The Last of Us Part 2 gamer makes '10/10' discovery that we feel so stupid for missing

One player of The Last of Us Part II has made a ridiculously clever observation that’ll completely change the way you view Abby’s fight with the Rat King.

I’ve played Naughty Dog’s acclaimed sequel countless times and, admittedly, thought I knew everything there was to know about the game.

This particular observation, however, has never occurred to me - and I’m not surprised to see that it’s left fellow players of The Last of Us Part II completely stunned.

The observation was made by Reddit user BickeringPigeon and shared in a post by TheSpyro14.

“I really don’t think that we’re going to see [a Rat King] in Part III,” BickeringPigeon began. “The Rat King is a manifestation of how Abby remembered Joel, a monster that lives in the bowels of a hospital, mows down everything, and can be stopped by almost nothing.”

They continued, “And the Stalker that detaches is Ellie, a secondary, smaller, much more agile creature that relies on stealth rather than brute strength.”

After reading the explanation, it just becomes so blindingly obvious that that’s what Naughty Dog’s intention must have been - and if this wasn’t intentional, the team absolutely should claim it was.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

“This interpretation is f**king fire,” replied Aldehin.

“Absolutely fantastic catch and one I hadn’t even considered despite replaying the game multiple times and engaging with Rat King posts in this sub. Brilliant, 10/10,” added EWC_2015.

“Holy s**t, this just blew my mind,” said NoiseTherapy, echoing my own thoughts.

The subtext you likely missed doesn’t end there.

“There is also the fact that when you start this adventure, you start way at the top and then you need to fight down and down and down until you get to the lowest part, which is a hospital, the place of Abby's grief - and where is the Rat King?” asked BeerTraps.

“It is hidden in the TRAUMA centre. Abby needs to overcome her trauma to save Yara or maybe, alternatively, by helping to save Yara, she is overcoming her own trauma.”

And this is why The Last of Us Part II is so brilliant.

READ MORE: The Last of Us gets free PS5 download, more announcements teased for next week

Two new The Last of Us projects are in development at Naughty Dog

Thankfully, there’s more The Last of Us on the way with Naughty Dog confirming “ a couple of very exciting new projects in very early stages”.

“We can’t say much about them at this point. I will tell you that both projects will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part I and Part II.”

That doesn’t necessarily indicate whether we’re getting Part III, spin-offs, or DLC expansions.

Druckmann finished by simply saying: “The world of The Last of Us means a great deal to us, and we wouldn’t return to it unless we had something meaningful to say. We believe these stories are worth telling.”

We’re probably not going to see these projects surface for a couple of years, as Naughty Dog also added that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet would be getting a full reveal in 2027.

For the remainder of 2026 though, the studio plans on keeping its head down.