The Last of Us’ Season 2 finale concludes Ellie’s part of the story–for now.
HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us Part II concluded its second season this week, bringing Ellie’s part of the story to a temporary end. The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 7, titled “Convergence”, sees Abby and Ellie meet once again in a climactic confrontation right after Ellie reunites with some old friends. This episode, despite following most of the original game's story beats, foreshadows quite a few upcoming events by changing things up.
We’ll be discussing spoilers from later events in The Last of Us Part II, so consider this your spoiler warning! Here are all the Easter eggs and references we spotted in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 7.
The aftermath of Nora’s death
Episode 7 begins by justifying Dina’s bed rest in the Seattle theatre differently than in The Last of Us Part II. In the game, Dina was suffering from pregnancy sickness, and thus couldn’t follow Ellie out on her revenge-driven journeys. In the series, Dina has been shot by a Seraphite, and will now spend some time recovering from a leg injury. When Jesse suggests meeting up with Tommy at their pre-approved rendezvous point, Dina is unable to follow them.
A few more things have been changed. Instead of using Ellie’s map, Nora directs Ellie to Abby using two simple words: “whale” and “wheel.” Additionally, we see Dina finally learn exactly what Joel did–a conversation Dina and Ellie never had in the game onscreen. We can safely assume that Ellie eventually told Dina exactly what Joel did to the Fireflies in-game, but we never got to see Dina’s reaction in real time.
Dina appeared to be upset while hearing the news, to say the least, and it’s safe to say that her relationship with Ellie will be affected by it. Providing that the two survive their encounter with Abby, that is.
Ellie and Jesse’s road trip
Jesse and Ellie leave the Seattle theatre to go find Tommy, who’s searching far and wide through Seattle for Ellie and Dina on his lonesome, much like he did in the game. Here, the series begins to sow seeds of events that Ellie won’t even be aware of: we can see a lofty sky bridge formed by a fallen crane in the buildings above Ellie and Jesse, for example. Players will know that Abby climbs the sky bridge with Lev, while on their way to the Lakehill Hospital.
We also see hints that the Seraphite and W.L.F.’s war is coming to a head. Ellie and Jesse encounter a Seraphite who gets attacked by W.L.F. grunts, before we see Isaac pondering the disappearances of Abby, Mel, and Own. All of these moments are original to the series, with Isaac’s scene giving us clear-cut confirmation that Abby is set to succeed him as the W.L.F.’s leader.
Finally, Ellie and Jesse split up, with Ellie going after Abby at an aquarium she has spotted, and Jesse going after Tommy at the marina. However, the series opts to skip the shopping mall level filled with W.L.F. soldiers, which is where the two leave each other in-game.
What’s going on with the Seraphites?
Ellie sees far more Seraphites at this point in the story, than she did in the video game. Before taking a boat out onto the water, she notices several W.L.F. soldiers climb into boats and head towards an island–including Isaac, which puts him and Ellie at closer proximity than they have ever been in-game.
Ellie eventually crashes onto the island herself, and gets picked up by Seraphites. The manner in which she is almost strung up is identical to Abby’s reveal trailer for The Last of Us Part II, wherein the latter is almost hanged in a forest at nighttime. Both of these scenes are also original to the series, but the inclusion of Ellie’s almost-hanging is puzzling. Presumably, we’ll return to this scene with a different perspective next season.
Ellie then goes to the aquarium and meets Mel and Owen, with the series skipping a notable animal death from the game–Alice, a W.L.F.-trained dog. Alice doesn’t appear at all here, but Ellie does go on to kill both Owen and Mel accidentally. The series also changes Mel’s death slightly, with her pleading to Ellie to save her baby–making the duo’s death even more tragic than before.
Speaking of which…
Seattle Day One, again
This season ends with a series of jaw-dropping events, including but not limited to Jesse’s untimely death, Tommy being held hostage, and Abby arriving with murder on her mind. Her friends Owen and Mel are dead, and although she originally thinks that Tommy is to blame, Ellie sets her straight; it’s her fault. A gunshot then goes off, with all of these characters’ fates left unknown.
The series then turns back time. We see Abby at a W.L.F.-filled stadium in Seattle (reading the same book as she did in the game, no less), with the revelation that we are now going to see the events of this season from her perspective. Fans of The Last of Us Part II won’t be surprised by this cliffhanger ending, as it marks a clean split between two halves of the game's story.
With HBO’s The Last of Us potentially running for four seasons in total, however, it looks like we’re getting a completely Abby-driven Season 3. At that pace, Season 4 will likely follow Abby and Ellie’s final confrontation, though this is all speculation for now. We’ll have to wait until next season to find out, however long it takes to release.
That’s it for now! Check out our coverage of The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 6: The Price here.
