Potential Spoilers for Season 2 of The Last of Us are down below.
Summary
The first episode of HBO’sThe Last of UsSeason 2 has arrived. The debut episode didn’t tackle too much of the content in the game and instead focused on laying the groundwork for Jackson and the new characters the show introduced. There was also a lot of focus on Joel and Ellie’s relationship and how they’d seemingly drifted apart in the gap between Seasons 1 and 2.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return as Joel and Ellie. In Season 1, their two respective acting performances were widely praised by fans and critics for being authentic to the video game characters while giving them a new light. However, some fans were concerned aboutBella Ramsey returning for Season 2. As much as audiences took a liking to Ramsey’s performance as Ellie, there was a practical argument for recasting Ellie in Season 2, and that is her age. Bella Ramsey was likely around 18–19 years old when the first season ofThe Last of Uswas filmed, but because of their youthful appearance, they were able to accurately portray a 14-year-old Ellie. But inThe Last of Us Part 2, Ellie is 19 and has visibly matured since the first game, whereas Ramsey themselves hasn’t visibly aged much since the first season. It’s presumed that the showrunners would try and age the character emotionally to distract from this factor. However, the first episode seems to be doing the opposite.
What Happened ToThe Last ofUs’Ellie In The Time Gap Between The Two Games?
The Last of Us Part 2portrays a very different Ellie from the one players saw in Part 1. Her evolution is told through a selection of playable flashback levels. Part 2 portrays a much more subdued Ellie. This makes sense as she would have naturally lost some of her enthusiasm and child-like wonder in the gap between ages 14-19, as everyone does as they mature. However, there are many other reasons the Ellie players see in Part 2 has lost a lot of her spark.
Ellie Is No Longer The Cure For All Of Humanity
Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps virus. She discovers this after being bitten and goes to Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, for help. Marlene then entrusts Joel to get her to the Firefly hospital in Salt Lake City, so the doctors there can study her and hopefully find a cure for the virus. This premise drives the plot of the first game, and it’s what keeps Ellie going on her and Joel’s journey. Joel himself stated, “She fought like hell to get here.“But when Joel decides he’s not willing to sacrifice Ellie’s lifein exchange for a cure, he kills the doctor attempting to perform the procedure and lies to Ellie, saying that there is no way to extract a cure from her. At this point, Ellie loses what she was fighting for, and her immunity seemingly means nothing. She’s also lost the promise of a better future where people don’t have to live in fear of the infected and can live fulfilled lives, which would undoubtedly have taken a toll on her.
Ellie Picked Up A Lot Of Trauma In Part 1
In her fight to find the Fireflies, Ellie went through many traumatic experiences that would be a lot for anyone to handle, let alone a 14-year-old. She kills her first human to protect Joel, she is forced to brutally kill David to stop him from assaulting her, and she loses Riley, Tess, and Sam over the course of the first game.The Last of Us Part 2explores her post-traumatic stress in more detail later on in the game, but it’s clear from the get-go that despite her now being settled and safe in Jackson,she is still holding on to these eventsand can’t let them go.
Ellie Eventually Discovers The Truth Of Joel’s Lie
In one of the playable flashbacks in Part 2, Ellie demands to know what truly happened at the Firefly Hospital, and Joel confesses. Meaning, after being led to believe her immunity meant nothing, she then learned that it actually could have been used to create a cure, but Joel took away that possibility. In her own words, “my life would have f*cking mattered.” She also decided to cut ties with Joel out of anger after learning about his betrayal, so on top of this tragic discovery, she also lost her closest relationship with the one person she thought she could trust.
Bella Ramsey’s Ellie Doesn’t Appear To Have Changed Much Between The Two Seasons
HBO doesn’t seem to be addressing the time jump issue in the first episode. It’s obviously still the early days of Season 2, future episodes may have Ramsey showing a different, more serious side to Ellie. But in Episode 1, there are a lot of scenes where Ellie behaves very immaturely. When Ellie is shooting infected with Tommy, she screams out loud that she is immune and that she got bitten, despite being told to keep this secret for her own safety. Later on in the episode, Ellie disobeys her patrol leader’s orders and goes ahead with Dina to fight the infected.Her careless actions get her bit, risking people finding out about her immunity.
Ellie, in Part 2 of the game series, wasn’t completely dulled and subdued as a result of her trauma. She was still her smart, witty self, and there were many scenes where she would joke around and have fun, especially with Dina. But in Episode 1 of Season 2, Ramsey’s Ellie does this to an almost obnoxious level. Ellie and Dina mime out how they are planning to kill the infected while theyare in a combat situation, whereas in the game, they usually save humorous moments for when they are safe from danger. Ellie and Dina also mock the rest of their patrol when they catch up to them, saying, “Here comes fun.” When all they were trying to do was keep everyone safe and follow orders.
Ellie’s immaturity puts herself and others in danger, which, tied with Bella Ramsey’s still youthful appearance, doesn’t help convince the audience that this is an older, grown-up Ellie. It’s possible that maybe in the show, Ellie is using humor and immaturity as a defense mechanism to deal with her trauma and loss, trying to act like an innocent child to distract her from how far from the truth that actually is.
Maybe in later episodes, Ellie will be forced to drop this act and Ramsey will portray a version of Ellie similar to the one seen inThe Last of UsPart 2Game, but if this is just the course HBO are planning to take, it’s unclear why they would seemingly want to play into the time gap issue with Bella Ramsey.
