It’s been years. Honestly, the dust should have settled on the Santa Barbara beach by now, but The Last of Us Part 2 ending remains one of the most polarizing moments in gaming history. People didn't just play it; they survived it. Then they argued about it for a thousand hours on Reddit.
Some players felt betrayed. Others found it a masterpiece of empathy.
When Ellie finally tracks Abby down to those sun-bleached pillars, she isn't looking at a monster anymore. She’s looking at a husk. Abby is emaciated, her hair is gone, and she’s barely holding onto life. This isn't the "boss fight" anyone expected. It’s a pathetic, wet, desperate struggle in the surf.
Ellie wins. She has her fingers around Abby’s throat. She has the chance to finish what she started in Seattle. And then, she lets go.
The Flashback That Changed Everything
Why did she stop? It’s the question that defines the entire experience. For hours, we assumed Ellie’s quest was fueled by the image of Joel’s bloody face in that basement in Jackson. We thought her trauma was a loop of his death.
But in that final second underwater, we see a different Joel.
It’s the porch scene. He’s sitting there with his guitar, looking old and soft in the lamplight. This is the core of The Last of Us Part 2 ending. Ellie isn't forgiving Abby in that moment; she’s forgiving herself. She spent years hating Joel for saving her from the Fireflies, and she had only just started the process of "wanting to try" to forgive him the night before he died.
By killing Abby, Ellie would be tethering herself to Joel’s death forever. By letting go, she chooses to remember his life instead.
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Neil Druckmann, the game’s director, has spoken at length about how the ending shifted during development. Originally, Ellie was supposed to kill Abby. But the team realized that felt "wrong" for the character's growth. It would have left Ellie with nothing but the cycle. Halley Gross, the lead writer, noted that keeping Abby alive allowed Ellie to retain a tiny "spark of humanity" that would have been snuffed out otherwise.
The Cost of the Guitar
When Ellie returns to the farmhouse, it’s empty. Dina is gone. JJ is gone. The house has been scrubbed of their life, leaving only Ellie’s studio and Joel’s guitar.
Then comes the physical price.
Because Ellie lost two fingers in the fight with Abby, she can no longer play the guitar properly. She can’t play "Future Days." The song Joel taught her—the literal physical connection to his memory—is broken. She tries to strum, but the notes are hollow and discordant.
It’s a brutal metaphor.
She sacrificed her family and her literal ability to hold onto Joel’s legacy just to chase a ghost. She leaves the guitar behind and walks into the woods. It’s not a "happy" ending. It’s a "starting over from zero" ending.
Did Abby Actually Win?
There’s a strong argument that Abby is the one who finds peace first. By the time we reach The Last of Us Part 2 ending, Abby has already gone through her redemption arc. She found Lev. She found a purpose beyond the WLF and beyond her father's death.
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When Ellie forces her to fight on the beach, Abby doesn't even want to participate. She only fights to save Lev.
Abby’s story concludes with a glimmer of hope. If you look at the title screen after finishing the game, the boat is docked at a new location. It’s Catalina Island. The large building in the background is the Avalon Casino. This confirms that Abby and Lev actually made it to the Fireflies.
They found the light. Ellie, meanwhile, is wandering into an uncertain fog.
The Misconception of Forgiveness
A lot of critics say the ending is about "forgiveness is good." Honestly? That’s way too simple. This game is too bleak for a Hallmark card message.
It’s about the "cost of obsession."
Ellie’s journey is a cautionary tale about what happens when you prioritize the dead over the living. Dina gave her every chance to stay. Tommy, consumed by his own bitterness, pushed her to leave. In the end, Tommy is a broken man, Dina is gone, and Ellie is physically scarred.
The game forces the player to feel the exhaustion. By the time I reached the beach, I didn't want to kill Abby. I just wanted it to be over. That is exactly what Naughty Dog intended. They wanted you to feel the "ludonarrative resonance"—where your exhaustion as a player matches Ellie’s exhaustion as a person.
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The Firefly Symbolism
The Fireflies are the ultimate "what if" of the series. Throughout the sequel, they are framed as a myth, a dying breath of a lost world. But their re-emergence in the end signifies that the world is moving on, even if Joel and Ellie were stuck in the past.
For Abby, the Fireflies represent a return to structure and hope. For Ellie, they represent the choice she was never allowed to make.
The ending leaves us wondering if Ellie will ever find a community like that again. Or if she is destined to be a wanderer like Joel was before he met Tess.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re planning on diving back into the remastered version or the original, keep these specific details in mind to better understand the finale:
- Watch the Journal: Ellie’s journal entries change significantly in Santa Barbara. Pay attention to the drawings of Joel; they shift from distorted, violent images to the calm, final portrait once she returns to the farm.
- The Weight of the Gear: Notice how Ellie’s physical movements feel heavier and more labored during the final sequence. The developers tuned the animations to reflect her malnutrition and mental fatigue.
- The Moth Symbol: Look at the moth on the guitar and Ellie’s tattoo. Moths are drawn to light but often die in the flame. This mirrors Ellie’s pursuit of "justice" which nearly destroyed her.
- Dialogue Cues: Listen to the way Abby speaks to Lev versus how she spoke to Owen. It shows a complete shift in her internal priority from "warrior" to "protector."
The ending isn't a gift to the player. It’s a challenge. It asks you if you can let go of your own anger alongside Ellie. If you can’t, the game feels like a failure. If you can, it feels like a release.
To fully grasp the scope of the narrative, compare the opening shot of the game (the guitar being cleaned) with the closing shot (the guitar being left behind). The story begins with an attempt to preserve the past and ends with the necessity of abandoning it.
Next time you see that final shot of Ellie walking away, don't think of it as a loss. Think of it as the first time in years she hasn't been carrying a dead man on her back. She’s finally just Ellie again.