Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5.
More than the infected themselves,The Last of Usis primarily about the survivors trying to scrape out a living and find a purpose in the dying world around them, and it seems that Ellie (Bella Ramsey) has found her calling through revenge. We’ve seen herface lossbefore, but Joel’s death (Pedro Pascal) has changed the loving yet strong girl we once knew into a monster. Her brutal execution of Nora (Tati Gabrielle) bears a resemblance to not only the actions of Joel himself but Abby’s retaliation (Kaitlyn Dever) as well.Even with the moral anchor of friends and family by her side, Ellie risks losing everythingwhile becoming just like the woman she is pursuing.
Ellie Has Been Irreparably Changed in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
When we’re first introduced to Ellie in the series premiere ofThe Last of Us, her attitude is a sharp contrast to Joel’s in the present day. However, that doesn’t mean Ellie has been completely able to avoid trauma, as her backstory is a tragic one that defines her going forward. Even after both her first kiss and first kill, Ellie never loses her lovely optimism, but she also discoversher own limitations, and is forced to learn how to save herself rather than through other people.It’s notable that over the course of Season 1, Ellie only uses a gun once, and her kills are regulated solely to David (Scott Shepard) and his men, allowing her to later emerge with her own morality largely intact.
Cut to Season 2, andeverything has changed, even before the event that defines Ellie’s life from that moment forward. She is more jaded than before, and her relationship with Joel is on thin ice, although only now do we know why. At the same time, Ellie is also in a position to find love, but any contentment she may have had is shattered when Joel is killed right in front of her. Abby might havegenuine grievancesagainst Joel, but she is so blinded by her rage that she doesn’t even seem to notice the irony of forcing another teenager to endure the same thing.
After three months pass, it’s easy to assume Ellie has recovered, and she even appears to have fully convinced herself of this too. She makes it quite clear that her call for justice is meant to help Jackson, and she maintains the same bratty attitude towards Gail (Catherine O’Hara) that one expects of any normal teenager. When she and Dina eventually decide to venture to Seattle on their own,they grow closer, butthe Ellie we’re seeing is only a mask, one she drops once she gets her first opportunity for vengeance.
Ellie’s Revenge in ‘The Last of Us’ Has Striking and Deliberate Parallels
For much ofThe Last of Us' latest episode, Ellie seems just as normal as she has been for most of the season, shaken but not broken, and her revenge feels entirely justified. Despite nowhaving the most to losefrom the journey, even Dina (Isabela Merced) remains fully behind her quest, but it’s crucial that Ellie makes her first killing entirely on her own. When she finds Nora in the hospital, though,the scene illustrates how brutal revenge can become in practice. It’s no accident that two of the show’s most significant killings happen in a hospital, while two of them occur on the heels of a brutal beating. Ellie might claim it’s an interrogation for information or the simple killing of a woman who is already dying anywayfrom the airborne Cordyceps, but it’s also a form of justice for her, which demonstrates how easily the lines can be blurred.
Aside from the practical and moral parallels, there are emotional similarities too. We’ve seen Ellie both tearful and furious, butBella Ramsey portrays her in this scene with a chilling and cold natureunlike anything we’ve witnessed before. In what could be easily interpreted as a kind of warning, Nora herself remains haunted by the death of Joel, yet never once argues it was unjustified because ofhis deeply controversial actionsthat fans are still debating to this day. The revelation that Ellie knew of Joel’s actions the whole time, yet casually shrugs them off and still feels righteous in her own actions, shows that they’re not so different and speaks to where her path might lead.
‘The Last of Us’ Proves There’s No Point to the War Between the WLF and the Seraphites in One Pivotal Scene
It’s a broken world.
Is There Anything Left of Ellie to Save in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2?
When Ellie crawls towards Joel in their final lonely shot together, it’s as if she wants to die with him. In some ways, she does, and her reawakening in the WLF hospital serves as a dark rebirth for someonewho is now spiritually alonein her journey, now that her surrogate father figure is gone. This most recent murder occurred without any witnesses, but there are several other members of Abby’s crew to find, and it’s likely that at least one could happen in the presence of Jesse (Young Mazino) or Dina. Since Jacksonrightly voted to prioritize its own needsover hers,revenge is now the only justice Ellie can have, and it’s not even clear whether she can tell the difference anymore. We don’t see the brutal end of the torture Ellie inflicts on Nora, but the decision to flash back to her in Jackson before she lost her innocence is a sad reminder of what she has already lost.
From the very moment it happened, the murder of Joel wasbound to change everything, and we’re now witnessing the devastating consequences for both enemies and allies alike. Abby’s own crew, including Nora, was left disturbed by what she turned into, and Ellie is now at risk of becoming just like her.Even if she locates and kills Abby, what purpose will Ellie have after dedicating herself to revenge?One of the famous sayings inThe Last of Usis “When you’re lost in darkness, look for the light.” Joel’s light might have gone out of her life, but Ellie needs to find it from a new source before her inner darkness consumes her entirely.
The Last Of Us
