If you’re a bit lost on keeping track of where Joel and Ellie are in The Last of Us, you’re not alone. And apparently, HBO anticipated this, especially for international viewers who are not familiar with US geography. And knowing that the USA has 50 states, it wouldn’t be a surprise if people are completely lost on where they are in the show in terms of location.
Throughout the entire The Last of Us journey, a map of where our two main characters are is shared on Instagram by @HBOMaxNordic, the official HBO Max account for nordic viewers like Finland, Denmark, and Iceland, just to name a few. This week, the map was updated to feature a new mark at Boulder, Colorado, where the two currently reside as Joel tries to recover from a recent attack.
The last time the map was updated was back two weeks ago when both Joel and Ellie were in Kansas during episodes four and five. So it’s a handy tool for those who want to visualize the journey of these two characters and why walking to each state would take forever.
You can see how far our characters have gone since the start of the series. Like the whole show began in Texas before Joel became a smuggler in Boston. Then he and Ellie took a long road trip by car from Lincon to Kansas City. At the same time, this map could give context as to why US viewers called bullsh*t on the geography back in episode three, when the show claimed that our characters were “10 miles west from Boston.” In the end, this could be a good educational tool for those who want to know more about America’s geography.
Fortunately, Joel and Ellie don’t have a long way to go before making their way to Salt Lake City in Utah. But based on what was shown in the episode eight trailer, it seems like Ellie has to deal with another roadblock before she and Joel can make their way to the Fireflies.
New episodes of The Last of Us drop every Sunday at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.