The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 6 packs a significant emotional punch, featuring memorable moments such as Joel (Pedro Pascal) finally playing “Future Days” for Ellie (Bella Ramsey), along with the poignant revelation about the events that transpired at the Firefly hospital. However, this episode is not just about these critical scenes; it is also filled with understated symbolism—particularly concerning moths—that alludes to deeper themes and character arcs.

Let’s delve into how these seemingly minor elements carry substantial significance for Ellie and the overall narrative of the story.

Where Are Moths Featured in Episode 6?

Moths appear repeatedly throughout the flashbacks in this episode, which cover a five-year span between Seasons 1 and 2. On Ellie’s 15th birthday, merely two months after moving to Jackson, Joel presents her with a refurbished guitar. He engraves a design on the neck inspired by the numerous moth sketches adorning her bedroom wall.

A year later, on her 16th birthday, Joel brings Ellie to a museum. As they make their way home, Ellie abruptly halts, captivated by something off the beaten path. The camera captures a swarm of moths dancing around a decaying tree stump. This moment is serene yet heavy with unexpressed feelings.

By her 17th birthday, Ellie has inked a moth over a burn scar on her arm—the very scar she inflicted upon herself to conceal her bite mark. That evening, Joel inquires about the moths.

“Never got around to asking, what’s the deal with the moths?” he asks.

Ellie replies, “Um, it’s nothing. I just read about them in a book on dreams and stuff. It’s kind of symbolic.”

Joel, obviously uncertain, speculates, “Yeah, like change and growth and such.”

However, as the episode subsequently uncovers, moths symbolize something entirely different.

What Do Moths Truly Represent?

Later, Joel poses the same question to his therapist, Gail (Catherine O’Hara).

“So a moth… that likely represents change and growth?” he queries.

“No,” she replies. “That would be a butterfly.”

“Well, then what represents a moth?”

“Death,” she says. “If you subscribe to that belief.”

In the next scene, Ellie is shown packing up her belongings. Among her items is a sheet of paper filled with moth sketches and the inscription “You have a greater purpose” scribbled on it.

What Do Moths Signify for Ellie?

Ellie’s existence has been rife with loss. As she confides to Joel in Season 1, “Her name was Riley, and she was the first to die. Then Tess, and then Sam.” Death has shadowed Ellie relentlessly, making her intrigue with moths—symbols of death—feel profoundly personal.

This association may also mirror Ellie’s battle with survivor’s guilt. Why is she still alive when so many others have perished? Why was she the one born immune? The phrase “greater purpose” scrawled on her moth drawings assumes a deeper significance during her climactic confrontation with Joel.

“Creating a cure would have killed you,” Joel reveals, disclosing that he killed the Fireflies to spare her life.

“Then I was meant to die!” Ellie storms back. “That would have been my purpose, my life would have fucking mattered, but you robbed that from me! You took it from everyone.”

Ellie bears the weight of the lives lost and the obligations she shoulders. Her moth illustrations could serve as an outlet for her grief and a means to reclaim some control over the death that seems to pursue her.

The Last of Us Season 2 is presently streaming on Max, with new episodes premiering every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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