiration for the story. After going weeks without speaking to Ellie after the DLC events, Riley breaks into her room one night and persuades her to explore.
The two go into an empty shopping center and engage in all sorts of naughty antics before, you guessed it, something goes wrong. Unfortunately, Riley and Ellie are bitten; only one of them survives. Riley regrettably dies too soon since Ellie is compelled to murder her romantic rival and best friend.
Can We Expect to See Riley in the HBO Max Series?
Since Riley is already mentioned in the trailer, she will appear in at least one episode. She has already been mentioned in a chat between Ellie and Tess in the first episode and will probably appear in flashbacks. Storm Reid, an actress, plays her in the show. For her outstanding starring role as Gia Bennett in the hit television series Euphoria, Storm is best recognized.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the young actress opened up about her time working on The Last Of Us series: “I had a great time. To say that I shared a screen with Bella Ramsey is just incredible.”
She continued: “It was so much fun to film, and it was heartbreakingly beautiful. So I can’t wait to see it all come together.”
With remarks like that, it is clear that Riley’s appearance in the horror series will be more than memorable.
Is Riley A Firefly?
After Marlene questioned Ellie about Riley’s status as a terrorist given that Ellie saw the organization as such, Ellie seemed to confirm that Riley was a Firefly when she brought up Riley. This raises the issue of how Marlene is aware of Ellie’s past and her relationship with Riley.
This is addressed in The Last of Us: Left Behind, as Ellie and Riley reunite after Riley sneaks back into the FEDRA grounds after fleeing the facility for the Fireflies. Riley mentions in the DLC that she came to meet Ellie for the last time before her Fireflies were relocated from Boston.
“HBO’s next big hit” – Rolling Stone#TheLastOfUs premieres tonight at 9PM on @HBOMax. pic.twitter.com/SHUTWqfqbo
— The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) January 15, 2023
Riley was undoubtedly a Firefly under Marlene’s leadership if HBO’s The Last of Us follows this plot accurately and incorporates significant game scenes from The Last of Us, which both the scenes of The Last of Us episode 1 and the trailers seem to indicate.
This supports how the leader of the Fireflies knows who Ellie is, along with the game’s revelation that Marlene was close friends with Ellie’s mother, Anna. Marlene admits in The Last of Us episode 1 that she was the one who enrolled Ellie at the FEDRA school to keep her safe, which suggests that the show will also explore her relationship with Anna.
The Last of Us Trailer
You can watch The Last of Us trailer below:
Final Words
The Last of Us is a high-quality HBO sci-fi drama that won’t air until next year. However, after a trailer for the movie came out on September 26, people were more excited than ever to see it. The Last of Us is coming in 2023. Check out our Leedaily.com for more information about what’s on this week.
