The Last of Us Part 2 is a harrowing journey of regaining humanity. The audience experiences overwhelming dread as they watch Ellie battle with a downward spiral of revenge and hate following Joel’s decision from The Last of Us. The unsettling feeling of dread and guilt follow through until the end of the game when the characters aren’t offered any clean breaks or closure, but this seems to be exactly what Naughty Dog was going for when crafting The Last of Us 2.
The Last of Us 2 is meant to invoke powerful feelings from the player. From the deadnaming of Lev to the killing of pet dogs, the game is meant to produce pure human reactions, such as the way players will struggle with their feelings towards Abby throughout her journey. Starting her off as the antagonist and then experiencing the story through her eyes compounds those reactions, even if the player doesn’t get to see what happens to her after she miraculously makes it out alive, but that’s all part of the narrative.
The balance between the two dueling protagonists, an unusual way to tell a story, is delicate. It’s painful to watch Ellie endure the trauma of Joel’s death, but watching her act on the anger through vengeance is even more so. The Last of Us 2 starts off as a simple revenge quest but turns into a miserable and uncontrollable killing spree that sends the player into those feelings of guilt and dread.
And then the game does a 180 by forcing the player to experience the last three days from Abby’s eyes, knowing the horror of what’s to come. After watching Abby lose her loved ones—again, but this time at the hands of Ellie rather than Joel—it culminates in a battle against Ellie. At this point, it feels like the player is essentially fighting themself.
While Ellie experiences a downward spiral, falling further into the trap of vengeance, Abby mirrors her in a hopeful, upward trend. She’s lost everything, between the war with the Scars and her relationships in the Wolves, and she still fights for Lev and Yara until the end. Players weren’t certain how the final fight between Ellie and Abby would unfold, but by allowing Abby to get away to Catalina Island, not only has Ellie saved her soul, but it also leaves an open end for a third game.
Despite turning into a remorseless killer throughout The Last of Us 2, Dina stays by Ellie’s side during their time in Seattle. Aside from being a major leap for the LGBTQ community in gaming, their relationship is one of the only joyful elements the game has to offer, which makes the scene where Ellie leaves Dina and JJ all the more heartbreaking. It’s unclear what’s become of the couple following the brutal end fight between the two protagonists. Of course, there is that fan theory that Ellie may have met up with Dina prior to returning to the farmhouse, signified by Dina’s hamsa bracelet on Ellie’s wrist as she plays Joel’s guitar, but this hasn’t been confirmed by the development team or creative director.
In the end, all the player knows is that Ellie has been separated from Dina and all she has left is her humanity. On the official Last of Us podcast, Ashley Johnson argued that it was only because Ellie lost Dina (and so much else) was she finally able to regain her humanity. However, leaving their story open-ended this way gives the player a small sense of hope that Ellie can find Dina in true Naughty Dog fashion of not spelling every mystery out.
Again, the couple remains one of the only optimistic elements that The Last of Us 2 has to offer, but if a threequel does surface in the future, hopefully, it’ll clarify what’s become of the two. For their relationship, for Abby’s fate, and so much more, The Last of Us 2 lets them go unanswered, but in doing so, it creates not fear of the unknown, but hope.
The Last of Us Part 2 is out now for PS4.
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