The Last of Us Part 2 Originally Had a Much Darker Ending With a Major Character’s Death

The Last of Us is one of the few franchises that has made picking a PlayStation over Microsoft’s Xbox worth it in the last decade. The first installment of the series was released back in 2013, and since then has received a sequel as well as a live-action remake owing to its ever-growing popularity.

The sequel to the game was received well by the audience, as it delivered a well-deserved continuation to the storyline every single fan had been waiting for ever since the first title came out. However, Neil Druckmann, the executive producer of the game, has revealed how the TLoU Part 2 had a much darker ending, which would easily make every player riot as it is what everybody wanted all along.

The latest addition to the video game series majorly revolves around the character of Ellie seeking out vengeance against Abby, the killer of Joel, the prime protagonist of the franchise. In the ending that was delivered to the players, Ellie tracks down Abby on a beach and forces her into a duel after threatening the life of Lev, another character present in the game who has a special bond with the antagonist.

Furthermore, despite having her pinned down and being just a step away from the vengeance Ellie desired, she lets her opponent leave at last, a decision that has been questioned by fans ever since the title was released. Turns out, as noted by this user on Twitter, the intended ending was the one where Ellie actually gets rid of Abby but was ultimately changed, as revealed by Neil Druckmann himself through his commentary in the remastered version of the game.

It was further revealed how Lev would have been killed earlier in the storyline, which would have saved Ellie the trouble of threatening the character’s life just to convince Abby to duel with her.

In the aforementioned commentary included in the remastered version of the game, co-writer Halley Gross remarks how by killing Abby, Ellie would have lost the last piece of humanity that was left in her, essentially losing every bit of the kid that helped Joel shape himself. Additionally, by letting her opponent leave, she saves that little kid in herself, at least a part of it, which could be potentially revived as the story moves on.

Lastly, letting the protagonist of the title survive opens up many paths to be explored in the third game of the series, which many fans are looking forward to playing despite there being no official announcement of the same, as of now.

The Last of Us: Part I is available to purchase on Steam