The Last of Us has landed, and it is ALREADY considered a masterpiece. Pedro Pascal may have found his most memorable career after already having a long career with principle roles in Game of Thrones, Narcos, Wonder Woman: 1984, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and Triple Frontier. The only one of his roles that has any chance of competing with Joel is his role as Din Djarin in The Mandalorian. It’s hard to say whether Pascal will be better known for playing the bounty hunter or the post apocalyptic survivor. Only time will tell.

Aside from both of them featuring awesome performances from Pascal, there are actually a lot of similarities between the two shows. Both of them are tv legends in their own rights. Here are ten things both of these brilliant shows have in common with each other. Despite the fact that they both feature instantly iconic performances from one of the best actors working today.

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10 Pedro Pascal Gets a Surrogate Kid to Protect

     HBO

There’s just something about watching Pedro Pascal begrudgingly accept that a kid he’s been stuck with is now basically his child. He was great as Oberon Martell in Game of Thrones, but he’s really found his calling as the internet’s surrogate dad. The Last of Us will be a longer journey for Joel to truly accept Ellie as his new daughter than it was for Mando to accept Grogu. By the third episode of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin was ready to go to war with an entire city of bounty hunters and imperials to keep his Baby Yoda safe. Joel lost his real daughter in the first moments of The Last of Us so replacing her in his heart is going to be a lot harder for Joel. Anyone who has played the game knows that Joel ens up perhaps more attached to Ellie than Din Djarin is to Grogu. Sure, Din loses his Mandalorian honor by showing his face, but Joel is willing to literally doom the world for her.

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9 Grogu and Ellie Are Brought to a Laboratory

The main mission of both series is essentially the same. Both Grogu and Ellie are considered science experiments by two intense organizations that want to rebuild society. The Fireflies see Ellie as a potential cure for the Fungal plague that has turned most people in the world into monsters that are definitely not called zombies. Ellie is the only one in the world who seems immune to the plague, so she might be able to help with the creation of the cure. That is if the procedure isn’t invasive or dangerous. Definitely no spoilers there.

For most of the galaxy, the fall of the Empire was a great step in the right direction. For the Imperial Remnant though, the fall of the Emperor is basically the same thing as the post apocalyptic nightmare from The Last of Us. They see the galaxy as a lawless, terrifying place that needs them to restore order. It’s unclear exactly what the Remnant’s goals for Baby Yoda were, but it is widely assumed that it has to do with The First Order bringing Emperor Palpatine back to life.

8 It’s Essentially a Road Trip Story

Both The Last of Us and The Mandalorian are essentially road trip stories. They feature their main characters taking a long trip that sees them going to new locations and facing new threats basically every week. It is a great way to build out a huge world full of unique terrors and beautiful vistas. The Mandaloiran is definitely more fun as we get to see the likes of Tatooine, a village being attacked by an AT-S, Tatooine, an ice planet filled with monsters, Tatooine, and several planets still under Imperial rule. They also cameo in The Book of Boba Fett where they visit, once again, Tatooine. The Last of Us just features the strange beauty of a world utterly reclaimed by nature. While this is often horrifying, there are definitely happy memories made along the way. Time will tell if the game’s Giraffe scene makes it into the show.

So this makes The Last of Us and The Mandalorian kind of like terrifying versions of Chevy Chase’s Vacation. Clark Griswold would not do well in the Star Wars universe or the apocalypse.

7 They Meet New Friends Along the Way

     Disney

Like any good roadtrip story, the friends made along the way are much more important than the destinations. The Mandalorian features a ton of notable friends including Ahsoka Tano, Kuiil, Fennec Shand, Greef Karga, Boba Fett, and even Luke Skywalker. Pretty much every character in the first Star Wars tv show is so memorable that their action figures need to be purchased immediately. The Last of Us videogame features a plethora of iconic friends as well, but time will tell if the tv series does them justice. Considering the fact that actors like Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Natasha Mumba, and Anna Torv are all in the cast, that seems like an inevitability.

6 There Are Monsters Who Want to Eat Them

     HBO Max

It’s hard to beat the monsters in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian features Rancors, Krayt Dragons, Mudhorns, and giant Krykna ice spiders. How could a world possibly be more terrifying than that one? Everywhere Grogu and Mando go, it seems like something is waiting to eat them.

Well, those planets are basically resorts compared to the world of The Last of Us. There is literally nowhere they could go on their nightmarish version of Earth where a runner, stalker, clicker, or bloater might be waiting in the next room. Anyone who has played the video game knows that not even Darth Vader himself is as scary as being in a room with a pair of clickers and no ammo. That’s just nightmare fuel. The Star Wars universe is certainly a scary place, but it’s not like there are any adorable Ewoks or lovable Wookies that Joel or Ellie could meet. Just another monster variant that’s even more immune to bullets than the last one.

5 Ellie and Grogu HaveTragic Backstories

     Lucasfilm Ltd.

Both Ellie and Grogu had terrible lives before Mando and Joel came into their paths. Ellie lost the one person in the world who meant anything to her, after already having grown up in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Her life basically has no future before Joel gives her a bright future. Funnily enough, Grogu has an even more tragic backstory despite not growing up in a destroyed society. He survived the decimation of the Jedi during Order 66. Anakin Skywalker, who was likely a Jedi he knew and trusted, slayed nearly everyone Grogu knew, forcing him to repress his entire identity according to Ahsoka Tano. Then he was kept from the world and hidden in basically a fortress dedicated to his protection.

There are few children who could beat Ellie in a sad origin showdown, but Grogu definitely wins this by a mile.

4 Joel and Din Djarin Both Mod Their Own Weapons

Everyone has to have a hobby, even in the galaxy far, far away or a post-apocalyptic nightmare. For men like Din Djarin and Joel, those hobbies tend to be more about function than fun. Both of them have been seen modifying their weapons into instruments of destruction. For Din, that primarily came when he modified his bespoke suit of Mandalorian armor into a fully Beskar one. While that’s no doubt saved his life many times over the years, Joel’s modifications are actually much more essential. Anyone who has played The Last of Us knows how epic it is to upgrade a pistol’s rate of fire, increase ammo capacity, or add a scope to a rifle. Beskar armor is cool and all, but even one more bullet when you’re facing down a clicker is worth more than any shiny blaster-proof chestpiece could be.

3 Joel and Din Djarin Both Inadvertently Decide the Fate of Their Worlds

     Disney Platform Distribution

Joel and Din Djarin are both normal Joes who simply want to earn a living collecting bounties or selling contraband. Neither has any intention of joining the political landscapes of their worlds. Unfortunately, fate has different ideas for both of them. Din Djarin accidentally becomes the holder of the Darksaber and de-facto leader of the Mandalorian race. As crazy as it is to accidentally become the king of one of the oldest races in the Star Wars universe, Joel actually gets a lot more responsibility thrown on his shoulders. As the one who decides Ellie’s fate, he is literally the person who holds his entire world’s possible future in his hands. No pressure at all.

2 The Fireflies and the Mandalorian Remnants Both Want Them As Allies

Both the Fireflies and the Mandalorians are the ultimate underdogs in their worlds. They are both reduced to small factions spread over their worlds. Both hang on a knife’s edge. So a warrior or a survivor as talented as Joel or Din Djarin would be big recruits to land. Though one is definitely more valuable than the other. Sure, Joel is a formidable survivor who would probably be one of the top three Fireflies within like a year, Din Djarin isn’t called THE Mandalorian for nothing. He is so devout that he’s spent most of his life completely covered in his armor. He is a warrior so formidable that he accidentally won the Darksaber in single combat. His people would be lucky to call him their leader.

1 Both Use Practical Effects

     Disney+

Not only are the stories of both franchises similar, the philosophies used behind the camera are similar as well. That would be a committment to practical effects over just CGI. Sure, both extensively use computer graphics to render their over-the-top worlds, but they both use makeup, puppetry, and prosthetics in a way many tv shows have moved on from. Both Grogu and the monstrous creatures of The Last of Us are so real that it feels like one could reach through the tv and touch them.