The Last of Us 2 has the perfect video game ending for my money. Without spoiling anything in case you’ve yet to experience this masterpiece of a game, it’s bitterly unsatisfying but somehow, thematically and narratively, the only way to wrap up the story in a way that does justice to the characters, who they are, and what they’ve all been through.
OK, now I will get into spoilers, so again, if somehow The Last of Us 2 has eluded you in the six years it’s been out, go play that darned game and come back here when you’re done so we can pick up the pieces together.
The very final scene of The Last of Us 2 is a heart-wrenching conversation between Joel and Ellie, obviously from before Joel was murdered by Abby. In it, Joel and Ellie attempt to reconcile their relationship, which is in tatters following the events of The Last of Us 1, when Joel saves Ellie from scientists trying to sacrifice her for the good of humanity. By doing so, Joel dashes hopes for a vaccine and Ellie is less than thankful to learn she could’ve saved humanity but didn’t because of Joel’s intervention.
This final conversation before Joel’s death sees the father and adoptive daughter duo wrestle with their feelings for each other, but it’s inconclusive. “I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that… But I would like to try,” Ellie says. “I’d like that,” Joel responds, fighting back tears. It’s an incredibly emotional moment that reminds you of a love between found family that both father and daughter wanted to salvage, but would never get the chance.
“God damn, [Ellie actor] Ashley Johnson,” a tearful Troy Baker says in a Party Chat interview in which he reacts to the scene six years later. “We spent all day on that scene … Originally, [game director Neil Druckmann] had scripted that Ellie hugs Joel, and Ashley was like, ‘I’m not there yet, I can’t.’ It’s not that she was right, but it’s better that they don’t get that hug, that we leave it in the tense, we leave it unresolved.
“And originally, that scene was supposed to play right before everything goes down, and to put it at the end, it’s just like, ‘Oh god,’ it’s so good.” Baker adds that he had “no idea” the scene was going to play at the very end of the game until “afterwards.”
One of the things I love most about Ellie and Joel’s story is how many different meanings can be extrapolated from it, and how it’s possible that none of them were the developer’s intention. For me, having that scene play at the end of the game adds a final bit of emotional reasoning to Ellie’s revenge spree. As the main sympathetic character of the story, Ellie’s rage is understandable just knowing that Abby killed Joel so gruesomely, but it makes even more sense when you learn that Abby also robbed Ellie of the chance to tell Joel she loved him before he was killed. It’s a farewell reminder that, as healthy as it is to let go of grudges, as humans our hands are often tied when it comes to matters related to people we love or loved deeply.
Anyway, writing this story has reminded me I need to play through the entire Last of Us saga again, right from the beginning with Part 1 on PS5. Typically I only play horror games in the month of October, but I’d say The Last of Us is adjacent enough to qualify.