The Last Of Us Season 2 didn't understand Ellie, and it shows

Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II and HBO's The Last of Us season two below!

The Last of Us season two wrapped up on Sunday and gave fans their last glance of the hit HBO television adaptation ahead of its third season at a future undisclosed date.

The second season kicked off the events of The Last of Us Part II and followed Joel and Ellie some years after they had found a community in Jackson. However, it wasn’t long before the true horrors of a post-apocalyptic world came into play as Joel’s actions at the end of season one finally caught up with him.

Faced with the death of the only father she had ever known, Ellie set off on a quest for revenge against Joel’s killer Abby and her gang who had travelled back to Seattle. Travelling with Dina at her side and a heart full of rage, fans of The Last of Us Part II will know how much Ellie loses herself on this journey and becomes consumed with wrath which leads her to commit heinous actions.

However, after finally catching up with The Last of Us season two, I can officially say that this is not how Ellie is portrayed in the television adaptation and as a result, I feel as though her character has been deeply misunderstood or at least watered down as a way to make her more agreeable to viewers.

Despite Ellie being one of my favourite fictional characters, she is not a good person throughout the events of The Last of Us Part II. Yes, she is blinded by grief and as a way to not feel its debilitating pain, she sets her sights on revenge, thinking that this is the only way to honour Joel’s memory.

Her grief brings the darkness that she has always been capable of to the surface. She kills without remorse, she abandons Dina and her child, she puts herself at risk and loses sight of herself completely. She ends up alone despite that being her biggest fear in life.

Naughty Dog

It is worth noting that Ellie is not just a fictional character, but she is a fictional character living in a world where violence has become a means of survival. She was trained to become a killer, but a killer by necessity.

Throughout her journey across Seattle, she is not killing because she has to, she is killing because she wants to and her actions are not supposed to be palatable. Although, as players, we become pretty desensitised to violence when playing these sorts of games and unlike Ellie, we have to kill because that is the only way to advance the story. As a result, many fans can forget that this is not the case for Ellie. She could simply leave at any time and yet she feels as though she can’t. This is all she can do to honour Joel’s memory.

There is also Ellie’s suicidal ideation to take into consideration. With Joel lying to her about the cure, Ellie thought that her life no longer had any meaning, as being the source of the cure was the only reason that she could contribute to humanity as a whole. When her purpose was stripped away from her, it left her in with a lot of depression and guilt and that has manifested into self-sabotaging behaviour.

This is why Ellie is not scared to die and may not even consider the possibility as she sets off on a quest for revenge. Ellie will plead and beg for the lives of the ones she loves, but not once throughout the events of The Last of Us Part II does she bargain for her own life.

As someone who suffers with depression and suicidal ideation, I know this feeling all too well and I feel as though this was a topic that may have been implied in the HBO show but did not come across in Ellie’s actions.

HBO

In the finale, Ellie pleads to Abby when the latter threatens to shoot her and yet this is not something that Naughty Dog’s Ellie would do.

Even back in The Last of Us Part I where she is faced by the dangers posed by David, she merely says “tell them ‘Ellie’ is the little girl who broke your f**king finger”. Although at this age, we can assume that this was merely bravado and a way that she dealt with fear, you cannot deny that Ellie’s characterisation remained consistent throughout the two games.

However, I feel as though HBO’s Ellie has been incredibly misunderstood between season one and season two or as I said before, I feel as though the show writers have created a ‘watered down’ version in order to shy away from a morally grey character.

They still want Ellie to be the hero, as many protagonists are, and that is not the case. Ellie, like many characters throughout The Last of Us, commits despicable acts that we, as viewers, are not supposed to agree with or feel comfortable with. However, this does not mean that we cannot appreciate her character.

“If I ever were to lose you, I’d surely lose myself”, are not just lyrics from the song that Joel sings to Ellie but it is a key theme of The Last of Us Part II: Ellie quite literally loses herself, and I feel as though this has not been the case in season two of the show.

It is worth noting that this is all just my opinion and I also appreciate that it is an adaptation and not a direct recreation of the game. However, I feel as though understanding the main character is something that should be a requirement and unfortunately, it feels as though this wasn’t the case in The Last of Us season two.