You’ve seen the discourse. If you spent any time on the internet back in 2020—or even now, as the HBO series enters its second season—you know that The Last of Us Part 2 Ellie is a topic that can start a fight in an empty room. Some people see her as a fallen hero. Others think she’s a monster. Honestly? Both of those takes kind of miss the point.
The game isn't just a "revenge is bad" PSA. It’s a messy, sweaty, uncomfortable look at what happens when a person’s entire identity is built on a purpose that was taken away from her.
Why Ellie Was "Broken" Before Joel Even Died
To understand Ellie in the sequel, you have to look at the survivor's guilt she’s been carrying since she was fourteen. She was supposed to be the cure. That was her destiny, her "reason" for existing in a world where everyone she loved either died or turned. When Joel pulled her out of that hospital in Salt Lake City, he didn't just save her life; in her eyes, he robbed her of its meaning.
By the time we see them in Jackson, that relationship is a wreck. She knows he lied. She eventually goes back to the hospital, finds the truth, and tells him they’re done.
Then, just as she starts to consider the possibility of forgiveness—literally the night before—Abby shows up with a golf club.
That timing is the real tragedy. Ellie isn't just hunting Abby because she killed Joel. She’s hunting Abby because Abby took away the one person Ellie needed to reconcile with. She’s fueled by the rage of an unfinished conversation.
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The Last of Us Part 2 Ellie and the Descent into Seattle
In the first game, Ellie was the light. She had the puns, the whistling, the wonder at the "outside" world. In Part 2, that light is basically snuffed out. Naughty Dog made a very specific choice with her gameplay to reflect this. She’s fast, sure, but she’s also fragile. She’s "slight" compared to the enemies she’s fighting.
When you play as her, you feel the desperation.
- The Stealth Mechanics: You’re constantly prone, crawling through grass, feeling like a predator that could easily become prey.
- The Violence: It’s not "fun" action. It’s wet, loud, and intimate. When Ellie kills someone, they don't just disappear; their friends scream their names (like "Omar!" or "Nora!").
- The Journal: If you actually read Ellie’s journal during the Seattle chapters, you see her mental state deteriorating in real-time. Her sketches get darker. Her handwriting gets shakier.
By the time she reaches the hospital to find Nora, she’s crossing lines she can't uncross. That scene where the screen turns red as she beats Nora for information? That’s the moment the "old" Ellie dies. She returns to the theater covered in blood, shaking, unable to even look at Dina.
The Santa Barbara Choice: Why She Let Abby Go
This is the part that still makes people lose their minds. After everything—after losing Jesse, almost losing Tommy, and leaving a peaceful farm life with Dina—Ellie tracks Abby to California. She finds her emaciated, tied to a stake, a shell of the soldier she once was.
They fight in the surf. It’s pathetic and exhausting. Ellie has her fingers bitten off. She’s winning. She has Abby’s head under the water.
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And then she sees a flash of Joel.
It’s not a flashback of his bloody face. It’s a flashback of him on the porch, playing the guitar.
A lot of players felt cheated. "I did all that for nothing?" they asked. But killing Abby wouldn't have brought Joel back, and more importantly, it wouldn't have fixed the hole in Ellie’s soul. By letting Abby go, Ellie finally takes back her own agency. She stops being a slave to her trauma.
What Really Happened in That Final Scene?
The very last scene of The Last of Us Part 2 Ellie shows her returning to an empty farmhouse. Dina is gone. The rooms are cleared out, except for Ellie’s studio.
She tries to play the guitar Joel gave her, but she can't. She’s missing the fingers she needs to hold the chords.
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It’s a heavy metaphor for the cost of her journey. She lost the one physical connection she had left to Joel. But notice what she’s wearing. In some of the final shots, she’s wearing the hamsa bracelet Dina gave her. She didn't have that in Santa Barbara. This has led many fans—and even some narrative analysts—to believe she’s already been back to Jackson and reconciled with Dina before this scene even happens.
She leaves the guitar behind and walks into the woods. She isn't "lost." She’s finally unburdened.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Players
If you’re looking to get the most out of Ellie’s story or preparing for the next chapter of the franchise, keep these points in mind:
- Replay with the Journal Open: Don't skip the reading. The journal entries provide the internal monologue that the cutscenes don't show. It changes how you view her "cruelty."
- Watch the Fingers: In the final scene, look at how she tries to play "Future Days." The struggle is the point. She has to find a new way to remember him that doesn't involve that specific instrument.
- Understand the "Cycle": The game is a mirror. Everything Ellie does to Abby’s friends is a mirror of what was done to her. Breaking the cycle is the only way she survives.
- Keep an Eye on the HBO Adaptation: Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have already hinted that Season 2 (and potentially 3) will expand on Ellie’s internal struggle in ways the game couldn't, possibly showing more of her life in Jackson before the "inciting incident."
Ellie's journey is a hard watch. It’s supposed to be. But if you look past the gore, it’s a deeply human story about the agonizing process of learning how to forgive yourself when the person you need to talk to is gone. It's about finding out who you are when you're no longer "the cure" or "the avenger."
She’s just Ellie. And for the first time in her life, that might be enough.