#tlouabby

ABBY AND LEV

Honestly, as much as I hate to admit it, I kind of liked TLOU II. I actually really liked it. Going into the game, I was super fucking cautious because I’d read about all of the leaks, and from the leaks it just seemed like Naughty Dog set the series on fire and then threw it in a dumpster, and then threw that dumpster in the ocean. I was thankfully wrong. 

Admittedly, the game is far from perfect. It was a bit lengthy, I personally felt like at times there were too many cutscenes, and the constant companion switch also took me out of it a little bit. It also felt as though Naughty Dog was trying to force feed us the “Abby is just like Ellie!” bit, and it was not going down. I hated all of Abby’s friends (Except Nora), and having us walk around with them AFTER knowing they died, just felt useless. Abby did end up growing on me, especially when Lev and Yara come along, because I loved their dynamic.

I will say, I absolutely fucking loved the Theatre Fight. I remember seeing the leaks and thinking to myself, “They really screwed the pooch with this one, huh?”, but man oh man was I wrong. I fucking loved fighting Ellie. It felt completely surreal, to fight the person I was supposed to be, to fight her as an NPC. I had so much fun, listening to Ellie sneak around and set traps. Personally, I think this should’ve been the ending. A fitting conclusion, Ellie and Dina get to live and go to their farm, and Abby and Lev get to go search for the fireflies. I grew to love both duos, and I was okay with that ending. 

Santa Barbara was...something. Wasn’t a big fan of it, Ellie leaving Dina and JJ behind just felt profoundly stupid. At this point, I kind of just wanted to get it over with. I thought the conclusion was alright, though I didn’t think it was as powerful as the game ending at the Theatre Fight, with Ellie having her forgiveness flashback then, would’ve been. Santa Barbara felt completely unnecessary, and honestly, now what? 

My final thoughts: FUCK Abby’s friends, Fuck Santa Barbara, I’m so sorry Alice and Bear, Fuck Farm Tommy coming in like a homewrecker, Ellie can’t play :(, Where are Dina and JJ? I miss Joel, Jesse and Yara already. And last but not least, What happens now? Ellie’s alone and Abby and Lev are gone, so What’s Next? 

Spoilers Ahead (Obviously)

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Firstly, I understand the outrage for this anticipated sequel. When Joel was killed, I wanted to chuck my controller across the room and turn the damn thing off. 

The thing is, once finished and when the player is able to look back at the story and the way it flows, character motivations, conflicts, and parallels, it’s a beautifully crafted story. 

Abby is, in all intents and purposes, Ellie’s FOIL. I haven’t seen many people talk about this, so let me explain. 

Abby and Ellie’s motivations are EXACTLY the same. They both want to kill their father (figure)’s killer. Both of them want justice. Both of them want to be at peace again, and both of them can’t until they confront the killer and kill them, as well. 

Abby succeeds at being a FOIL for Ellie because, while Abby ended up killing Joel and moving forward, Ellie couldn’t kill Abby. The contrast here is what defines each character for who they truly are. 

Ellie is a woman who feels the weight of the world on her shoulders because of her being the one chance for a cure, and abandoning people. She feels that guilt. She wishes she had died there so she wouldn’t be stuck with that guilt. Yet, she is fascinated with the world, as seen by her drawings and her experiences in the previous game.

Meanwhile, Abby is a woman who has known nothing but violence and killing for most of her life. This makes her torturing Joel easy, and the only reason that her killing him is difficult, is because of Ellie being there and her recognizing the comparisons between their two situations. 

This provides a perfect two main characters, regardless of how people feel about Abby. It provokes thought. It allows for people to see how a situation like that would force ANYONE down a dark path, regardless of who you are or how you feel about murder. 

And the reason they chose Joel for being Ellie’s motivation is precisely for that reason-- he’s the connecting factor between her and Abby, and he’s the person Ellie has been closest to for the longest time. 

Other characters have their own little whims and purposes when contributing to the story. 

Dina is the one who is grounding Ellie. She’s supportive, and her main concern is Ellie’s state of mind throughout the entire story. She works as a character that shows us that Ellie is not alone anymore. That is, up until the end when Ellie pushes everyone away in order to “finish it”. Dina then serves as Ellie’s “choice”. Will she stay and live with Dina, happy and in a false sense of peace, or will she go and bring true peace to her mind. 

Jesse is her moral compass. Even if he doesn’t ACTUALLY disuade her from killing Abby, quite the contrary with him also wanting to get justice, he tries to remind her of more important things, such as Dina and Tommy’s well being. He is basically her conscience. Her anger is poisoning her to do anything and kill anyone so long as she can kill Abby, but in the end she had to hold onto what she still has. 

Tommy is a characterization of Ellie’s motivation and anger. Even after Abby attacks them at the theater, Tommy wants to go after her and kill her. He can’t rest, his entire life has been uprooted because of this woman and he wants to bring her down. He has a cool exterior, but inside he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. 

All three of them are pillars of Ellie’s personality and mental stability throughout the story, and only when she loses all three (Tommy leaving her in anger, Dina refusing to stay for her, and Jesse being killed ) of them can she decide who she wants to be. And who she wants to be, it turns out, is the same person Joel fought to protect. 

THAT’S why she can’t kill Abby. The scene doesn’t just show Joel while she’s drowning Abby for no reason. She’s thinking of him. She's thinking of her conversation about forgiving Joel for his wrongdoing.

Because she’s drowning a woman who has a boy (Lev) who’s depending on her right there, only a few feet away. Just like she was there when Joel was killed. 

In the end, she decides to be who Joel wanted her to be, not who Abby is. And in the end, that’s what brings her peace and the strength to move forward. 

In the end, that's what defines her character and her love and memory for Joel.

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