The Last of Us Part II’s Story Could Only Be Told the Way It Was
This article contains major spoilers for The Finally of Us Percentage II.
The Last of U.S.A Part II is the form of game whose themes, body structure, and revelations ring in your nous. The more I think about them, the more momentum they gain, pulling different elements into their orbits and growing over time. As they continue to evolve, and with a little of distance now placed between my playthrough and ME, my thoughts are more clearly outlined. Which is why I tone so powerfully that the non-linear social structure of the story, the ample use of flashbacks, the early death of Joel, and the sudden shift to focusing the lense on Abby aren't just successful decisions — but the only possible way this story could've been told.
Unrivalled of my main takeaways from The Last of Us Part Deuce was the power of hope and, perhaps more importantly, the things we're capable of doing when we feel like all hope is lost. The game is symmetrical in its poesy, the opening and shutting shots of the game some adjusted on the guitar that altered workforce from Joel, to Ellie, and then eventually binding to Joel in its own way once it was left in the farmhouse. As the lyrics to the Pearl Jam song that Book of Joel teaches Ellie go, "If I ever were to lose you, I'd surely lose myself."
The vengeance itself that Ellie and Abby some so desperately seek is uniform. Ellie is fueled away the desire to avenge the Death of a man who, for all practical purposes, doomed humanity to linger in its current hell. Joel's love for Ellie and unwillingness to fail her equally a protector in the aforesaid way he thinks he unsuccessful his daughter Sarah led him to completely toss aside any whimsey of the greater good. On the somersault side, Abby's father was the uncomparable person along the planet who could actually fix things. He understood the gravity of killing an uninformed girl in the name of the greater good, and he was willing to confront it heading on.
Men that are two sides of the same coin, both doomed by the things we do for love, both involuntary to confront the estimation of hope, and both of whom's deaths fueled the flame of The Last of The States Part Cardinal.
Even the point cycle of violent revenge is symmetrical no matter which angle you opinion it from. Revenge is an insatiable ouroboros with no beginning and atomic number 102 end. The satire of it is biblical, like existence stranded on a pile in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by water and dying of dehydration. Ultimately, it feels like this cycle can only be severed away divine intercession.
In Abby's case, it's meeting Lev and Yara. IT's quite literally learning to love thy enemy. As for Ellie, IT's having a flash of Joel, but instead of the pain of his being killed, it's the peace and tranquility of his being alive. As she's drowning the life out of Abby, that flash finally allows her to begin to forgive Joel, and in turn reignite a spark of promise.
On a more gritty tear down, Ellie and Abby feel like mirror opposites of for each one other. We reunite with Ellie in her recently nursing home of Jackson, Wyoming, which feels almost like a theme park recreation of what life history was like long before Outbreak Day. Horses line the streets, folks gather for townsfolk dances, and snowball fights with local anaesthetic kids can pop up at some moment. If you squint hard and front at it from the justly angle, IT's easy to forget what lies inaccurate its walls.
That's for certain not the case with the stadium that Abby and the strange members of the WLF call home. The incongruous nature of the structure itself is a constant reminder of how untold things have changed. Everything from the training Stations of the Cross to the armory to the mess hall to the makeshift farms located on the field ooze a survivalist position. There's no forgetting what's happening outside the walls here.
Ellie and Abby run further parallel in the peaceful places they find respite and how their sanctuaries become corroded by the dangers of the outside world. I've already verbalised about the wonderful flashback sequence where Joel and Ellie explore the WY Museum of Scientific discipline and History and how extraordinary of the most touching scenes with Ellie gives way to a dangerous and ominous billet. Likewise, Abby finds a small snatch of solace in Seattle's aquarium, which we first explore arsenic a warm and inviting home that Owen has built and so as a tomb once Ellie makes her fashio there. Both places play a sort of mirage of desire for our characters end-to-end their journeys in The Last of USA Part II.
That museum flashback likewise highlights how Ellie's greatest desire is to explore the vast reaches of space. This was even touched upon near the final stage of the original game, when she shared her dream with Joel of being on base an airplane, despite never having set foundation in one in her life. Antonymous to this, Abby has a deep and crisp fear of heights, which she's unvoluntary to face in the almost extreme manner when Lev leads her on the Scars' secrets passage crossways Seattle, which is laid consume across construction cranes and scaffolding high-stepping above the city itself.
The symmetrical and cyclical nature of Ellie and Abby's journeys are even further highlighted in the very way The Last of Us Part II is structured. We pass 10-15 hours with Ellie as she makes her way through three days in Seattle, only to then replay those exact same deuce-ac days from Abby's point of view. The moment we regain dominance of Abby and the title card fades in with the words "Seattle Day 1" is a truly powerful and unhoped revelation on how this news report was going to be told, reminiscent of the "Five Eld Later" statute title card used in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
Ultimately, the manner and order in which all of the data and motivations are presented adds up to a powerful through line across the game. Knowing where Ellie's path of destruction leads and arriving at those places slightly ahead or after her atomic number 3 Abby makes for some truly impactful moments, full of dramatic satire. Likewise, non knowing on the nose where Ellie and Joel's relationship stood until that unalterable, heart-wrenching flashback on the porch made the entire thing all the Sir Thomas More drama.
The ending of the original game saw Ellie acceptive what Joel said was the truth about the Fireflies and their futile search for a cure. Obviously she did this with some amount of incredulity, given that she would eventually move out to Salt Lake Urban center and discover the truth for herself, a Revelation which caused the split between the cardinal of them.
Only the ending of The Inalterable of Us Part II sees Ellie at last and rightfully accepting what Joel did, for better or for worse. By leaving his guitar behind in the remnants of what was erst briefly her sightly house with her beautiful life, she's forgiven Joel, forgiven Abby, and, successively, begun to forgive herself. And as we find out her walk off into the outdistance like indeed many drama western heroes did ahead, we see that she's finally able to escape that ouroboros of hate and violence that kept her a prisoner in the darkness for so long. At least, we hope she has.
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-story/
Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-story/