Why Didn’t the Dog Kill Ellie in Last of Us Episode 6? Theory Explained

In the sixth episode of The Last of Us, Kin, the audience gets to see a touching reunion between Joel and his brother Tommy. Before that, there’s a tense moment where Joel and Ellie are surrounded by Maria’s group, who use their cordyceps detector on them, a fierce dog who kills if he smells the disease in humans. Fans are wondering why didn’t the dog kill Ellie in Last of Us episode 6. Here’s the theory explained.

Why Didn’t the Dog Smell the Cordyceps Virus & Attack Ellie in the Last of Us Episode 6?

The dog didn’t kill Ellie in The Last of Us episode 6 because it didn’t smell in her the active component the cordyceps mutation causes in people. Her immunity might be what stops the chemical reaction the virus creates, and that’s what the dog has learned to detect, leading her to smell the same as any other person who has never been bitten or infected. 

This theory was shared in The Last of Us Reddit, and it’s a good explanation as to why she passed the virus detector dog test and was able to join everyone else in Jackson.

In real life, these animals can be trained to smell cancer and other chemical changes in the body. It makes perfect sense humans would use them as cordyceps detectors in places where they don’t have the FEDRA device that is used to find out if someone is infected.

Now that you know the answer to why didn’t the dog kill Ellie in Last of Us episode 6, you can look for more guides on the show and the video game in Twinfinite. As you can see below, we have all the answers.