The Last of Us Episode 7 Trailer: Ellie Reminisces on Her Past With Riley

The Last of Us episode 7 trailer is here. Keeping in with tradition, HBO has dropped a preview for the upcoming episode of the post-apocalyptic zombie drama based on the beloved PlayStation video game, teasing a pivotal character from the DLC — Riley. Appropriately titled ‘Left Behind,' the new episode is directed by Liza Johnson (Silicon Valley) and chronicles the three weeks leading up to Ellie's introduction in the show. This new arc reportedly clocks in at 56 minutes only. The 2014-released The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC took two hours on average to complete. The Last of Us episode 7 premieres February 27 at 8:30am IST/ February 26 at 9pm ET on Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Max, respectively.

The trailer for The Last of Us episode 7 plays out like a flashback sequence, with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) attending her military prep school in the Boston quarantine zone — weeks before meeting her soon-to-be companion/ father figure Joel (Pedro Pascal). “You follow the rules, you become an officer,” an official tells Ellie, who presumably got called into the office, following a scuffle in the training room. “We're the only thing holding this all together.” The end of episode 6 saw our lead pair escaping a group of cannibalistic raiders, during which Joel gets stabbed. As Ellie scours the local, abandoned mall for medical supplies, she is haunted by visions of her past, which included some time spent with her friend Riley — played by Storm Reid of Euphoria fame.

“I will tell you everything, but you have to come with me for a few hours,” Riley tells a panicking Ellie. “You trust me, right?” The Last of Us episode 7 trailer then opens in an abandoned mall — a place Ellie has probably never seen before. Holding each other's hands, the pair spend the night, basking in the bright yellow lighting — riding the carousel horse ride and roaming about on the mall grounds. Keen-eyed viewers might also spot a GameStop in the background, with its lights flickering away. It is soon revealed that Riley herself is a Firefly — the revolutionary militia group Marlene (Merle Dandridge) leads. “None of this s--t was even about me!”, a distraught Ellie yells, after being manipulated into thinking that Riley had come back to see her out of the bond they shared. Turns out, this was Riley's last meeting with Ellie before she joined the group for good. The noises from the quarrel attract unwanted attention from the infected, putting the duo on guard against hordes of zombies. “Get ready to run,” Riley says before we're treated to glimpses of them fighting back.

Since much of Ellie's backstory has been a mystery up to this point, Joel taking a backseat helps for some good character-building, just like developer Naughty Dog did in The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC. It will also be interesting to see if the upcoming episode features the time Ellie got bit — a key moment in the story, where she discovers that she is immune to the Cordyceps fungi's effects.

Earlier this month, reports emerged suggesting that HBO content, including The Last of Us, Game of Thrones, Succession, and more, is set to leave the Disney+ Hotstar platform in India, owing to some restructuring plans laid out by the recently-reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger. Currently, there is no word on the platform the HBO content would move to, once the plans are put into motion.

New episodes of The Last of Us stream every Monday on Disney+ Hotstar, at 8:30am in India, and Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO Max wherever available. Season 1 comprises nine episodes.