The Last of Us Season 2 is finally done, and as expected, the finale ended with a cliffhanger, and many bewildered fans and viewers are abuzz in discussion. One discussion about the season finale or episode 7, however, has pointed out not just how pointless one scene is, but how it also possibly ruins Ellie’s character in a way that goes against how the show established her. Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t seen episode 7, of course.
The notorious scene in question takes place after Ellie and Jesse split up in anger because the former made a rash decision to stick to her vengeance. Ellie then pursues Abby by going to the Ferris wheel in Seattle, crossing the bay via motorboat. Except a huge wave topples the boat and washes Ellie off back into the Seraphites’ park.
The Seraphites or Scars then proceed to try to torture and execute Ellie, only to be interrupted by the WLF’s massive attack. Afterward, Ellie simply carries on to her boat and back to the Ferris wheel as if the waves and the storm didn’t exist, because it turns out she could’ve crossed the Seattle bay safely anyway. Needless to say, the scene’s purpose has perplexed many viewers.
One of the most popular speculations on the Reddit post by Terrible_Length4413 was how the scene likely existed to spell out the all-out war between the WLF and the Seraphites.
“They think the audience are dummies, so they felt the need to spell out that there’s a war going on on the island. It was a stupid and unnecessary choice that underestimates viewers’ intelligence…” surmises Icy-Salamander-Noob
It may likely be the case, however, it’s one of the weakest scenes in the season and undermines Ellie’s character as it gives her too much plot armor.
Such a wasted scene for a short season
For starters, The Last of Us Season 2 has been establishing the ongoing war between the WLF and the Seraphites quite well in the early episodes. There was already plenty of dialogue between the WLF’s leaders about their massive attack against the Seraphites. So the scene where Ellie gets captured by the Scars merely existed to explain the obvious already.
Ellie survived anyway, and it turns out she could’ve gone to the Ferris wheel without getting toppled by the waves. I feel like those several minutes were wasted when they could’ve gone into more action or character development, perhaps more scenes for Tommy. Not to mention, Ellie’s character felt like she’s had too many streaks of luck this season, compared to her character in Season 1 when the stakes were higher.
Some have argued that it makes her character feel weaker, especially for someone whose drive for revenge has transformed her into a crafty payback machine. In any case, our woes about this wasted scene are likely just one drop in the bucket of criticisms for The Last of Us Season 2 and its finale.
“To further hit home the fact that Ellie is seriously out of her league,” suggests suppadelicious as the goal for the scene
“Scene made no sense and was just there to fill up time. They also wanted to establish the war going on at the island but they easily could’ve just shown the island blow up while ellie was on the boat. Audience easily could’ve inferred that’s where Issac and wlf were going,” says louie3723jr
