The Last of Us: Part 2 : Journey Series : Part 5 (Until End)
Welcome back to our ongoing adventure with the Last of Us: Part 2, that we are calling the Journey Series. On the fifth and final leg of our journey, our time with Ellie and Abby will come to an end. A word of caution, spoilers are ahead, so please proceed with risk. Without further delay, sit back, relax and enjoy.
The final leg of the journey is the culmination of everything that Naughty Dog has been creating for the past 25-30 hours. It is the point of the game where these two speeding trains finally cross tracks and we get to see how things unfold in real time as opposed to flashbacks. The last act of the game also provided enough variety to in gameplay and environment to keep the 30 hour journey feeling fresh, even though it hit a slight rut in the middle of the game.
The sniper sequence with Manny at your side, for example, adds a level of tension as we are trying to survive from the bullet of a lethal marksman which unfolds in a way that should have been obvious. Throughout the game we haven’t seen Serpahites using long range weaponry as they are mostly sticking to their religious creed and their old world mentality.However since this is a new mechanic, we are put on the tip of our toes and aren’t allowed the time to try to piece the puzzle together. Instead the main focus on this section is just to survive. Building up a character like Manny pays off during the climax of this sequence as we realize the marksman’s true identity.
Survival of the encounter allows Abby and Yara to find a boat and head back to the Serpahites island in search of Lev during the invasion from the WLF. As the island is engulfed in flames, Abby and Yara try to weave their way through the war that is waging between the WLF and the Serpahites in hopes of rescuing Lev. Although our time on the island feels fairly brief, there are plenty of things that happen that will leave lasting impacts on the characters. As we reach Lev we can see that trying to save his mom didn’t work out as expected as self defence kicked in and she is now dead. Abby, Yara and Lev now have the sole purpose of escaping the island but as luck would have it we run into Isaac, who we haven’t seen much of and I am expecting more from.
However Isaac does become the catalyst that truly shows us that Abby is changing and has realized that taking life isn’t the answer anymore. She is now willing to lay her own life down in hopes of protecting Lev. What we know of Isaac is that he is cold and ruthless as he counts down until the time he pulls the trigger, giving Abby a chance to step aside. Instead it is Yara that makes the ultimate sacrifice in these three seconds and lays down her life in hopes that Abby and her brother may life. In all of the commotion Abby and Lev are able to escape from the island but I have a feeling that this may not be the last that we see of Isaac, even though he was shot multiple times, he has the villain role that you would expect to appear later on. On a visual level, the whole island sequence with the thunderstorm and the villages being engulfed in flames looked extremely impressive.
As we make it to the Aquarium, to find Alice, Mel and Owen dead we see an opportunity for Abby to slip deeper into the ocean of hate. Sneaking into the theatre we are mere minutes away from this climax that has been building up. As we work our way down from the top of the theatre, we find the radio room that has been intercepting the WLF communications. This could have easily be missed but just hanging out beside the radio allows you to hear that the invasion on the island didn’t go well. It sounds like there will be no survivors and even more importantly it sounds like Isaac is officially dead, although I still skeptical.
Abby and Ellie now stand mere feet apart from each other. Jesse dead on the floor and now Tommy as the stakes keep escalating as the tension reaches a boiling point. However, all of the built up tension and all that the story has been developing over the past 20 hours or so feels slightly robbed from you as the game forces the player back in control during a battle with Ellie around the prop room of the theatre. This battle rips the player out of the immersion as I died multiple times trying to figure out the pattern of Ellie’s attacks and her weak points.
In yet another triumphant moment in the character of Abby, we see her show such growth to spare the lives of Dina and Ellie. With a knife to the throat of Dina, Abby is informed of her pregnancy and with Lev being a beacon of hope offers opinion to let it go. Abby could have easily killed both Ellie, and Dina which would have more than likely cut the loose ends. This is now the second time that Abby has spared Ellies life with the first being at the chalet.
Abby shows restraint, even though Ellie is responsible, directly or indirectly for the death of many of her loved ones including Nora, Mel, Owen, Manny and even Alice. I think Abby understands that more death isn’t the answer and it wont give her the peace that she is looking for. After the death of Joel, we see Abby still suffer from visions of Saint Mary’s and we have still seen her suffer in real life with losses of loved ones. The only way things to truly change is to break the cycle.
After having their lives spared, it seems that Ellie, Dina and her newborn son, JJ, are living a happy life, which can most likely be assumed somewhere near Jackson. We can also assume that the name JJ is paying respects to Joel and Jesse. They aren’t living in the settlement that we saw at the start of the game, instead they are living on a farm at the foothills of some mountains with gorgeous views. They are growing crops, raising livestock and making a life of their own. For a minute I am unsure if this is a dream or if Ellie and Dina actually died back at the theatre in Seattle because in this brief view into their new lives things seem too good to be true. However, it isn’t long before we realize that happiness might just be a facade.
Our first glimpse that things are far from okay is when Ellie is bringing in the sheep and the slam of a gate triggers her PTSD of Joels murder. She has blackout episode in the barn and sadly JJ is wrapped up with her but Dina comes to her aid and tries to snap her out of it. Time heals all wounds but it’s clear that Ellie is having trouble putting this behind her.
Not long after we get a nice surprise visit from Tommy. Miraculously, we see that Tommy didn’t die in the theatre like we assumed, although he seems to be very handicapped now. The gunshot to the head has left him without vision in one eye and the arrow has affected Tommy’s walk. If things werent bad enough, it he has now split up from his wife for unknown reasons but likely the same reasons that Ellie and Abby caused so much pain to the ones they love. The hate and the thirst for revenge blocks out the ones you loves causing life to pass you by. We see this thirst based on information that Tommy has been searching for since Seattle. Tommy has been able to track down Abby and Lev to California where they went to follow the firefly trail.
Thinking Ellie would be interested in this revenge, he passes this information onto her but Dina tells Tommy that they are happy and no longer focused on getting revenge. Ellie agrees with Dina but she is clearly torn by the decision. We see Dina try to shield Ellie from this type of thing happening again as she yells at Tommy on the porch. My heart sank when I saw Ellie packing her bag. I don’t want her to go to California, unless she is going to track down the fireflies as well but more than likely that isn’t what the journey is about. Dina understands that the only reason they are alive and moving on with life is because Abby gave them that chance again and chose to let go of hate.
We are now in California as Abby and although the change of scenery is well needed, I feel as though I am at the end of my rope. It’s not that the game isn’t excellent in almost every facet, because it is. It may have dragged on in certain areas but there is only so much negativity that can be tolerated. I feel as though Naughty Dog has accomplished what it wanted by putting me in the shoes of the people who live in this world. The constant hate and negativity takes a toll on the psyche and the choices are to give in to the hate or rise above it.
As Abby, we have now tracked down our final clue to the street and we are now steps away. I notice a graffiti on the back of a delivery truck which doesn’t look familiar and the second that Lev tells me to look out I am assuming that I am now being attacked by a new faction but surprisingly it is only a few clickers. Initially, 2625 Constance seems empty and the trail seems to have gone cold until Lev notices a bookcase and scratches on the floor revealing a hidden bunker. It’s nothing special, but it has the essentials for survival including a few showers, a stove, beds, games and a radio for communications. As we are in the state of California and it is sunny almost every day, everything is powered by solar as I noticed the panels on the roof when initially looking for clues.
What we have discovered certainly seems like an old firefly bunker but it appears we are too late. Conveniently, we discover a notebook with frequencies with locations like San Diego and Catalina Island. As Abby tries frequency after frequency without any success we can see defeat settling in. One of the things about a Naughty Dog game is that all of the big cutscenes are crafted and directed with purpose. This is how all of the motion capture that they do pay dividends. There were many great scenes throughout the game but it was the cinematography on this scene that really struck me. We are about six feet behind Abby now as she continues to try to find any port in a storm. The body language on Abby as she finds nothing but dead air depicts exactly how she is feeling without any dialogue. Her shoulders drop down and she start to hunch as she is losing hope. As someone who has grown to like Abby and her growth, I feel myself defeated with the dead end and wanted there to be more. I wanted there to be a reason for why so many of her loved ones died. I wanted her to find a happy ending.
When all hope seems lost, we get proof of life from Catalina Island as we have a man on the other end of the radio who claims to be a firefly and is asking all the right questions to make sure Abby is a firefly as well. However, in this world I am just as skeptical that it’s a trap but faith is needed at some points in life. Not in a religious sense but more in the belief of something. The belief that the fireflies still exist, did retreat to Catalina Island and are now rebuilding. Belief that all is not lost.
As soon as Abby and Lev exit the house they are ambushed by this new faction, which we will later find out are called the rattlers. In the first few seconds you realize that this group wants nothing to do with the survival of humanity. This is depicted on the rough treatment that Abby gets but even more magnified by how Lev gets knocked unconscious. There is a sad realization that groups like the Rattlers would exist if a scenario like TLOU2 unfolded.
We are transported back to Ellie as she has tracked down Abbys boat months later. As Ellie is on the beach where the sailboat was left it can’t be understated how beautiful the change of scenery is for the game. The series has been so dark with areas like Boston, Jackson and Seattle. The way the palm trees have become overgrown, the way the tide comes in, the way the sand looks soggy underneath and dries out as the tide retreats. The lighter tone in the environment can hopefully be foreshadowing for the ending of this story.
Ellie finds enough clues to get moving in a direction to find Abby a little too conveniently but it is fiction after all, but before you know it she is caught in a Rattler trap. Ellie’s momentum swings her into a branch that pierces her side that made me gasp. It’s the little details of this scene that emphasize the care that goes into this game and how everything is thought about. As Ellie is hanging upside down we see her face slowly turn red as the blood starts to rush to it and we see the veins in her face start to become pronounced as they are now engorged with blood due to gravity. It’s all of these little details that make the game feel real and make the player experience these emotions as Naughty Dog intended.
Ellie manages to get out of a death sentence as the Rattlers lose focus for a minute that allows Elle to kill her captors and infiltrate the rattler camp. Ellie kills everyone in her path, frees prisoners and eventually finds Abby who is clearly malnourished and has been tortured for months now. As soon as she has been cut down she goes immediately to Lev as she has now overtaken the guardian role. She tells Ellie where boats can be found, grabs Lev in her arms and somehow finds the strength to walk. I found this scene of Abby walking to the boat with Lev in her arms is reminiscent of Joel carrying Sarah up the hill as they tried to evacuate Texas at the beginning of TLOU.
It doesn’t end this easily as Ellie still wants blood for blood. We are now in control of Ellie after she threatens to kill Lev if Abby doesn’t fight. I try every option before pushing the buttons but the game is demanding me. I don’t want to kill Abby and I contemplate turning the game off but I want to see this game through as I have made it this far. I have grown attached to Abby over the course of this game and after understanding her reasoning for everything that she has done I can’t fault her for any of it, unpopular decision or not.
After wearing down an already weak Abby, Ellie begins to hold her head under water. Every second under water feels like hours as I am begging Ellie to have a change of heart. This is not what Joel would have wanted. In retrospect maybe Joels trusting of the WLF at the start is what is needed to change the world. If everyone holds on to hate and doesn’t trust others then humanity will kill itself as we have seen with the WLF, Seraphites, Rattlers and Hunters. Seconds away from being drowned in a foot of salty ocean water, something happens inside Ellie as she gives Abby life and maybe finally releases all the hate she has been harbouring.
Ellie said she wanted her life to mean something and Joel took that away from her but I think letting Abby live could be the meaning that was needed. If there is still a chance that the fireflies are on Catalina Island, then there is a chance that they can still change the world. If in fact they are two hundred strong then maybe they can grow. If Abby didn’t let Ellie and Dina live at the theatre in Seattle then would she have been killed at the rattler camp.
If there is a part three of something akin to Left Behind I think it would be a continuation on Abby and Lev’s story with the Fireflies. Once you finish the game you finally see a boat basking in the sun on the beach on what looks like the back of Catalina Island. There is no accident that both the boat and the building are drenched in the sun.
Ellie returns to the ranch to find it abandoned, which at first I am wondering if Ellie is dead or in purgatory but then we see a pillow and sheets folded on a bed, clearly left behind for her, along with all of her belongings, but no note. Dina has moved on. One of the items left behind is her guitar, which is clearly her connection to Joel as not only did he give her the guitar but he also taught her how to play which I think is parallel reference about what he taught her about life.
After Abby leaves in the boat, it almost seems like there is a burst of energy that leaves Ellie as she sits in the water which is likely all the negative energy that she has been holding onto for so long. Ellie leaves the guitar basking in the window with the fresh air as she is ready to move on with her life. We see Ellie heading off with only her pack as this leaves a lot to be answered. Is Ellie heading back to Jackson to try to live a happy life with Dina or is she heading out into the wilderness to get closure.
The acting and writing during the cutscenes of this game rival some if not better some of the best stuff on tv and movies right now. It is truly a moment where I thought to myself, games are now to be taken more seriously. A new bar has been set for storytelling within a game. There have been some serious games before but I can’t think of any that really made me forget I was actually playing a game and kept me thoroughly engaged throughout all the cutscenes.
The way that Naughty Dog handles topical issues in this game from religion, LGBTQ, mental illness and much more with a delicate touch is impressive. TLOU2 is not fun but it was a great story that did overstay its welcome at times but added different perspective on the world that Naughty Dog created in 2013. I don’t think there was any sections that could have been removed as they all played an integral role in how the story was revealed to the audience. However, all of the chapters could have been trimmed a little and rather than being a 30 hour game, it could have been a much tighter 20 hour experience.
Naughty Dog have left The Last of Us in a great place. I would be interested to see what could be done with another entry showing what Ellie and Abby have chosen to do with their second chances at life and their newfound positivity. TLOU2 also left enough questions unanswered and I think leaving many things up to interpretation was a great idea. If this was the last game in the series then I think Naughty Dog should be extremely proud of what they accomplished in just two games. TLOU2 was an experience that is worthy of your time and entry price but I think it fails to reach the high bar set by the original.
This is the end of our final leg and wraps up our journey series with TLOU2. I hope you enjoyed the ride but before parting ways I want to thank you for being part of the journey with me.