You Won’t Be Satisfied With The Last of Us Season 2’s Ending

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This write-up may reveal secrets from the video game “The Last of Us Part 2,” which could potentially hint at future events in “The Last of Us Season 2″ and subsequent seasons.

Prepare yourself, as Season 2 of “The Last of Us” is almost here, but it’s important to note that a truly satisfying conclusion might be hard to come by for viewers. This series holds a special place in the hearts of gamers and is often considered one of the best in gaming. The second installment, titled “The Last of Us Part 2“, has been more divisive among fans, but it still maintains a high level of admiration. In comparison to the first game, it’s a lot less straightforward, offering a complex narrative filled with non-linear storytelling and strategic use of flashbacks that offer crucial context to the unfolding events. These flashbacks are carefully timed for maximum emotional impact. Additionally, its structure is intentionally crafted to challenge and unsettle the player in certain ways.

The initial season of “The Last of Us” was likely less demanding compared to the original game’s narrative as the storyline is quite straightforward. Although alterations were made in the series, it generally sticks closely to the original content. However, the second game is more intricate and its plot structure mainly works within a video game context. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be adapted at all; it just necessitates significant, precise changes in storytelling. For example, it wouldn’t work well for a TV show to split itself the way “The Last of Us Part 2” does. In a game, constantly switching between two different characters/stories could be quite jarring and confusing.

As a gamer, I’ve found that the narratives of Ellie and Abby in The Last of Us Part II are two distinct paths interwoven yet starkly contrasting. One is a tale of relentless pursuit driven by vengeance, while the other unfolds as a story of a woman protecting two children from a cult’s grasp. To put it plainly, it’s like watching two separate TV shows within the same game.

In a traditional TV series, however, it’s far easier to switch between characters within an episode. These shows often have primary (A-plots) and secondary (B-plots) storylines that allow for seamless transitions between different narratives at any given moment. The structure of the upcoming TV series, helmed by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, is yet to be fully revealed. But one thing’s for sure, it’s bound to bring some challenges for fans, as juggling multiple storylines always does.

What continuously crosses my mind is deciding where the narrative of The Last of Us Season 2 will conclude. Given that it consists of only seven episodes, two fewer than the first season, which had an extended pilot and a 75-minute episode focused on Bill and Frank, it’s clear that this season won’t adapt the entirety of the second game. However, it’s been hinted that The Last of Us could run for two more seasons to cover the rest of the sequel game. Some fans have speculated that Season 2 might delve deeper into Joel’s storyline, potentially pushing back his confrontation with Abby significantly from its game timing. Nevertheless, I find this unlikely. The trailers and set photos suggest that we’ll be exploring Seattle during this season, implying that Ellie and Dina embark on their journey in this installment itself.

Regardless of how The Last of Us Season 2 ultimately concludes, viewers may find themselves feeling dissatisfied. It’s been two years since Season 1, and we can expect a similar wait for Season 3. If the storyline ends at Joel’s climactic moment, it could enrage fans due to its intense nature and potential cliffhanger, which might deter them from tuning in again for Season 3. On the other hand, wrapping up the narrative before Ellie and Abby meet again could feel unsatisfying and abrupt. The trailers suggest that we’ll likely witness all three days of Ellie’s time in Seattle, hinting at her impending confrontation with Nora – one of the last significant events leading up to her face-off with Abby.

In a nutshell, the predicted finale for Season 2 might be when Abby and Ellie get into a physical fight at the theater. However, there’s a contradiction since in the game, Ellie’s storyline concludes with a cliffhanger where Abby shoots and kills Jesse, and has Tommy at gunpoint. The narrative then switches to Abby’s perspective from the moment Ellie arrives in Seattle. Concluding the story here feels unsatisfying given that it’s the culmination of the whole plotline. Waiting a few years to find out how it resolves is frustrating, and it was already annoying in the game due to the delay by several hours. The same moment caused a lot of frustration in the game, so imagine waiting years for resolution!

In an alternate scenario, Season 2 might conclude when Ellie gets defeated by Abby. However, this raises doubts about the amount of narrative left for the subsequent two seasons. Following her defeat, Ellie spends some time on a farm with Dina, a brief period that doesn’t consume too much screen time in the game. Subsequently, Ellie embarks on a mission to seek revenge against Abby in California, which would likely require at least one more episode due to its duration.

One possibility for rephrasing the sentence could be: The revelation of what Joel did in Season 1 may serve as a hook for Season 2, with Ellie discovering it. However, it’s not an ideal cliffhanger since it seems likely that the story will involve flashbacks, implying that we’ve already witnessed how this plot point resolves within the current season itself. In other words, the suspense of the cliffhanger has already been resolved within the same narrative arc.

Perhaps we can find a conclusive juncture within Abby’s narrative arc in “The Last of Us” series. It seems unlikely for the creators to separate Ellie and Abby’s stories into two distinct seasons, as this would leave one season with minimal or no focus on Ellie. If they were to tell both tales concurrently, there might be a thematic intersection point that feels fulfilling, but I’m unsure where exactly that would occur based on the game.

As a die-hard fan, I can’t help but feel the impending tension that Season 2 of The Last of Us is likely to leave us hanging with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. It’s not that I expect the show to fall short or deliver an ending that’s a letdown, but given that the narrative isn’t originally structured for such a prolonged pause, it might be challenging for those who haven’t played the game to wait years for the next installment of a story that wasn’t initially intended to be stretched out in this way.

For The Last of Us to truly excel, Druckmann and Mazin might need to introduce some unexpected twists into the narrative, although such a move isn’t entirely unforeseeable given their previous work on Season 1, where they took creative liberties while maintaining the core storyline. It goes without saying that these creators have a significant task ahead of them in adapting this complex and demanding tale.

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2025-03-25 00:11