The Last of Us: Are Ellie and Riley in Love? Relationship Explained

Episode 7 of The Last of Us is set to become a flashback story that will go back to the time when Ellie was still going to a FEDRA school and before she met Joel. Of course, this was a storyline that we saw in the expansion of the first The Last of Us game and is set to feature Riley as one of the important characters alongside Ellie. But the relationship between Ellie and Riley is one of the highlights of this storyline. So, are Ellie and Riley in love?

Ellie and Riley were in love. This was established clearly when Ellie kissed Riley when they were in the mall and when Riley said that Ellie shouldn’t be sorry for kissing her. The two started out as best friends that only had each other but soon entered into a relationship before Riley got infected and died.

In the game, Ellie referenced Riley a lot, as it was clear that she was someone important to her. But it was only in Left Behind that we could see what kind of a relationship Ellie and Riley had, as they weren’t simply best friends but were more than that. This explains why Riley’s death had such a profound effect on Ellie. Now, let’s look more into the relationship between Ellie and Riley.

Are Ellie And Riley In Love?

The Last of Us has always been more about the relationships between the people involved in a storyline that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where society has all but fallen due to the zombie-like effects of the Cordyceps Brain Infection. As such, the story focuses more on how people try to survive the events of the outbreak and how they develop their relationships with their fellow survivors. In that regard, we saw how the relationship between Joel and Ellie developed in episode 6.

We saw a breakthrough in the unlikely father-daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie when the latter told Joel that she didn’t want to feel abandoned. Just like Joel, Ellie had lost everyone she ever cared for in her life, which was why she said she’d only feel more scared if Joel were to leave her under the care of his brother, Tommy. And while the argument between the two didn’t end well that night, they patched things up so they could travel to the University of Eastern Colorado together.

Of course, while the storyline focuses more on the relationship between Joel and Ellie and how they are becoming more of a true father-daughter duo, we also know that Ellie has had relationships with other people in the past. One such person was Riley, who she often talked about. While Riley’s story was never given any screen time during the original game, she became one of the focus characters in the Left Behind expansion. And episode 7 of HBO’s The Last of Us is set to give her the screen time needed so that we would understand more about Ellie’s past and how Riley helped shape it.

While episode 7 is yet to be revealed, we already know much about who Riley is and her role in Ellie’s life. In a nutshell, Riley was an older girl who went to the same FEDRA school Ellie attended before meeting Joel. However, she disappeared for six weeks, only for her to return as a member of the Fireflies.

Riley invited Ellie for a night out in an abandoned mall so they could have fun one last time because she was going to be stationed in a faraway place. And that was where Ellie and Riley were attacked by runners that ended up infecting both of them, only for Riley to die and for Ellie to find out that she was immune to the Cordyceps Brain Infection.

With that said, we know that Ellie and Riley were close. But in terms of their relationship, we learned that Ellie was in love with Riley because she was the only one she had when they were still going to school. Riley was there for Ellie when the other girls in school picked on her. As such, Ellie saw Riley as her safe space, which was why she was so angry at her for abandoning her for six weeks.

Meanwhile, Riley could also have the same feelings for Ellie because she decided to return to the QZ so that they could spend one last night together. On top of that, when Ellie kissed Riley in the mall, Riley didn’t feel the need to tell Ellie to apologize for what she did as she clearly shared the same feelings.

In that regard, it was Riley who allowed Ellie to learn more about her own sexuality, as she ended up discovering her inner self during her time with Riley. And this was not a simple phase because Ellie was still attracted to women when the events of The Last of Us II started.

What Is Ellie’s Relationship With Riley?

Before the events of Left Behind and during the early part of the storyline of that expansion game, it was clear that Ellie and Riley were simply best friends that had each other’s back. Riley acted as Ellie’s protector while they were living in the QZ. Meanwhile, Ellie felt like the only person that Riley could talk to about how she believed in the cause of the Fireflies and how she wanted to be one of them.

In a sense, they were best friends that treated one another as each other’s safe space. They cared for one another on a deep level but were probably afraid of revealing their true feelings for each other while they were attending school because it was possible that they wouldn’t feel accepted by their peers.

As such, both Ellie and Riley saw each other as best friends with no romantic attachments. However, during the events in the mall, they finally realized who they were and what they meant to each other. And that was when it was clear that they weren’t just friends but were actually secretly in love with one another.