The Last of Us Player Notices Surprising Sarah Mistake Highlights A fan noticed a small mistake in The Last of Us involving Sarah Miller not writing down Joel’s birthday on her calendar, which doesn’t make sense for her character. Sarah is a significant character in the game and her death acts as a turning point for Joel’s motivations throughout the story. The oversight may not be noticeable to all players, but some fans have come up with theories to explain why Joel’s birthday is missing from the calendar.
An eagle-eyed fan of The Last of Us noticed a mistake that Sarah Miller made in the game that doesn’t make sense for her character. The mistake itself is small and easy to miss, but most fans of The Last of Us would agree that it’s a potential oversight on the developer’s part.
Sarah Miller is the 12-year-old daughter of Joel, the main protagonist in The Last of Us. She may not be in the game for much of the story, but Sarah is one of the most significant characters in The Last of Us. The game starts off with Sarah giving Joel a new watch for his birthday. The player then gets to play as Sarah, as the zombie outbreak first gets out of control. Toward the end of the opening sequence, Sarah gets shot and killed in Joel’s arms, turning the memory of her character into an emotional anchor point for Joel, driving his motivations for the rest of the story. Throughout the entire game, Joel wears the watch Sarah gave him on his birthday as a constant reminder.
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Reddit user Woody7367 posted an image on The Last of Us subreddit revealing that Sarah didn’t write down Joel’s birthday on her calendar. This discovery can be found while the player is controlling Sarah at the beginning of The Last of Us. The calendar in her room details Sarah’s time at soccer camp from the 7th to the 13th, her practice days on the 16th, 23rd, and 30th, and her away game on the 19th. Her friend Kate’s birthday party is written on the 27th, yet Joel’s birthday is nowhere to be found.
This small detail is even stranger when looking back at the scene where Sarah gives Joel his new watch. Sarah’s dialogue makes it very clear that she’s been planning to replace his watch for a long time, so it would make more sense for his birthday to be marked on her calendar.
Although this error is likely a simple oversight from the writers that only hardcore fans of The Last of Us would notice or care about, some fans in the comments for the Reddit post came up with their own theories. One fan explained that Sarah wanted to surprise her father, so to make sure he didn’t expect anything, she left his birthdate off the calendar. Another fan thinks that Joel was the one who updated the calendar and left his own birthday off, so she didn’t feel pressured to get him anything. Furthermore, some fans assumed that Sarah had Joel’s birthday memorized, and there was no need to include it.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available now on PC and PS5.
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