Everyone tries to put logic into Ellie’s decision. What they don’t understand is that when you are so hurt mentally you don’t act logically.

I think "The last of us" doesn't refer to a group of people, but the bit of humanity in each of us. The part in each of us that's left of us. The last bit of humanity in us.

"The price of choosing empathy in an apathetic world". Perfect words.

i cried during tlou2, and i cried watching this. so many people HATE this game because like you said, it's messy, but it's meant to be. you explained this so well and in such detail that i found myself loving tlou2 even more than before. the way you summed it up as "we are playing as the horror" BLEW ME AWAY because you're right. some people have pointed out little glimmers in the final scene that hint at ellie's redemption: she has dina's bracelet again when she didn't during santa barbara, her hair is longer, she has a different shirt on. all little hints that could point she made it back to jackson, to love, to herself. god i can't wait for tlou3

Ellie didn't want to kill Abby because she killed Joel; she wanted to kill Abby because she took away the opportunity for Ellie to forgive Joel.

28:22 As Bill once said "At least the infected are predictable... It's the normal people that scare me ."

I can't explain the complete feeling of emptiness and sadness I feel each time I finish this game. How lucky are we to be in this era of gaming!

I have now played this game three times. The first time, I was dissapointed and confused. The second time, I started to understood and appreciated the direction. The third time, it fucking clicked man. This is one of the most emotional, complex and beautiful yet horrifying pieces of media I've ever experienced. A true work of art.

ellie probably had so much, SO MUCH ptsd. she got so skinny. so skinny. she looks so different. she isn’t the old, fun, crazy ellie. Joel meant so much to her, and when he died, it changed her.

the moment abby kills joel and has that unsatisfied expression,, It reminds me of the lines that a character I adore once said. "I thought winning would be different"

Fighting Ellie was so intense and scary, you know how good she is, but you really get a sense of how terrifying she can be when you have to fight her.

"this is a horror movie and we're playing the horror" what a raw quote, gave me actual goosebumps holy fuck. im beyond thrilled to have found this review, not only because it's one of the rare positive ones but even more so because it's hauntingly poetic and shows such a profound understanding of the story and its themes. thank you so much for sharing this

Anyone ever think about how Ellie is where Joel was at the beginning of the last of us part 1? Alone and empty having run everyone close away. Exactly what she was most afraid of

Just amazing man. The part where Abby goes against Ellie in the theater was horrifying. Made me realize how dangerous and unpredictable Ellie is. Reminded me of Dina saying "I think they should be terrified of you". It was true.

The last of us is a perfect demonstration of moral grey area, how there’s no distinctly villainous characters in the series and also how each of the main characters is driven by multifaceted events of pain and loss which plays on the idea that reality is never black and white and that it’s always darker and more complex than we’d like to think

When I saw the close up of Ellies missing fingers right before she enters the house, I expected the house to be empty. The camera made it central. It seemed to me that the two missing fingers represented Dina and JJ. Can't see it otherwise. Then she was portrayed playing the guitar and failing to do so. The damage was done and it was permanent. She lost them and it suggests they are not meant to reunite.

I've seen countless video-essays about the last of us 2 and i can confidently say this is THE best out there, thank you

I feel that this is the reason Naughty Dog were kinda chill about the critics of the game from the gamers themselves. It's clearly hard to make sense of things at first...It's denial, but when we reach the point of clarity it's when we realize how much we can actually relate to the game, and not only that...through the video you did it puts order to many of the chaotic thoughts we had about it. I myself was very conflicted with the game and this was why. It's hard to see the harsh reality of what we are facing.

3:48 “Remember the man who took you to the museum? That might’ve been the happiest day of my life. I can’t let that man die for nothing.” I got chills. You nailed it with this video, and your descriptions of Ellie’s thought process are so immersive and convincing it felt like I was playing the game all over again.

The level of writing in this video is absolutely insane. Video essays are an amazing form of media, this channel takes it to a new level of potential. Absolutely love this channel

As a 45 year old gamer who remembers Atari I salute you young man! I think both TLOU games are the best piece of media I’ve consumed in my life and to see a younger generation appreciate it like I do is refreshing. Great job!

I have to disagree that her leaving the farm was about vengeance! This is something that is ALWAYS misunderstood. She didn’t leave the farm for vengeance! She wanted to stay, but she COULDN’T. Did she look like someone with bloodlust or a broken, depressed person? The trip to Santa Barbara was a last attempt to fix her trauma. She would’ve otherwise killed herself on that farm. She went to SB to confront her trauma, and overcome it or die. If she stayed, it was wait and die. But she decided to go and fight for a chance of life. For a chance to be able to live a life. She felt guilty of Joel’s death. In her panic attack he yells out Ellie’s name. Keep in mind Ellie already had severe survivor’s guilt before all this. Now Joel died saving her. This adds to her survivor’s guilt x100. Her mental state was so bad that she had to leave in the middle of the night like some sort of addict. Also, Halley Gross said: "To my mind, when she’s leaving the farm it almost isn’t about Abby at that point so much as it’s about “I literally cannot survive if I don’t try and handle what’s going on because this PTSD is just getting worse, I’m losing control, I feel like I’m at risk to my family, and I have to hope that there’s an answer on the other side because I don’t know how to live with this. If I stay here it’s suicide.” It’s more a conversation about mental health and surviving than it is justice for Abby or even seeking Joel. It’s just like “I don’t know how to be a person anymore.” She set off to kill Abby because she thought this would fix her trauma. NOT for the sake of revenge. There is a huge difference here. Her trip to SB was overcoming her trauma. And she was able to overcome it without having to kill Abby. We see throughout the game that what Ellie is doing in Seattle is hurting her because it isn’t her. She had so much pain and guilt pent up she had to go to rock bottom to let it all out and that’s where she got her catharsis. The trip shows how much and the lengths she is willing to go for her life. At the end it cost her 2 fingers and her family, but she finally became free, reclaimed her autonomy, and moved past her survivor’s guilt. About Abby: She is also mirror Joel in so many ways. We see how ruthless Abby becomes after losing her father and hellbent on killing the monster who killed him. We then see Abby become the very same monster she sought to kill. “If you gaze long enough into the abyss...” These parallels and intertwined stories is what made Part 2 so interesting. Also the clever idea of having Abby pick up coins. I think the reason Ellie hunted Abby wasn’t for “revenge” in the usual sense, but because she waited 1 day too long to forgive Joel and that chance was taken away forever. She can never make things right with him. To me, Ellie’s journey wasn’t for “revenge” of Joel’s killer. It was anger, guilt and trauma that this person took away the chance for her to make things right with him that put her into a rage, on top of the trauma of witnessing the brutality of Joel’s death, in addition to her lack of self worth to begin with. She didn’t feel deserving of life in the first place, and then Joel died for it. Abby on the other hand I would say was a normal revenge journey as we know it and it is Abby’s arc that shows us that revenge does nothing. It won’t fix anything, and we see her find her redemption by doing something good, by helping to children in a selfless act even if it might have been for selfish reasons. Abby too then finds her new purpose in life and motivation to live after her revenge journey cost her everything. We also see Ellie overcome her trauma. We experience her worsening PTSD, we experience her hit rock bottom, and we experience her overcome it all. To me, she finds her life as a purpose and goes through hell for it. Not someone else giving her reason to live, but herself giving her reason to live. It is a complete flip of what she was like initially. Thinking her life’s purpose was to die, but through Joel and her realization I think her life’s purpose is now to live. She had every reason to kill Abby on that beach but she didn’t. Joel’s death was the ultimate sacrifice and proof of his love. Killing Abby would have just denied that. EDIT: I just saw you say she is going out for find her redemption. I again disagree. For what does she need redemption? Abby and Joel were parallels, and they did something that needed redemption. The game shows us that no matter how much Ellie tries, she isn’t Abby/Joel. It isn’t who she is as a person, and every time she tries she hurts herself even more. Look at Nora. She unintentionally re-enacted what caused her trauma in the first place, which ended up deeply hurting her. Ellie does not need a redemption because she did not lose her humanity in the first place. She was on the PATH of losing it, but she didn’t. Part 3 shouldn’t be redemption, it should be on recovery. Ellie’s journey of recovery. A journey of healing. Her life, her relationship, everything. A journey of healing and overcoming disability (her loss of fingers). Both games were for me about love. Joel’s love to Ellie in Part 1, and Ellie’s love to Joel in Part 2. Part 3 should be Ellie’s love to herself, her life, with the people she cares for.

This is the most emotionally complex and well written story I've ever seen in a game. It dives into these emotional journeys with such brutality but they're emotions we've all felt before...love, loss, anger, numbness, guilt...we can all connect to these characters one way of another, putting us in their shoes and feeling every emotions they experience. I think that's why most people didn't like the game at first...it's a beautiful masterpiece of humanity and what being human means.

I loved this game. How it shows that framing is everything. How it shows that you'll excuse actions taken by the main character because they're the main character. And how it's willing to make the player feel what the character feels, through exhaustion, through not wanting to torture. I loved how it made you feel the pain of obsession.

A thing many people miss with Joel's death is that it reflects the absolute reality of loss. Most people never get final words or a catharsis for someones death where they get to prepare to move on or expect it. No, in real life, death can come at any time in any form and you probably will never say those words you wanted to say to your loved one, one day they're there and the other they aren't regardless of how you feel about it, so why would the last of us world be more forgiving than real life? Ellie wasn't just angry with Abby, she was even more angry with herself, which she didn't understand until the end. She forgave herself. And that is powerful to me.

If we do get a part 3 with Ellie's redemption arc playing out I have no fucking clue how I'm gonna cope with the years of waiting for that game.

i love how bitter this game feels, it embodies this feeling of pure unadulterated pain, or numbness, because seeing these characters change or die makes it just so... ugh... i get a stomach ache and or a headache whenever it even pops into my head, i love it

This game really captured what hatred can lead to when you forget all empathy. Hatred can corrupt people completely. That is the reason this game forces you to be empathetic even in the face of the person or thing that has caused you so much pain, because without forgiveness you will truly be lost to your hatred.

I just completed this game last night and it pulled off an amazing combination of horror (both human and otherwise), beauty, rage, sadness...just a vast array of emotions

You went crazy on this video bro. Brought up so many things I didn't think about like the different generations and how this one was focused more on the generation that was born into this world. Thought I couldn't even appreciate the game any more and you went ahead and gave me that. Great video essay!

this made me sit on the floor and sob uncontrollably. i love this game and it’s message with my whole heart.

It's too bad most people can't provide more thought and analysis like what we find in this video. This is great. Thank you.

Amazing video, but I have a completely different idea on why it's called The Last of Us. To me both the games and the name talk about what people do when they're robbed of everything. What's left of them, of their humanity, and to which lengths they're willing to go to obtain their peace or happiness. "No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for"

“Just wolves killing sheep, and not only does that become Ellie’s horrifying lesson to bear, but also her curse to bestow on others” I actually got goosebumps when you said that

I’m glad I’ve found a video with my type of people. This game wasn’t what many wanted, but was a story with a moral that was needed. A “Joel and Ellie adventure” wouldn’t be as good as the TLOU 1 and that’s clear, there would be no drive and no tension. This game was good. If you open your mind up and let your heart do the playing, the loss and grief you go through with Jesse, manny, owen, mel, (almost) tommy is so devastating and heartbreaking. You feel so hopeless and you just want the fighting to stop because you keep witnessing unnecessary death. This game is a masterpiece that’s not many have the pleasure of truly experiencing.

This is why i love TLOU 2 despite seeing people hates it left and right. Like this is a true story telling game!

Holy shit dude. Holy shit. This was an incredible video. It is almost as if someone stole the thoughts I had about this game from my head and put them on KZfaq, and added their own insightful comments to it as well. This. This right here is precisely what I believe this game and this franchise to be. About love, about hope, about redemption and about being better and doing better. I cried watching this. Because, at many moments in this, I was right back there in my head when I was playing the game for the very first time. You've so beautifully and eloquently written about what these games are about. Good fucking job, my guy. Keep it up :)

dude, it’s so incredible how much you draw upon from this game. In its own world it’s an epic revenge tale with refined gameplay and captivating environments. I can see how some people can play it and that’s it for them. But to me there’s so much to unpack that honestly I’ll be playing this off an on for a looooong time. Insane how in a mere two playthroughs you’ve put your thoughts together so clearly. Even applying the games themes to yourself personally and our world so eloquently. Be proud of this video, you’ve come a long way, you deserve the world my dude. *wipes tears,* *sniffles,* *awkward hi five*

This is an absolute masterpiece of a video essay. Truly stellar job.

This was really excellent. Thank you for taking all of that time to produce this. Tenor and pacing of one of Joel’s songs wrapped all around this video.

I’ve never understood the outrage over playing as Abby. Neil was genius for this IMO. There are no “good guys” in this story. It’s simply people trying to survive in a wretched world. Masterful storytelling and one of if not my favorite narratives in video games ever.

The fight against Ellie reminded me of that fight against David in tlou, but way more terrifying

Hands down the best video essay i’ve watched. your efforts are very much appreciated man, thank you

Amazing video. Great commentary. Great perspective. Really made me think a lot and dive back into one of the greatest games ever made. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It was really impactful. Beautifully done

Such a wonderful change of pace from the usual "Abby bad, Elllie good" essays out there. You perfectly put into words why I adore this game so much.

This should have a million views. Just perfect analysis.

I played this all beginning to end and couldn't put it down when I first played it, but when I got to the very end and the credits rolled, I couldn't go back and play through it again. It was such a beautiful game but it was such a hard ending but I loved watching your video. It really helped me understand and process a game that I at first glance only saw as a story with so much loss and pain. Thank you for this :)

This is such a fantastic, well thought and insightful video essay. I am blown away by the craft and work put into this. Really opened my eyes and enjoyed what I learned watching this. Thank you for making this video, I was gripped by everything you had to say and motivated me to learn more about this brilliant game.

One of the most twisted and insane story’s ever… doesn’t even seem like a game when you’re playing… amazing.

I'm always nervous to interact with fan content about this game. Even though I am no longer with the studio, in the public, my role even as a small gear that went into making this game carries immense weight for some people. But after watching your video I had to step up say thank you. Thank you for understanding, and letting this difficult piece of art impact you to try and be the change you want to see in the world. If there's one thing I've learned from the reception of TLOU2 and the state of the world at large is that empathy and forgiveness is one of the hardest things for people to process and to enact. Your words were so eloquently put and I'm glad there are more nuanced looks at the story we were trying to tell that's not the exact anger and contempt that the game so dearly tries to show us how to be rid us of; to show us no matter how messed up things are that we can do better and we can be happier, all because we choose to be. Again, thank you.

This was absolutely beautiful. Well done.

When I'm feeling sad or low I watch this video. 2 months ago I took a trip across the country to go to Seattle to visit the places Ellie & Abby visited in the Last of Us Part 2 - even got a private tour of the Paramount Theatre. This, for me, was also a journey towards forgiveness of someone who wronged me in my life. I thought long and hard about some of your insights as I walked those streets. Thanks for making this. It still resonates with me 2 years after I initially watched it.

The Last of Us Part II may be the most intentionally misunderstood game ever. It was such a great sequel but people hated it because they couldn’t allow themselves to see the story from any perspective other than “Joel is the hero”

When you were talking about the final fight and you said "Joel saves us" I literally started sobbing. This is one of the best video essays I've ever seen. Thank you.

just finished the last of us 2 for the first time yesterday. It’s the best game i’ve ever played, one of the best pieces of writing i’ve seen in my life. honestly i’ll never forget the amount of emotions this game put me through with it’s story. It’s a beautiful game and nothing short of a masterpiece.

i rarely comment on youtube videos but man, i just couldn't click away from your video without telling you how much it moved me! i genuinely loved this game so much from the very first day it came out and seeing so many people just hate on it because they were "blinded" by their anger towards abby really hurt me. i loved your commentary on this, i loved how you portrayed ellie as the "villain" that we still sympathize with to some extent and i'm so glad you payed so much attention to the human side of the wolfs and seraphites. just like the game, your video really brought me to tears and now i'm feeling that unscratchable itch again to replay the game just to hope for a different outcome for ellie and abby. absolutely amazing video wow!

"This is no longer about choosing a side... it's only about the feeling the raw confusion of pain and how it posesses us to do dark, horrible thing to one another" Humanity in a nutshell.

The fact that so many people couldn't relate with the emotional process that the game induces the player saddens me, because shows that people are not familiar with the emotional process of forgiveness, empathy and redemption. Thank you for exposing your reflections and help me understand some emotions that I had while playing. One thing, though, caught me off guard: your final reflecions about the series as a whole. Me, who finished the first game saying, "Joel, you bastard selfish delusional liar!", after listenning to you I am started to consider that "maybe, he had a point (in saving Ellie)..."

This game was so much more than just a game. Very well put together video and run down of life and emotions in general. Bravo!

I still think this is one of the best youtube videos i have ever seen, your commentary and voice is absolutely amazing.

This game left me in thought for the longest of times. To me this is one of the best endings possible to this series, a modern Shakespearean play. One that leaves us in thought

"We're allowed to be happy." That got me. Well done.

This video was amazing! Thanks so much for making it!

This is probrally the best video ive seen. A great, great analysis. So much information and your pov is very intrasting to say the least. Great job man :)

I'm one of the ones that think the game ended the way it should've. I think in that final moment, she remembered what Joel wanted for her. she remembered that Joel always told her that they're not killers, they're survivors. I think Ellie knew that killing aby would make her more than just someone surviving and I think she knew that's what Joel wanted for her so she didn't do it

Worlds cannot describe how perfectly you explained the beauty of this game, TLOU2 is a fucking masterpiece and i will die on that hill

I keep coming back to this video because it's brilliant. You're perspective on this game is spot on the way I see the game. I appreciate the video.

This was pretty incredible, amazingly edited and what a genuine analysis of such a great game and a great story

In my interpretation, I think the second game is to show us the complexity of life and humanity. It strongly shows the us vs them mentality as well. Even though we’re shown how human each side (Abby’s group vs Ellie’s group) can be and how they have loved ones/friends of their own and their goal is to survive just like everybody else, we see how these groups still violently clash with one another. It’s easy to paint the other side as the bad guys and so you fight against them, perpetuating the cycle of revenge and violence. The game is also about the parallels of Abby and Ellie’s story and how they experience loss and revenge. They both have lost their father/father figure, lost their friends, and experienced so much just for revenge. They really aren’t that different from one another. In the end, it was all meaningless because they’ve tired themselves out and have already accepted their fate, no longer wanting to kill the other- hence: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Lastly, I think the game is called The Last of Us because it is what’s left after all is said and done that makes us- well... _us_ really. The game serves as a grim reminder that our actions have consequences, but it also reminds us that every character has a story/life of their own. This ties back into the complexity of life and humanity- we all have our own stories and motivations that make us who we are and determines who we may become. It is because of Joel’s actions which caused Abby to go after him in the first place. And we see in the second game how the desire for revenge causes Abby and Ellie to go against one another until they’ve lost nearly everything. The second game was never meant to have a happy ending. It’s supposed to make you uncomfortable and leave you feeling numb/empty afterwards, in order to show the grim reality of the world we live in.

The best game I have ever played. To be honest the only game which shows to true nature of a person. "No one is perfect" I think that's what they tried to show in this game. Everyone is a good person in someones story, and a bad person in someone else's. Must play it with an open mind. Revenge is a chain and in the end Ellie just broke it.

This is best video essay I’ve ever seen. Insane writing and analysis. Subbed.

Dude! Dude! The absolutely best commentary I have ever heard. Awesome Job on the video.

This game is not only a measure of the characters' ability to empathize with "the enemy", but also the player's. So many people just can't seem to accept Abby's reasons for killing Joel, and hold onto their bloodlust for her even after the credits roll. From being hyper-critical of the characters' actions and motivations and chalking it up to 'hack writing', to making KZfaq compilations of different ways to self-kill Abby (which always have bordeline sociopathic comment sections lol), to more vitriolic reactions like expressing bigotry and transphobia about the characters and writers, harassing the cast and crew, and even sending death threats to the creators several months after the game's release, there's an incredible irony in the way that some gamers out there who were hurt by Joel's death embody the same blind hatred that this story warns of. Whether you want to call their behavior juvenile, overly dramatic, or outright irrational, this is their honest reaction to the game and they do an excellent job of serving as a living, breathing example of its message about the way emotional pain can blind us and send us on a path of obsessive, destructive hate (for the most part - there are of course bad faith groups out there who deemed this game "too SJW" and have made it the target of their asinine 'culture war' ever since they dropped the first e3 demo with Ellie and Dina kissing)

I hope you're still reading these. Jesus Christ, dude, this almost made me cry like my first playthrough of the game did. I'm so glad this got recommended to me. I've been saying since June that this is going to be a game that serves as a benchmark for years to come, even if not many people realize it now. I just wish I had people to talk with about it. I haven't got any friends who have even played the first game and it sucks so much. I've done so much thinking and I've got so much to say without having anyone to say it to. This video serves as an outlet to some extent. It's nice to know that there are other people who were as deeply affected by this story as I was. You did an absolutely phenomenal job expressing things that have been weighing on me for months, which I haven't been able to completely articulate myself. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. I loved every single second of it.

Absolutely beautiful. You clearly express so much of what I feel about the last of us as well as helping me realize more. Thank you

What a fantastic interpretation of this game, so well thought out and explained. Beautifully done.

I've quoted it before, I'll quote it again : "Revenge is a fool's game." - Arthur Morgan

Man, I can't describe how this video changed my perspective on the story and especially the feeling that the characters were feeling in the game, it was just incredible, great work.

Firts video I´ve seen from you. Holy hell man, you absolutely nailed the editing. It is hard for me to put into words how important TLoU games are for me. It´s beyond gaming, it´s this strange relationship humans can develop with art. First time I finished Part 2, I was not able to touch any other game for 2 months. The inner void was insane. And I am oh so greatful for it.

What an amazing video. One of the most beautiful pieces of content I’ve seen on KZfaq.

After Abbie killed Joel, I felt a rage that I’ve never felt towards a video game character before. I wanted to make her suffer so badly. And I was just that fury for at least an hour after she killed him. Even after that, I still well and truly resented her. But somehow, by the time the final confrontation came around, I was in tears because I didn’t want Ellie to hurt her. Naughty Dog struck gold twice. That’s two-for-two for masterpieces, and I’m really looking forward to the third game.

Part II ended with what Ellie is most scared of, as she told Sam in Part I: Being alone...

I come back to this video quite a bit and it always leaves me feeling reinvigorated and refreshed. Thank you for that.

This analysis was absolutely outstanding. Thank you.

Hands down the best video i've seen on KZfaq. THANK YOU so much for this video......THANK YOU bro

Congratulations to you! Great analysis. I’m am more so amazed to see this depth of analysis from someone as young as you. Makes me hopeful about our future. I’m a bitter 45 year old guy myself, in disbelief observing how our world is growing ever darker, reaching even reaching for extremism again. Nice to see really young people catching the message. These two games are the pieces of media that had the most impact on me in recent times. I really believe this is the future of storytelling and a way of teaching kids bombarded with brutality to gain perspective within the media they grow up in. The divisiveness around this game and how many people chose to block the messaging out, really proves to me how necessary more confronting stories like these still are. Playing an action game where at the end you don’t want to fight anymore is really something I never expected from video games. Solely for that this game was a masterpiece. That’s art in a video game.

This was unbelievably well analyzed, explored and explained, I'm simply speechless T-T!! Tremendous efforts, I'm in awe!

This is the perfect video on this game. You've articulated exactly what I've been trying to describe to the people around me who still don't understand the story. Wonderful video essay!

It kills me that people refused to allow themselves to admit that this story was incredible. Because it really is an amazing story.

Wow. After countless videos about the shortfalls of this game, I'd started to wonder whether my belief in the game was misplaced. I appreciate your take on hope and growth in the next generation. That's exactly what I felt people were missing about this lengthy, dark, and depressing game. I always felt hope in playing part 1 and part 2. I believe the team at Naughty Dog were willing to take us to some pretty dark places, places most players didn't want to go to, in order to help us feel that hope and humanity. Thanks for the video, man. Great job.

Not only was this the best video essay on TLOU2 (and the series as a whole) that I’ve watched, I think this may be the best video essay I have ever watched, period. You navigated such an incredibly complex and nuanced story across two games packed full with content in such a smooth, graceful manner. Watching this felt like someone sorting through my emotions towards the series as if they had an inside look into my mind. Thank you for such an absolutely beautiful look at these games and their humanity, I hope more people come to understand this series in the way you have.

This is quite possibly the best video essay I've ever watched. Spot on. Every single thing. What a profound analysis of a beautiful game. Sad that many still don't understand it.

Seriously! I never understood the hate this game got. It was so intense in so many ways. The ending had me just like, staring at the end credits and then the start screen for so long. I played it right as quarantine started. It was an amazing world to be able to enter during that time. Cool to hear your thoughts on it.

“Joel saved us.” I hated this game at first, god I hated it for killing off Joel but slowly I realized maybe I had let my emotions get the best of me and the atmosphere of hatred around the game had clouded too much of my judgements. So I played it again and on the second playthrough everything was so much clearer that I found myself actually caring for Abby and Ellie in the same way, wanting neither to suffer. So when I watched this video and got to the part where Joel is the catalyst for Ellie to come back to herself and to not give in to desolation and pain, I teared up. Thank you for making this.

This video is so well done man.

Every few months I come back to this video. This is one of the best analysis of art that I have ever seen, really brilliant interpretation skills and attention to details. Congrats, man

“For the younger generation, who probably grew up watching a play through of The Last Of Us on youtube” spot on. and proud of it! Thank you for this masterpiece of a video essay. Perfect analysis.

Not gonna lie... the leaks, the reviews, and everything else in between just made me hate this game... because jole. Then I played the game... which made me conflicted... then people like you who masterfully explain the last of us part 2 just make me happy... How can I just go from hating it to loving it... thank you

Kudos, very well written. I watched a lot of essay videos about this game. This is the most genuine one. Kudos.