Warning! Spoilers for Episode 2 ahead…
The second episode of HBO's The Last of Us dives much deeper into the origins of the Cordyceps infection, significantly altering the game's explanation, and it is much more terrifying.
In a stunning performance by Christine Hakim who portrays Ibu Ratna the main character in The Last of Us episode 2's haunting opening as she is interrupted from her lunch by an Indonesian military commander. Ratna is a professor of mycology, or the study of fungi, at the University of Indonesia. Professor Ratna is taken to examine a highly serious threat; a woman who was infected by a virus went on a psychotic rampage; they need Ratna's assistance to figure out what happened. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the virus, so the only solution is to bomb the city in the hopes that it would be able to contain the dreadful infection.
It was revealed in the first game that infected crops were the source of the Cordyceps infestation. In these crops, the fungi were transferred to human hosts, who subsequently started to experience its effects and spread it to other humans through bites. It is stated in the game that these crops were removed from store shelves all around the nation. As a result, the timeline for HBO's series was altered, and the outbreak occurred in September 2013. The infection spread to the masses both in the Americas and around the world as a result of reports of people infected from every country in the Americas.
The Last of Us episode 2 reveals that the first infected Jakartan citizens originated from a wheat and grain industry in the city, maintaining a big portion of the adaptation's original genesis. However, one major change comes in the use of Jakarta itself. According to the first game, South America was where the infected crops first appeared, and it later became the epicenter of the infection's origin. The shift from South America to Asia offers further twists to the game's virus storyline.
Despite seeming insignificant, this change makes a lot of sense. The Cordyceps fungi that The Last of Us infection is based on has its roots in the real world. The bulk of the 600 identified species of the Cordyceps fungi can be found in Asia, where they are primarily found in nature. Given that an Asian nation like Indonesia is much more likely to encounter a mutant version of the fungi that are common on the continent, the breakout of the Cordyceps brain infection starting in Jakarta makes a lot more sense than the game's South American roots.
Episode 2 of The Last of Us sheds some light on the timeline of the Cordyceps outbreak concerning Joel and Sarah's experiences in episode 1. Episode 2's Jakarta opening takes place on September 24th, 2003, only two days after episode 1's opening showing Sarah's death. The Cordyceps Infection is known to take hold 24-48 hours after infection, so it makes sense that the world would be seeing the effects of the virus just two days later.
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