The Last of Us Episode 8: How does David die in the game?

In The Last of Us Episode 8, Ellie finally encounters David, the preacher and leader of a nearby town – but how does he die in the game, and is it the same as the show?

In our review, we said Episode 8 is “a total knockout, bringing the game’s scariest villain to life with a complex, brilliant performance by Scott Shepherd and Bella Ramsey at the peak of her powers.”

We’ve all been dreading it. Sarah’s death was bad, Henry and Sam’s story was worse, but David is a different beast. Just like the game, Ellie meets him while hunting, and while he’s suspiciously nice at first, his true intentions soon emerge.

That includes: wanting to kill Joel after he murdered one of his men, keeping Ellie as his right-hand woman, and more. She isn’t too keen on all of that, so let’s break down his deaths in the show and game.

Spoilers for The Last of Us to follow…

How does David die in The Last of Us show?

David is killed by Ellie, who hacks him to death with a cleaver after he tries to rape her.

It comes after David takes Ellie back to Silver Lake, where he locks her in a cage. “Let me out,” she says. “Well that’s certainly the goal,” he responds. Ellie doesn’t give him the respect he so clearly seeks, and he warns that her time with Joel is ending, and “I’m offering you a beginning.”

He tells her she has a “violent heart”, just like him, and she could be his “equal.. a friend… think of what we could do together,” while caressing her hand on the edge of the cage. The sexual undertones are extremely uncomfortable, and Ellie grabs his hand and breaks his fingers.

HBO

David brings in James, and the pair of them drag Ellie out of the cage and onto the chopping block. She bites David’s hand and reveals she’s infected, which brings them pause, allowing her to grab the cleaver and plant it in James’ neck, before escaping into the main restaurant area.

Ellie sets the place ablaze, while David circles the room trying to find her. He manages to grab hold of her and pin her down, gnashing: “I thought you already knew… the fighting’s the part I like the most.”

Ellie then takes the cleaver and slashes David. As he falls to the floor, she jumps on top of him and stabs him over, and over, and over again.

How does David die in The Last of Us game?

David’s death is almost the exact same in the game: Ellie stabs and slashes him to death in the restaurant as it burns down around her, but she’s eventually stopped by Joel.

In the game, Ellie also bites David and seizes the opportunity to kill James and flee. Instead of going straight into the restaurant, she’s forced to run outside into snow and find her way there.

David finds her and begins taunting and chasing her around the tables. Ellie stabs him, at which point he tries to shoot her, before pulling out his machete and pursuing her more aggressively. Ellie then stabs him again, but he slams her into a table, knocking themselves both out in the process.

As Ellie comes to, she crawls towards the machete. David kicks her in the stomach and climbs on top of her. “You can try beggin’,” he says, before Ellie gets close enough to grab the machete and slash his arm. He rolls off her in pain, and Ellie kneels above him and plunges it into his body repeatedly and viciously.

You can watch David’s death in the game here.

The Last of Us Episode 9 will be available to watch on March 12 in the US and March 13 in the UK. Check out the rest of our coverage here.