A Problem with the Relationship Betweeen Abby and Ellie in The Last of Us

[Winter]

I've been thinking about The Last of Us a lot recently and Part 2 in particular and I've notice something about the game recently that kinda bugs me, in terms of gameplay Ellie and Abby only ever meet one another 3 times and and two of those times are boss fights, neither of which are all that much fun IMO.

The reason this bugs me is that this game is suppose to be about how Ellie and Abby are similar to one another, how they are in a way the mirror image of each other. Yet, the overall "Relationship" between the two is really shallow.

I mean I don't think the two are ever aware of who the other truly is. Ellie is not aware that Abby is the daughter of the man who Joel killed to save her and Abby I don't think is aware that Ellie is the one who her dad was going to kill to try and create a cure for humanity. As far as either of them are aware they just see each other as just some asshole who came into their life, killed someone or someones they cared about and then just walked away.

Abby isn't even aware that Ellie is around until the tale end of her campaign and I don't think she's ever made aware that Nora was killed. You know the one the game made the biggest deal about Ellie killing showing that she had crossed a line by torturing her to death to learn where Abby is, I don't think Abby is aware that she's dead or that Ellie killed her.

In a 25 hour game, the longest in the Naughty Dog library, the two main characters have, at most, 10 minutes of screen time together. They barely talk to each other, they don't know each other's history, don't really know or care about each other's motives and when they're done with each other, they're done (with Abby always standing over Ellie who is always on the ground during these moments, what's up with that?).

For a game that is all about wanting to explore deeper meanings and ask thought provoking questions it's weird that the core relationship of the game is so shallow. Ellie had more screen time with Bill, Sam, Henry, Tess and David in Part 1. David is arguably the most interesting example of this because of the fact that you fight alongside him when we meet him and you rely on him to keep you alive which makes the reveal that he is a... the worst human-being in this series who needs to die, like A LOT!!!

But with Abby, Ellie knows next to nothing about her, she just shows up one day, kills her dad and then leaves. Killing her is major part of Ellie's character in Part 2 yet there's no real relationship beyond that or anything that makes Ellie sparing her have any real impact.

I have to wonder if it would have been better if instead of Joel and Tommy if it would have been better for Joel and Ellie to rescue Abby instead of Ellie spending time with Dina. Imagine instead of one minutes Ellie and Joel spent half an hour to an hour or even 2 hours fighting alongside Abby.

Ellie would see how Joel saved her, be saved by Abby, talked to her to try help her out like she did with the other characters she's met throughout this series. And THEN Abby kills Joel but spares Ellie. Now we've gotten to spend time with Abby which makes her killing Joel in front of Ellie have so much more impact. It be like if Henry turned around and murdered Ellie after everything we went through in the game in Pittsburgh because of some personal issue Henry had with Ellie's mom.

I really feel that the game needed something like this because as it stands Abby is nothing to Ellie except the person who murdered her father. And while this could be rectified in a third game (like Ellie and Abby teaming up to help the ones they love) as it stands with Part 2 these two's relationship is really shallow and for me that hurts the plot and the characters.

[CharlesPhipps]

While you're absolutely correct, I also think the choice not to engage with that element of their story is a choice by itself. Neither of the two women see the other as human or particularly relevant to their stories.

Abby is killing Joel because Joel killed her dad and whoever Joel loved is utterly irrelevant to that quest.

As is why Joel killed her father.

The same is absolutely true for Ellie toward Abby. Ellie knows that Joel killed all of the Fireflies and ha done other evil shit that probably has him deserve to be killed.

But neither woman CARES.

Which is it's own message.

[Winter]

While you're absolutely correct, I also think the choice not to engage with that element of their story is a choice by itself. Neither of the two women see the other as human or particularly relevant to their stories.

Abby is killing Joel because Joel killed her dad and whoever Joel loved is utterly irrelevant to that quest.

As is why Joel killed her father.

The same is absolutely true for Ellie toward Abby. Ellie knows that Joel killed all of the Fireflies and ha done other evil shit that probably has him deserve to be killed.

But neither woman CARES.

Which is it's own message.

Then why does Ellie spare Abby at the end of the game?

I get what the game is trying to say but it says it VERY poorly IMO. I actually came up with a scene, I'm pretty sure I mentioned it here, but the short version is Ellie threatens Lev as before, Abby offers her own life showing how much she's changed and how much she cares for her... son, brother? Lev sees Ellie holding a knife at his throat, Ellie realizes what she's become and THEN lets them go.

As it stands it's just so bizarre because it is it comes off as Ellie sparing Abby because she just decided to for no real reason. I don't get what her thinking of Joel has to do with her showing Abby mercy.

Something else that bugs me is the whole idea of Abby's dad being the the guy Ellie was going to operate on. I frankly think it would have been more impactful if Abby was Marline's surrogate daughter. In essence Joel killing her to make sure that no one would come after Ellie INSURED someone would come after him.

Though making it the guy Joel killed does add a lot of unintended comedy on my play through.

Again pretty sure I've mentioned this before but I actually just shot the surgeon in the leg which, while it is possible to still die from that, could be survivable so long as it's treated as quickly as possible so when I learned who Abby was avenging I just thought "How much do the fireflies suck if they couldn't save someone from THAT! You were all in a hospital! You could have just stitched him up!"

Sorry if I mentioned this already but it's just always kinda funny to me... I can be a horrible person sometimes.