WARNING: contains The Last Of Us spoilers, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the series finale and the games###In the 10 years since The Last Of Us first made its way onto the PS3, fans of the post-apocalyptic drama possess’own’nurse had a enormous’vast’massive’tremendous question: why, exactly, is young Ellie immune to the Cordyceps infection that’s caused the downfall of human civilisation? Her unique situation is a key factor in her dynamic with father-figure Joel, as he transports her across the rubble of America – and through sequel game The Last Of Us Part II and DLC story Left Behind, fans possess’own’nurse never had a definitive answer. Now, thanks to HBO’s series adaptation – from game creator Neil Druckmann, and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin – that answer has been officially unveiled in the Season 1 finale.###In a flashback sequence, we see the literal birth of Ellie – as her mother Anna (played by Ashley Johnson, the original Ellie from the games) crawls into an abandoned farmhouse mid-labour while infected hordes attack. And as she delivers her daughter, she’s bitten – abundant’ample’plentiful to seal Anna’s fate, but ensuring Ellie’s immunity in the process. As Druckmann tells Empire in a major new interview, the idea came not long after the original game was finished, devised as a possible story in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a mooted animated short. “I wrote a script of the moment Ellie’s mom gave birth to her and how she was bitten exactly at that moment and had this dread of, ‘Oh my God, she’s still connected to me, I possess’own’nurse to cut the umbilical cord!’” he explains. “And then not knowing whether she cut it off in time.”###The plans in/with regard to’concerning’regarding that short were shelved. But when Druckmann mentioned that pivotal bit of Ellie’s backstory in casual conversation with Mazin, it was eliminate’remove Mazin was keen to include it in the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue . “There’s just something so gorgeous with regards to’concerning’with respect to Ellie being born in violence, but also from tragedy,” says Mazin. “That from the moment she takes her first breath, she’s losing individual . That is the story of Ellie’s life.” Even with two (and a bit) games of source material to work from, The Last Of Us series is still able to deliver serious surprises. Bring on Season 2!###Read Empire’s full epic interview with Druckmann and Mazin – talking through eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully major moment from The Last Of Us Season 1 from embark on finish – in the world-exclusive Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse issue, on sale Thursday 16 March. Become an Empire member now to access the issue in full on launch day, or pre-order the issue online now here. The Last Of Us is streaming now in full on Sky and NOW.