The tragic tale of Simon and Paige would make a fantastic stand-alone episode of season two of The Last of Us. This plotline would help to humanize the Seattle Civil War by concentrating on two individuals whose love for one another surpasses the battle between the Seraphites and the Wolves. The TV series will need to find new means to explore that mythology, but the game included expansive open-world areas where the player could learn about this battle through lethal encounters and strewn-about documents. Paige and Simon would offer a human viewpoint to the brutal battle in Seattle.

The Last of Us season 1 showed that the series thrives when it breaks away from the main narrative to focus on a relationship between two lovable characters. Episode 3, “Long, Long Time,” and episode 7, “Left Behind,” were two of season 1’s strongest episodes, and they each exhibited the strengths of this format. “Left Behind” rounded out Ellie’s backstory by showing her heartbreakingly short-lived romance with her best friend Riley, while “Long, Long Time” turned Bill and Frank’s teased relationship from the game into one of TV’s greatest love stories. Simon and Paige could do that for season 2.