Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us 2.
Why are you asking me to relive my trauma?
My therapist already doesn’t think that it’s a good idea for me to be watching The Last Of Us on HBO due to my … shall we say … robust obsession with mushrooms. My therapist also says that irreparable damage has been done to my psyche after experiencing all those other deaths during The Last Of Us Part 1. And you know what? I think my therapist is right.
I’ve tried to shift my focus to other games. Sweet and innocent games. Games like Animal Crossing. And yet I can’t shake the feeling that something horrible is going to happen to my sweet animal friends. I spend all my time shut up in my house, ignoring everyone. I can’t let anyone get to close to me emotionally. Or I stalk through the forests mashing a triangle button that isn’t there in hopes that I can collect rags and alcohol for a quick molotov cocktail in case Tom Nook decides to try and take everything from me.
Just like Abby took everything away from Ellie …
OH GOD, IT’S ALL COMING BACK. I’M SPIRALING.
You REALLY want to know how Joel dies?
In the beginning of the sequel game, nineteen-year-old Ellie sets off on an infected-killing mission with her future wife Dina, and the two are stranded out in a snowstorm. Meanwhile, the soldier named Abby has tracked Joel and his brother Tommy to the village of Jackson and goes off into the blizzard herself to find them.
Unluckily for her, the infected find her first. Abby is chased by a hoard of infected, but is SAVED at the last minute by JOEL HIMSELF. Joel and Tommy just so happened to be on patrol in the area, and managed to rescue Abby in the nick of time. The trio fights off waves of infected and Abby tells Joel and Tommy that they can take shelter in a hideout with her and her friends. After getting to Abby’s hideout, Joel and Tommy introduce themselves. Abby immediately realizes that the brothers are the same Joel and Tommy that she has been hunting for. Joel and Tommy try to fight back, but Joel is hit with a shotgun blast in the leg and Tommy is knocked out.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Dina are able to make it back to Jackson, but learn that Joel and Tommy have not returned. Fearing the worst, Ellie sets out to find Joel and his brother and bring them home. She manages to find Abby’s hideout and sneak inside, where she hears Joel screaming in pain. She follows the sound of his voice and enters a room where Abby is torturing Joel with a golf club. Abby’s friends Nick and Nora restrain Ellie and force her to watch while Abby continues to savagely beat Ellie’s father figure. Ellie begs Abby to spare Joel, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. Ellie and Joel share one final look before Abby brings the golf club down on Joel’s head, killing him.
And that’s how it happens. Now excuse me while I crank up the PS4 and murder Abby’s shit-ass friends once again.
(featured image: Naughty Dog)
