
Even though it’s just the middle of January, The Last of Us has quickly become one of the year’s most anticipated television series.
The critically acclaimed television version of the popular video game series has premiered on HBO in the United States and Sky and NOW in the United Kingdom.
Fans of the series have been eagerly anticipating the next exciting chapter in the lives of smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and youngster Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in a world devastated by a parasitic, fungal affliction for which there appears to be no treatment in sight.
If you haven’t seen Episode 1 yet or are unable to do so, we have good news: the complete episode, clocking in at around 1 hour and 20 minutes, has been made available online.
So how can you watch it? Here’s all you need to know.
How to watch The Last of Us episode 1 online
The first episode of The Last of Us has been uploaded on Sky’s YouTube channel in its entirety for those who haven’t been introduced to the world of the show on TV yet or who just want to relive it.
That’s correct, you spotted a typo. You can now view the whole premiere on the video platform, including every gory detail, heartbroken tear, horrifying encounter, and gut-wrenching death.
This may be a one-off to see whether new viewers are interested in sticking around for the rest of the nine-part series.
And isn’t it a delight to be able to just go on YouTube and watch, or replay, one of the most lauded premiere episodes of a TV programme in recent memory?
Could pandemic in The Last of Us actually happen in real life?
Some viewers of the Netflix series The Last of Us have expressed scepticism that a global fungal pandemic like the one described in the programme is even remotely possible.
In the show, we learn that the fungus responsible for the illness is called Cordyceps, and that the strain of Cordyceps at issue here is called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.
In the real world, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is commonly referred to as the zombie ant fungus because “its ant victims” exhibit “zombie-like” behaviour, as described in a 2020 article published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The spread to people, however, “is not likely to happen in real life,” according to fungal geneticist Ian Will of the University of Central Florida.
Sky News quoted human fungal pathogen expert Professor Elaine Bignell as saying, ‘Some fungi can get passed from one person to the next – and in the environment we are exposed to them all the time – but it would take a very significant variant to be able to cause the sorts of species extinction event that they’re dramatising.’
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW, with new episodes released on Mondays.