The Last of Us Fans Won’t Be Able to Unsee This Editing Error

As it turns out, the infected aren't the only ones lurking in the shadows on The Last of Us.

The Feb. 19 episode of the HBO drama found Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finally tracking down Joel's brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in Wyoming. Before the emotional brotherly reunion could happen, though, there was another moment during Joel and Ellie's journey that grabbed the attention of a keen-eyed viewer.

During a wide shot of a snowy bridge that must be crossed by Joel and Ellie, a number of mysterious figures were spotted.

"Brilliant episode," a Twitter user wrote in response The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann, "something you might want to fix and reupload though. You can see the film crew in this shot."

Indeed, if you look closely you can see what appear to be multiple crew members slightly obscured by the snow-covered foliage. 

The flub is reminiscent of another mistake made by a HBO prestige drama. In 2019, the eighth season of Game of Thrones infamously featured a cameo appearance by a Starbucks coffee cup next to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). 

The network eventually acknowledged the mistake and removed the cup from the episode—but not before it became the stuff of Internet meme legend.

At the moment, HBO has yet to re-edit the apparent crew members out of the episode of The Last of Us.

The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

For other recent mistakes from your favorite movies and TV shows, keep scrolling.

Call it a commemoration?

Although the 2021 Netflix film, directed by Adam McKay, easily caught everyone's attention the moment it premiered in late December (it rose to No. 1 worldwide on the streaming platform within just the first few days), a little chatter surrounded the movie for a completely different reason. After a viewer spotted a masked-up film crew during a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, fans assumed that a small editing error had made its way in.
 
But, not so fast—according to McKay, that was a frame purposefully left in the final cut to capture the experience of filming during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We left that blip of the crew in on purpose to commemorate the strange filming experience," Adam tweeted in December, adding, "#Don'tLookUp."

Hey, the movie was still nominated for a Best Editing Oscar, so all's well that ends well. But we'll be sure not to look down while watching.

In January 2022, after a little more than two decades since the premiere of the installment's first film, the highly anticipated reunion, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, hit HBO Max. And since fans have been waiting forever for this magic, it's easily understandable that viewers didn't miss one second of it. 

With that being said, it did only take just one second for one viewer to notice an image at the beginning of the special that although was meant to be Emma Watson (who played Hermione Granger in the saga) was actually a photo of Emma Roberts instead.

After the blunder hit social media, producers for the reunion special addressed the error in a statement to E! News: "Well spotted Harry Potter fans! You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention. New version is up now."

Yes, there was another photo error spotted in the Harry Potter reunion special after it aired—but to be completely fair, this mix-up is quite understandable since it involved identical twins.

Oliver Phelps, who played George Weasley in the beloved film franchise, confirmed that the HBO Max special mistakenly identified him as his twin brother, James Phelps.

"I guess after all those pranks over the years somebody decided to get their revenge," he wrote on Instagram next to a screenshot of the mistake. But there were no hard feelings, as he added, "It was fantastic to be part of the HP reunion. Hope you all enjoyed it."

Also getting a kick out of the error, Tom Felton, who played villain Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, commented, "It was my doing. #weaslebee #returntohogwarts."

During the fourth season of the HBO hit series, Game of Thrones, fans were extremely surprised that amongst the metal and wooden silverware they were used to seeing, they also spotted a very modern-day Starbucks cup in the mix.

In response to the now-infamous 2019 episode, HBO issued a statement acknowledging the time-defying cup, saying, "The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake." Referring to Emilia Clarke's character, the network jokingly added, "Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea."

Alas, if you're looking for it now, the cup has been edited out from the episode.

Set in the late 13th-century, the 1995 film Braveheart followed Sir William Wallace (portrayed by Mel Gibson) as he became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. And since cars weren't invented until the late 19th century, fans were shocked when they noticed a white vehicle sitting in the back of the battlefield in one scene.

Although the shot lasts less than two seconds, it was enough for us to remember what time period they were truly filming in.

Another film set in the earliest of times that became a smash when it premiered in the early aughts would be Gladiator. Since the movie is set in 180 AD, it only made sense that most actors were spotted in either attire suitable for battle or outfits fit for the time period.

That is, until fans noticed that within one quick shot of a Colosseum crowd, there stands a man wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans—both items we're guessing even members of the Roman Empire didn't have access to.

When the 2019 musical movie, based on the 1981 stage adaptation, premiered, the cast ensemble including Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench and James Corden was enough to get people excited for some good mew-sic.

However, the movie wasn't well-received by critics, who pointed out that the film's visual effects and editing left much to be desired. One notable instance was when viewers noticed that Judi's very human hand was accidentally left sticking out of her CGI fur-filled cat body. The Hollywood Reporter noted director Tom Hooper updated future versions of the film shortly after its release.

In the 2002 movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the character of Éomer is played by Karl Urban—except as some fans noticed towards the very end, at one point, he simply is not. While Karl's character is meant to be sitting on a horse alongside his peers, it's actually the face of his stunt double that made the cut instead.

During the director's commentary for the movie, per WhatCulture, Peter Jackson admitted that they just didn't get to replace the face before the movie hit theaters.

There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it editing error in Emily in Paris season three, episode three. Specifically, after boss Madeline (Kate Walsh) tells Emily (Lily Collins) that it's time for her to return to Chicago, the young marketing maven turns to the window, where we glimpse not one, but two Eiffel Towers. The first shot of the Parisian landmark appears quickly on Emily's left, before reappearing outside the window to her right. Mon dieu, right?