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This topic is for discussing clues and potential answers to the Fungal Symbol in Epic Week 2025. Please stay on topic. Remember, these riddles are designed to be challenging and require a group of people brainstorming together; don't feel intimidated if you don't know the answer right away. Every little idea can help. Research is not cheating; it is expected!
Click here to visit the location of the Fungal Symbol
Click here to visit the location of the Fungal Symbol
I was thinking montopolis bridge which you see in the background at the start of the game, but not sure if its in the show
But never mentioned in the show confused me, so it isn't a physical location ?
Does the symbol signify something from The Last of Us?
Edit: ope, Fireflies symbol from TLOU.
Edit: ope, Fireflies symbol from TLOU.
Right! Spoilers below.
Reddit theory by a gamer, 5 years ago, confirmed correct by the show. (Ellie's mother Anna was bitten just before childbirth, and the placenta/umbilical cord passed the virus to Ellie in such a way that she could pass off as Cordyceps and be immune)
https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/jnr0t2/why_ellie_is_immune/
Reddit theory, more recent, unproven as far as I know (suggests that colostrum, the first breast milk that babies receive when feeding, is the antibody)
https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/128flim/the_last_of_us_the_fireflies_were_wrong_about_why/
Page explaining game and show reasoning, saying that the game's explanation is more in-depth (antigenic titers of the Cordyceps)
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-ellie-immune-cordyceps-the-last-of-us#:~:text=The%20finale%20implies%20Ellie%27s%20immunity,somehow%20getting%20bitten%20before%20childbirth.
The pregnancy/placenta, or the breastmilk of the second reddit theory, could be the bridge to "real life"; the natural vaccine(?) that Ellie gets as a result of the bite could be what "fights the fungus". I'm thinking antigenic titers or colostrum/breastmilk, since they don't seem to be mentioned in the show.
Likewise Reddit could also be a bridge to real life, and it's a Reddit theory specifically, but that feels less poetic in general
Reddit theory by a gamer, 5 years ago, confirmed correct by the show. (Ellie's mother Anna was bitten just before childbirth, and the placenta/umbilical cord passed the virus to Ellie in such a way that she could pass off as Cordyceps and be immune)
https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/jnr0t2/why_ellie_is_immune/
Reddit theory, more recent, unproven as far as I know (suggests that colostrum, the first breast milk that babies receive when feeding, is the antibody)
https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/128flim/the_last_of_us_the_fireflies_were_wrong_about_why/
Page explaining game and show reasoning, saying that the game's explanation is more in-depth (antigenic titers of the Cordyceps)
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-ellie-immune-cordyceps-the-last-of-us#:~:text=The%20finale%20implies%20Ellie%27s%20immunity,somehow%20getting%20bitten%20before%20childbirth.
The pregnancy/placenta, or the breastmilk of the second reddit theory, could be the bridge to "real life"; the natural vaccine(?) that Ellie gets as a result of the bite could be what "fights the fungus". I'm thinking antigenic titers or colostrum/breastmilk, since they don't seem to be mentioned in the show.
Likewise Reddit could also be a bridge to real life, and it's a Reddit theory specifically, but that feels less poetic in general
Quote:
O. unilateralis suffers from an unidentified fungal hyperparasite, reported in the lay press as the "antizombie-fungus fungus", that results in only 6–7% of sporangia being viable, limiting the damage O. unilateralis inflicts on ant colonies. The hyperparasite moves in to attack O. unilateralis as the fungal stalk emerges from the ant's body, which can stop the stalk from releasing its spores.[33][34]
This might be something??
Quote:
Each of the two newly discovered fungi belongs to its own genus. One of the new fungi, Niveomyces coronatus, is responsible for the fuzzy white coating on the zombie ant fungus — a component of its name (“niveo”) comes from the Latin for “snowy.” The second new fungus, Torrubiellomyces zombiae, is harder to spot: The little black blobs “look like fleas,” according to Araújo.
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