Latest episode of HBO's The Last of Us directly references Mileena from Mortal Kombat 2
HBO's The Last of Us, based on Naughty Dog's The Last of Us video game series, has recently started streaming. Just last night, the third episode of Season 1 aired.
During this latest episode, an iconic scene from the video game was effectively rehashed with a real world reference. While Joel was searching for supplies in an abandoned building, Ellie came across an old arcade machine of Mortal Kombat 2.
In the original scene from the video game, this arcade machine was actually called "The Turning." As described by Riley Abel in the Left Behind DLC for The Last of Us, it's a two player fighting game that features a character known as "Angel Knives" that had access to a finishing move where she would punch a hole through the opponent before decapitating them.
The HBO series changes things up a bit by making this arcade game Mortal Kombat 2 instead. Upon coming across the arcade cabinet, Ellie specifically references Mileena, one of the most popular characters within the Mortal Kombat series.
"There's this one character named Mileena who takes off her mask and has monster teeth and swallows you whole and barfs out your bones!" exclaimed Ellie upon seeing the defunct arcade cabinet. Indeed, there is an iconic Fatality in Mortal Kombat 2 where Mileena finishes off the opponent by eating them, and then spits out the bones.
Here's a look at the scene below:
MILEENA REFERENCE IN THE LAST OF US OMG 😠and y’all swear she’s not iconic pic.twitter.com/4o5mNE9d55
— KayKay 🦇💜 (@KayKayKahn11) January 30, 2023
And here's how the scene played out in the original video game version:
