The Last of Us episode 7 addresses Ellie's sexuality, hints at future romance

The series has already been praised for its LGBTQ+ representation following the beautiful love story featuring Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) in episode 3, so fans have been keen to see if Ellie's sexuality would be mentioned.

In the game The Last of Us Part II, Ellie has a girlfriend, Dina. We get a view of their relationship through Ellie's journal entries and Dina helps her on her quest for revenge.

While Dina has not yet made an appearance in the show, and she's not expected to in season 1 (fingers crossed for season 2), Ellie's sexuality is referenced in episode 7 through her relationship with Riley (Storm Reid).

Riley is introduced as Ellie's best friend, but it becomes clear there's more to their bond than that. Throughout the episode, it appears Ellie has strong feelings for Riley, before the pair finally kiss.

While Ellie is immediately unsure of herself and apologises, Riley quickly bats away any negative feelings about the kiss, asking her: "What for?"

Actress Ramsey has previously spoken out about Ellie's sexuality, telling GQ of any negative reactions that fans might have over the LGBTQ+ storylines, "I know people will think what they want to think. But they’re gonna have to get used to it.

"If you don’t want to watch the show because it has gay storylines, because it has a trans character, that’s on you, and you’re missing out. It isn’t gonna make me afraid. I think that comes from a place of defiance."

Read more:

• Who is Riley in The Last of Us and actress Storm Reid?
• What happened in The Last of Us episode 6?

She added on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast: "I’m really excited, to be honest, for the Ellie/ Dina story.

"I’ve watched a cut together, someone’s made a phenomenal – I don’t know how they do it – like an amazing edit of just the gameplay, like Ellie and Dina’s love story. So I’m excited to play that out."

Game co-writer Hayley Gross also previously opened up about Ellie's sexuality, telling IGN: "Ellie was born gay. This is just who she is. And to explore who she is as a teenager and as an adult, it wouldn’t be honoring her character to hide some facet of herself."

Meanwhile, showrunner Craig Mazin has promised that LGBT representation will continue to be shown on the series.

When one fan asked on Twitter: "Y’all better keep the gay gay. Pls and thank you. Do not erase that representation pls. Anyways, I’m so excited for this!", he simply responded: "You have my word."

Episode 7 of The Last of Us sees Joel fighting for his life, before giving us a flashback to Ellie's past - and showing just what made her so tough.

The Last of Us is exclusively available on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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