Fans of HBO’s The Last of Us are always on the lookout for characters that they know and love from the game, and some think they may have seen Dina for the first time. While the television show has made some changes from the game, it has stayed faithful for the most part when it comes to larger arcs, and one small detail from the Part II game might have been made clear in a small moment in episode 6, “Kin.”
When Paolina Hernandez van Kleef shows up creeping on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel eating some food while they’re in Jackson Hole, Ellie calls her out, which comes right after Joel (Pedro Pascal) tells her to mind her manners as they’re talking to Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Maria (Rutina Wesley). Instead of listening, she yells out to the girl looking at them, and it forces her to walk away from them.
Joel makes some comment about it, and they go on with their meal, all talking together, but for fans of the game, the inclusion of Paolina Hernandez van Kleef could mean something bigger for the series as a whole. And that’s the inclusion of Dina.
Who is Dina?
In the game, Dina shows up in Part II after a time jump, and she ends up being Ellie’s girlfriend. That’s the simplest way of putting it without majorly spoiling anything for the end of this season or into what we can presume happens in season 2 (if they just head right into Part II). She’s just someone who lives in Jackson Hole, and the two are close friends before they begin flirting with each other and eventually kiss.
In the show, Paolina Hernandez van Kleef’s character doesn’t have a name, and not even Maria or Tommy mentions who she is when Ellie makes a quip at her. So, we’re not sure what the deal is with her, but if they were to make Ellie and Dina’s original meeting in the game something we see in the show, this would be it. And that would be amazing for fans of the game.
What this meeting would mean
In the game, it’s hinted that the two first met each other when Ellie went to Jackson Hole for the first time, and on the companion podcast for the HBO series, creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin talked about whether or not that was Dina—well, sort of. Druckmann seemed to hint that Ellie and Dina had a conversation about this in the game, where Mazin said, “That doesn’t mean that that’s Dina, but it doesn’t mean it’s not.”
So whether or not that was their intention, we’ll have to just wait and see where the show takes us and what happens if Joel and Ellie end up back in Jackson hole. Because I don’t think we’ll get a straight answer out of Mazin or Druckmann any time soon about this.
For now, we can just pretend that it was Dina and keep our Part II dreams alive.
(Featured image: HBO)
