The Last of Us | Virtual Photography

Western Abby Anderson

Admittedly I’m too lazy to finish the background but I like how the rest came out 🫶🏻 You can see the full piece below the cut (I’m probs not gunna finish it 😭)

I think Ellie’s flashback to Joel’s death is super super telling to how she internalized it, and the meaning she applied to his death. It’s also a good demonstration of her relationship to autonomy. Let’s break down the elements

The stairs/hallway is much longer than it was. This suggest a sense of helplessness, an inability to get there fast enough, just out of her reach.

There is blood on the floor outside of the door. Not entirely certain on this one but my hunch is again that she was too late/should’ve been more on guard/a reminder of the violence

The door is locked, another roadblock in her path to help him. She can’t access him, she can’t help, he needs her and she isn’t there.

Most importantly. Joel yells “Ellie, help me” (which he didn’t in the actual scene)

Ellie hearing Joel yell for her help, calling for her while being horribly beaten, and her being repeatedly slowed/blocked from him suggests that what she took from the whole event is that she wasn’t enough. They always helped each other, always had each others backs, always got up. Ellie views his death as a failure. She was too slow, too weak, not smart enough to save him. She failed him when he needed her most. She is absolutely helpless to save him just like she was helpless to save Riley, Tess, Sam, and Jessie (and Marlene, and humanity, and and and-).

Once again, Ellie makes a decision (staying with Riley, going to the fireflies, staying with Joel, being the cure, trying to forgive Joel) and once again her autonomy and ability to find closure is ripped from her.

The 1:4 scale Prime 1 Studios statue of Abby is available for preorder very soon! It’s so gorgeous and big at 23 inches tall, and there’s going to be a matching Ellie statue to go with it. Only thing is that it’s $1099 🥲