Editor’s be aware: The beneath accommodates spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 8 in addition to The Last of Us: Part II online game.Fans of the sport knew this week’s episode of The Last of Us can be essentially the most troublesome to abdomen — and never simply due to what the residents of Silver Lake have of their stomachs. Although Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) harrowing encounter with the Colorado cannibals was principally unchanged from the supply materials, there have been nonetheless a couple of surprises in retailer, together with a notable change to one of many franchise’s most iconic cutscenes.
In the sport, Joel (Pedro Pascal) finds Ellie unleashing her rage on David’s (Scott Shepherd) physique. As the steakhouse burns round them, Joel tells her to cease and pulls her off the corpse earlier than comforting her. In the present, Ellie cleaves into David’s cranium till she stops herself. Joel finds her outdoors, unaware of how livid and violent his shell-shocked child lady was moments in the past.
The choice to alter such a beloved second was a controversial transfer, however in the end the fitting one. HBO’s model of Ellie has already confirmed to be fiercer than her online game counterpart, and that is probably as a result of the crew behind the present has the good thing about figuring out Ellie’s future. Those acquainted with The Last of Us: Part II can see how the trauma Ellie endured in Silver Lake informs the selections she makes within the sequel, and why Ellie must be the one to quell her violent coronary heart.
This Episode Kicks Off the Biggest Cycle of Violence
Episode 8 showcases a stage of brutality from each Ellie and Joel that viewers have not seen from both earlier than. Ellie has killed earlier than, however she’s by no means needed to face somebody who deeply wronged her like David. Ellie’s anger is totally justified, however with out Joel there to cease her, viewers see how far she’ll go when it is private. Any remaining childhood innocence is gone; Ellie’s without end modified.
Acts of rage-fueled violence are nothing new for Joel, however the interrogation scene reveals simply how practiced he’s at it. His skill to kill and inflict ache on others was in all probability developed for good motive— in any case, he lives beneath the management of a fascist authorities that is usually attacked by explosive-wielding dissenters throughout a fungi-fueled apocalypse— but it surely additionally serves as a reminder that violence is the default problem-solving methodology of survivors, and that is unlikely to alter.
David is aware of this to be true and tries to make use of this information to persuade Ellie he is not likely a nasty man. He argues that he is no completely different from Ellie, and Joel’s no completely different from the lads searching him down, and, as a lot as I hate to say it, the pedophilic cannibal is not fully incorrect about that second half. During the episode, viewers be taught that the person who stabbed Joel in Episode 6 has a daughter round Ellie’s age, and, assuming the finale performs out as anticipated, this would possibly not be the final time he breaks up a household to avoid wasting Ellie.
In Part 1 of the online game, when Joel rescues Ellie from the Firefly hospital, he kills a surgeon whose daughter, Abby, will avenge her father by killing Joel in Part II, which units Ellie off on a revenge mission of her personal. From Abby’s perspective, Joel is a monster. From Ellie’s, Abby is. From an goal one, nobody’s fingers are clear, which leaves two choices; they’ll spur on the cycle of violence, or settle for that a watch for a watch makes the world go blind. In the tip, that alternative turns into Ellie’s.
Episode 8’s Changes Showcase Ellie’s Autonomy
As endearing as Ellie is in Part I of the online game, she typically felt extra like a development alternative for Joel than an individual of her personal — and that is sensible. First-person video video games are designed to highlight the primary character. TV reveals, nonetheless, can put the concentrate on a number of characters, and this one did so efficiently. Between the inclusion of DLC content material and some persona tweaks, Ellie’s been established as a person initially, which is why it could be incorrect for Joel to swoop in and cease her.
Notably, the way in which this scene performed out on the present mirrors essentially the most pivotal second of Ellie’s (Ashley Johnson) arc in Part II. Toward the tip of the sport, Abby (Laura Bailey) and Ellie have a last struggle. At first, Abby has the higher hand, then Ellie flips their positions. It looks as if Ellie will maintain her beneath till she drowns, however she stops herself when she thinks about Joel. Joel’s hopes for her do affect her choice, but it surely’s in the end her alternative to tug again. Joel cannot do it for her, and, even when he might, he should not.
Joel might have Ellie’s finest pursuits at coronary heart, however Part II reveals why he should not make selections for her. Ellie and Joel’s relationship takes a flip for the more serious when she learns that Joel lied to her concerning the Fireflies’ skill to create a remedy. Ellie is not capable of forgive this breach of belief whereas he is alive, then struggles to forgive herself for shedding time she might’ve had with him after he is gone. Good or unhealthy, Ellie’s selections must be her personal, as a result of the issues that hang-out her essentially the most are out of her management.
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