Warning: Contains potential SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 1 and original gameThe reaction to a mistake in The Last of Us episode 6 reveals a hypocrisy about another HBO show: Game of Thrones. The Last of Us episode 6, “Kin,” marks the beginning of the show’s “Winter” chapter, reflecting the original game. Joel and Ellie arrive in Wyoming and cross a snowy landscape to reach Jackson, where Joel’s brother is living. However, this narrative development was tempered by one inadvertent mistake
The Last of Us season 1 has broken records and been met with critical acclaim, but it still makes mistakes. Twitter user @stjguitarist shared one such mistake in a Tweet to The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann. Several crew members are visible on the edge of an overhead shot early in the episode, when Joel and Ellie are crossing a bridge. The error recalls the infamous coffee cup in Game of Thrones season 8, episode 4, “The Last of the Starks,” yet the reaction to the two moments couldn’t be more different.
The Last Of Us Episode 6’s Mistake Reaction Shows GOT’s Was Too Intense
There is a stark difference between the intense reaction to the coffee cup in Game of Thrones and the relatively mild reaction to the crew in The Last of Us, proving Game of Thrones viewers may have been too harsh. The coffee cup appears on a table in Winterfell during a shot of Daenerys. It became the cup seen around the globe as people made fun of it on social media, some blaming Game of Thrones season 8’s dark lighting for the cup making it into the episode.
The coffee cup was later digitally removed, but it was too late—it is still one of the most remembered things about the final season of Game of Thrones. Yet there has been little reaction to the mistake in The Last of Us. Both break the fourth wall of the show’s world, a coffee cup being anachronistic to Game of Thrones and a crowd of people being out of place in the wilderness of The Last of Us. But scrutiny on The Last of Us is so much less febrile that viewers are more willing to overlook a continuity error.
Why People Got Way Madder At GOT’s Set Mistake Than The Last Of Us’
The coffee cup in Game of Thrones appeared when people were already becoming disillusioned with the show. In addition to bringing up the poor lighting, people used the coffee cup as an example of the Game of Thrones creators not caring anymore. This was more reflective of the viewers, though, as they became more frustrated with the Game of Thrones plots. The coffee cup was an easy thing to point to when discussing Game of Thrones‘ fall from grace.
The Last of Us, on the other hand, is still beloved. For now, a continuity error is just funny rather than emblematic of the show going downhill. If viewers come to dislike The Last of Us—which probably wouldn’t happen for a long time—they may have a less muted reaction to future mistakes.
Episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays on HBO