The Last of Us showrunner called out Ellie's lack of competence in the HBO show's Season 2 finale, sparking plenty of conversation among fans of the series. The second season of HBO's hit post-apocalyptic drama just came to an end, aging up its Season 1 cast five years and telling the story of Bella Ramsey's previously 14-year-old Ellie (now 19) as she is thrust into the role of leading lady on a revenge-driven quest to the Pacific Northwest.
One of the biggest complaints about The Last of Us Season 2 has been the perceived incompetence of series lead Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey), especially in comparison to her narrative foil Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). And now, showrunner Craig Mazin has addressed exactly that. Abby, a new addition to this season, appeared on-screen just like she did in the games. She was introduced as a fierce warrior with a plan to take out Pedro Pascal's Joel Miller, a mentality that was mirrored by Ellie in PlayStation's The Last of Us Part II.
Speaking on The Last of Us Podcast, Mazin addressed the show's version of Ellie, insinuating that she is not nearly as competent as Abby in the TV universe. "Abby is seemingly not like Ellie, in that Abby is incredibly competent," The Last of Us showrunner posited, pointing to how Abby handled the Season 2 finale theater confrontation:
"Look for the devil, the devil's gonna find you. And Abby is seemingly not like Ellie, in that Abby is incredibly competent. We don't know yet how she found them, but we know that Abby must have found Owen and Mel, and you can only image what Abby thought when she saw them that. And when Abby shows up in the theater, she does not screw up. She gets Tommy on the ground as a hostage, she shoots Jesse the instant he comes out the door. She is in complete control of the situation. And at last, here they are, Abby and Ellie staring at each other in this incredible confrontation."
This is a slightly different take on how Ellie and Abby compare in The Last of Us video games, where they are much more closely matched. In The Last of Us Part II, the pair are seen as near-equals, with Abby being a little more physically threatening while Ellie's slinking-in-the-shadows stealth factor gives her the upper hand.
One of the primary complaints fans have had about The Last of Us Season 2 is Ellie's seeming lack of competency while on her revenge quest in Seattle, Washington. This is most evident in the Season 2 finale when Ellie almost accidentally kills two members of Abby's crew, Mel and Owen.
In the game, Ellie overpowers the pair of survivors in an intense confrontation in the Seattle Aquarium. However, the show makes their deaths feel like something less intentional than that, with Ellie letting off a shot shakenly when Owen comes at her, killing him and unintendedly grazing Mel's neck with the bullet in the process.
The Last of Us Season 2 is based on the acclaimed Naughty Dog-developed PlayStation game The Last of Us Part II, following Bella Ramsey's Ellie as she is sent on a revenge quest after the death of her father figure Joel (Pedro Pascal).
While the show's second season is still doing well with critics, it has not reached the critical heights of Season 1 (Season 1: 96%/Season 2: 92%). A third season has already been announced, picking up the story with Kaitlyn Dever's Abby, as teased at the end of the Season 2 finale.
Making Sense of The Last of Us Season 2's Ellie Changes
In The Last of Us games, the question of Ellie's competency never comes up. However, that has been a different conversation with The Last of Us Season 2 on HBO, as both fans and the showrunner have broached the subject.
Part of the reason Ellie feels so well-equipped in the game version of the story is because fans directly see her interact with adversaries in Seattle than they do in the TV show.
The HBO series gives Ellie several moments to show off her prowess on the battlefield (like in the TV station and the hospital basement with Nora), but they are not showing her mow-down droves of infected/rival survivors.
That is in stark contrast to the games, where Ellie is constantly taking on incoming foes in Seattle, with her (along with the player) quote/unquote leveling up as they go from combat counter to combat encounter.
Even though Abby may seem like an unbeatable threat at the beginning of Part II, after all that time, when the game gets to the theater scene where Abby kills Jesse, it feels like Ellie has earned her stripes enough to take on someone as dangerous as Joel's killer.
This is then flipped on its head later in the game when Abby's part of the story gets to the theater scene. Knowing all the training Ellie has undergone in her three days in Seattle, the player must take Ellie head-on in a tense boss battle in the theater's staging area.
In the series, Bella Ramsey's Ellie never gets those moments of feeling like she is getting better at this. That is why when Abby shows up in the Season 2 finale, it can feel like Ellie has no chance against Kaitlyn Dever's clearly tactically superior former Firefly.
For now, that is fine, but it could come back to require some further explanation when the pair are matched up against each other in the theater later in Season 3 and then (again) at the very end of The Last of Us Part II's story.
That most imminent confrontation could be changed to make sense with this new Ellie, but some training to hone Ellie's skills will be necessary if the series is going to faithfully adapt Part II's epic conclusion (read more about The Last of Us' HBO future here).
