Season 1

Complete listed story — includes the ending

S1E1 · When You're Lost in the Darkness

In 2003, a mass fungal infection of mutated Cordyceps sparks a global pandemic and societal collapse. Joel flees from his home in Austin, Texas, with his daughter, Sarah, and brother, Tommy, but Sarah is shot by a soldier. Joel pleads with his "baby girl" as she dies in his arms. Twenty years later, Joel works as a smuggler with his partner, Tess in the Boston quarantine zone (QZ) under authoritarian control of the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA). When Tommy fails to contact them from Wyoming, Joel and Tess set out to find him. They buy a truck battery from Robert, a local dealer, but he scams them and sells it to the Fireflies, a rebel group opposing FEDRA. While tracking Robert, Joel and Tess encounter the Fireflies' leader Marlene. She hires them to escort a teenage girl named Ellie to the Massachusetts State House in exchange for a working truck. While escaping the QZ, they are intercepted by a FEDRA soldier. He discovers that Ellie is infected, but she claims to be immune. Joel kills the soldier and leads them away.

S1E2 · Infected

Two days before the global outbreak, Ratna, a mycologist in Jakarta, Indonesia, analyzes an infected corpse. She reveals that there is no cure and advises military bombings to contain the outbreak. In the present, Ellie explains to Joel and Tess that her immunity might be the key to a cure, which the Fireflies hope to synthesize in a laboratory out west. The path to the State House is blocked by an infected horde, so they cut through a museum but are attacked by blind infected known as "clickers". Ellie is bitten but shows no symptoms, proving her immunity. They arrive at the State House, where the Firefly squadron is dead. Tess reveals she was bitten and, as her dying wish, implores Joel to finish Ellie's mission. As the infected horde swarms the State House, Tess stays behind to destroy it while Joel leads Ellie to safety.

S1E3 · Long, Long Time

Joel takes Ellie to Lincoln, Massachusetts, hoping to pass her and the mission to his allies Bill and Frank. In a flashback, Frank stumbles upon Bill, a paranoid survivalist who reluctantly takes him in. The two form a romantic relationship, sharing a love of music and food. Years later, Frank contacts Tess by radio and the couples enter a tenuous friendship. In the present, Frank is terminally ill and asks Bill to marry him and assist his suicide. Unable to live without him, Bill takes his life alongside Frank. Joel and Ellie arrive and discover a letter from Bill: he explains that safeguarding Frank gave his life meaning and leaves all his equipment for Joel to protect Tess. Swallowing his grief, Joel reluctantly agrees to bring Ellie with him to find Tommy, hoping he can help them locate the Fireflies. Ellie secretly steals Frank's pistol before she and Joel depart for Wyoming in Bill's truck.

S1E4 · Please Hold to My Hand

Joel and Ellie are forced to detour through Kansas City, Missouri, where they are ambushed by bandits. Joel kills two, but Ellie must save him from a third with Frank's pistol. Joel feels guilty for this and apologizes to Ellie. He then counsels her about the firefight and teaches her to use the pistol. The bandits' leader, Kathleen, believes Joel and Ellie to be in contact with a man named Henry and orders a city-wide manhunt. Perry, Kathleen's deputy, discovers something growing under the building, but Kathleen prioritizes the manhunt. Joel and Ellie sleep in a high-rise apartment, hoping to scout a way out of the city, but are awoken by two strangers holding them at gunpoint.

S1E5 · Endure and Survive

The strangers reveal themselves to be Henry and his younger brother Sam. They form a tentative truce with Joel and Ellie and together prepare to escape the city. Ellie and Sam quickly become friends while Henry confesses to Joel that he was responsible for the death of Kathleen's brother, Michael. When Sam developed leukemia, Henry turned Michael over to FEDRA in exchange for medication. After escaping through the tunnels, the group is attacked by a sniper, who calls Kathleen. She arrives with her militia to kill Henry, but a horde of infected emerge from underground, including a large "bloater". Kathleen and Perry are killed while Joel's group escapes seemingly unharmed. However, that night, Sam shows Ellie that he was bitten on the leg. Ellie uses her blood to try to cure him, but wakes the next morning to find Sam infected. He attacks her, but Henry puts down Sam and takes his own life. Devastated, Joel and Ellie bury them and set off for Wyoming on foot.

S1E6 · Kin

Three months later, Joel and Ellie reach a small, thriving community in Jackson, Wyoming, where Joel is reunited with Tommy and meets his pregnant wife Maria. Ellie learns about Sarah's fate while Joel begs Tommy to take her, fearing that he will fail to protect her. Ellie overhears them and confronts Joel, who changes his mind after reflecting on Sarah. Joel and Ellie travel to Colorado on horseback to discover the Fireflies have vacated their lab, relocating to a hospital in Utah. While they leave the lab, raiders attack and Joel is severely wounded.

S1E7 · Left Behind

Ellie shelters Joel in an abandoned house, but as his condition worsens, he urges Ellie to leave him behind. In a flashback, Ellie remembers her best friend Riley, who left FEDRA school to join the Fireflies. Riley returns to visit Ellie and takes her to an abandoned mall, where they explore a carousel, a photo booth, and an arcade. Riley tells Ellie that she is leaving the next day to take a Firefly post in Atlanta. Ellie is distraught but convinces Riley to stay, and they kiss. A dormant infected suddenly attacks and infects them both. Tearfully, they decide to stay together and make the most of their time. In the present, Ellie decides to stay with Joel and finds a sewing needle to stitch his wound.

S1E8 · When We Are in Need

Ellie goes hunting to secure food for her and Joel. While tracking a deer, she meets a preacher, David, and his deputy James. Ellie trades her deer for penicillin to treat Joel's wound, which has become severely infected. David reveals the raider Joel killed was a member of his group. He lets Ellie go, but follows her with his team to seek revenge on Joel. Ellie flees to draw them away, but David captures her and reveals he has turned to cannibalism to feed his group. Meanwhile, Joel awakens and tortures some of David's men to locate Ellie. She kills James, but David hunts her down and tries to rape her. Ellie kills David with a meat cleaver and escapes, traumatized. Joel reunites with Ellie and calls her "baby girl" as he comforts her in his arms.

S1E9 · Look for the Light

In a flashback, Ellie's mother Anna is bitten by an infected while giving birth. In her final moments, Anna entrusts Marlene, her close friend, to put her down and rescue Ellie. In the present, Joel and Ellie reach Salt Lake City, Utah, where Joel tries to persuade Ellie to abandon the cure mission, but she insists on finishing it. He shares the story of his suicide attempt after Sarah's death and credits Ellie for healing his trauma. They are captured by Firefly soldiers and delivered to the hospital. Joel awakens to Marlene, who explains that the head doctor is preparing Ellie for surgery to synthesize a cure. When Joel learns the procedure will be fatal, he goes on a brutal rampage, slaughtering the Fireflies and their head doctor to rescue Ellie. Marlene intercepts Joel and begs him to let them do the surgery, but Joel kills her. When Ellie wakes, Joel lies that the Fireflies had already failed to develop a cure from other immune patients. At Ellie's demand, Joel swears that this story is true. Ellie replies "Okay".