Why is Ellie the only one immune to Codyceps?

‘The Last of Us’, an HBO series derived from the game of the same name released in 2013, is responsible for presenting the post-apocalyptic plot set in the United States twenty years after a mutation of the Codyceps fungus that almost led to the extinction of human life.

The story, which has Joel and Ellie as the main characters, picks up when the smuggler receives the mission to take the young girl out of the quarantine zone, since she is the only human who has been exposed to the zombie parasite and who has not lost her life. awareness of your body, and can then contribute to the development of a cure.

Despite being information that is presented right at the beginning of the story, both in the game produced by Naurghty Dog and in the series, there is a mystery behind the revelation: Why is Ellie the only one immune to Codyceps?

The answer, which is partially revealed in the game, has not yet won its version during the episodes already released. However, there is still a theory created by fans of the game that can justify the feat. See all the solutions presented below!

What happened to Ellie?

In the works of the franchise created by Bruce Straley It is Neil DruckmannEllie receives a bite on her arm from someone infected by Codyceps, a fungus that ended up suffering a mutation and ended up finding a host in humans, dominating the body of the infected and transforming it into a transmission agent.

Although in the game the contagion is awakened by spores and in the series everything starts in Jakarta, Indonesia through a flour factory, the ‘zombie fungus’ acts similarly in both productions, since those infected go through three stages of contagion: first the human becomes a Runner, then a Clicker, and if it lives long enough, a Pufferfish.

However, instead of the infection spreading and transforming Ellie’s body, the fungus is contained, causing her not to show any symptoms for three weeks – and according to the game, everything can be explained by a mutation in the brain of the girl.

the answer of the game

In the game, it is revealed that at the time of the bite, Ellie’s brain developed a mutation that caused her to become immune to spores and the infection that is caused by the bite of the infected.

Even though she contains the fungus within her, the girl is not recognized as part of the infected, so even if her body is not affected by the parasite, she can still be killed if she enters into close combat with those who have been dominated by the parasite. Cordyceps.

Furthermore, it is revealed in the first game that if the part of Ellie’s brain that was mutated were studied, a cure could be developed, but for that she couldn’t be more alive.

The theory

Even though the game explains how she became immune, there is no answer as to why only Ellie developed this brain mutation. Therefore, as pointed out by the Legião dos Heróis website, in 2013, production fans created a theory on The Last of Us Fandom page in an attempt to resolve the issue.

The idea points out that the girl was exposed to the virus when she was still in her mother’s womb. That’s because, in the letter from Anna, Ellie’s mother, she reveals that she will soon die, implying that she ended up being the victim of one of the infected.

The letter was written when Ellie was only one day old, that is, as Cordyceps takes about two days to spread and dominate the body of the infected person, it is possible that Anna was bitten before Ellie was born. Thus, the girl would have been exposed to the virus while still in her mother’s womb, and for that reason, she would have developed the mutation that made her immune.