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The Last of Us Episode 3 introduced Bill and Frank and their heartwrenching story. The couple finds each other in the most unlikely way and spends years making the best of their life in a post-apocalyptic world. Bill and Frank meet their end in episode 3, but the pair’s story deviates from their ending in the video game.

[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 3.]

In The Last of Us Episode 3, Bill and Frank hold hands at the dinner table.
Murray Bartlett as Frank and Nick Offerman as Bill in ‘The Last of Us’ | Liane Hentscher/HBO

How do Bill and Frank die in ‘The Last of Us’?

The Last of Us Episode 3 jumps around in time to tell Bill and Frank’s story. At the start of the cordyceps outbreak, Bill hides out in his underground bunker to avoid getting rounded up by FEDRA Agents. After ensuring that his home and town are deserted, he stocks up on supplies, creating an electric fence around his home and a system of trip wires to keep out all threats.

Four years later, he finds Frank trapped in a pit. Bill lets him out and tells him to keep moving, but Frank charms his way into Bill’s home. What follows is an unexpected love story, and Bill and Frank spend 16 years of their life together.

Then in 2023, viewers see that Frank’s health has taken a turn, and he uses a wheelchair. Bill, though still able-bodied, is getting older as well. Frank decides to end his life after having one last perfect day with his loved one. In the evening, Bill gives him a glass of wine full of pills. He also pours himself a glass. Bill decides to die in bed with Frank, telling his lover that he is old and “satisfied.”

The HBO series gave Bill and Frank a happier story

The Last of Us is based on a video game from Naughty Dog by the same name. The series altered Bill and Frank’s story in a major way. “In the game, they have a very different fate where they have a big falling out,” showrunner Neil Druckmann said while appearing on HBO’s The Last of Us official podcast.

“Bill sticks to his ways, and Frank says, ‘I can’t live with you anymore’ and tries to escape and ends up dying. That’s where the exploration [comes from] of, like, ‘Oh, this guy had a partner that wanted more than just surviving day to day.’ You have to live your life.”

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“In the game, the way that Frank meets his end, as we find out through what Bill says, is that he got bit, and Joel says, ‘Well, I guess instead of turning, he decided to hang himself,'” Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the video game, added.

Joel and Ellie eventually arrive at Bill’s place, and the three of them find Frank’s body along with a suicide note. Bill is still alive when Joel and Ellie leave and presumably survives the game.

Frank’s illness in ‘The Last of Us’ is open to interpretation

While appearing on the podcast, The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin revealed that the exact nature of Frank’s illness is open to interpretation. “We didn’t necessarily want to specify it for the audience,” Mazin stated.

“It was either MS or early ALS, but it was a degenerative neuromuscular disorder.” Whatever the illness, Frank notes that there was no cure for him even before the cordyceps outbreak. Other degenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s, for example, would also make sense, but viewers can come to their own conclusion

New episodes of The Last of Us drop every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. 

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