Shocking Season Finale of 'The Last of Us': Bella Ramsey Reveals the Biggest Twist!

Warning: Plot Spoilers Ahead: This narrative delves into crucial storyline advancements, even the climax, from the Season 2 finale of “The Last of Us,” which is currently being broadcasted on HBO and can be found streaming on their current platform called Max.

In the climactic moments of Season 2 of “The Last of Us”, the intensity rivals any scene previously shown. On her third day in Seattle, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), in a small boat amidst a stormy sea, bravely navigates Seattle harbor to reach the aquarium dock where she suspects Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), the woman who killed her father Joel (Pedro Pascal), is hiding. However, a colossal wave propels Ellie into the domain of the Seraphites, also known as the Scars, a dangerous religious group infamous for their brutal executions. The Scars nearly execute Ellie until the Seattle militia, the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), launch an unexpected night attack on the Scars’ main camp, causing them to abandon Ellie, leaving her to fend for herself during their defense of their territory.

Following her escape from the trap, Ellie returns to the boat and eventually makes it to the aquarium. Just as a massive blast occurs in the Scar region behind her, Abby is nowhere to be found. Instead, Ellie encounters Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer), friends of Abby’s. With a gun pointed at them, she forces them to reveal Abby’s whereabouts. Owen attempts to retaliate with gunfire, but Ellie shoots first, killing him. In the ensuing chaos, Mel is hit and gravely wounded; at this point, Ellie discovers Mel is pregnant. As Mel bleeds profusely, she pleads with Ellie to perform a cesarean section. However, Ellie lacks the necessary skills, and can only sit in despair as Mel succumbs to her injuries.

This version aims to maintain the same information while using more descriptive and varied language, making it easier for readers to understand the sequence of events.

Tom (Gabriel Luna) and Jess (Young Mazino), having traced Ellie to the aquarium, transport her to an abandoned theater where her partner Dina (Isabela Merced) is recovering. They discuss a route to Jackson and plan their journey, leaving Ellie and Jess inside the theater while Tom gathers supplies in the lobby. A sudden, loud bang occurs, causing Ellie and Jess to rush from the theater. Jess is instantly gunned down, while Jess falls. Ellie takes shelter, seeing a firearm pointed at Tom’s head. A voice commands her to stand up. It’s Abby.

For the first time since Joel’s passing, Ellie and Abby find themselves standing opposite each other. Ellie admits to Abby that she was responsible for the deaths of Abby’s companions and begs Abby to spare Tommy. “I spared you,” Abby retorts, seething with anger. “And what did you do with that chance?” She points her weapon at Ellie, Ellie lets out a scream, Abby fires, and the scene fades to darkness.

Abruptly, we shift to Abby dozing on a sofa. Her fellow WLF member Manny (Danny Ramirez) stirs her awake, informing her that commander Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) desires her presence. Stirring from her slumber, Abby moves through what appears to be the WLF headquarters, located within the old Seattle Seahawks football stadium. As “Seattle: Day One” flashes across the screen, the episode concludes, taking us back three days and shifting our attention onto Abby’s storyline.

This turn closely resembles the 2020 video game “The Last of Us Part II”; in this game, Ellie vanishes entirely while players progress as Abby instead, a demonstration of extreme empathy. The implications of this twist for the series remain uncertain.

At a press conference held on May 23 regarding the finale of Season 2, creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who jointly wrote the episode with Halley Gross, Druckmann’s co-writer for “Part II”) expressed uncertainty about the extent to which characters Ellie, Dina, Tommy, and Jesse will feature in Season 3. In simpler terms, they are unsure about how little or much screen time these characters might get in the upcoming season.

Mazin pointed out that even though I might assume I know what’s going to happen, I’m savvy enough to realize that our understanding could change over the next two weeks,” he explained. “The only thing I can assure is that Kaitlyn Dever, Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, and several others who are currently deceased in the story won’t be making their final appearances.

Druckmann stated, “Regardless if they appear on the screen or not, their influence will persistently be felt.

In the conversation with EbMaster, Ramsey indicated that they anticipate taking on a less significant part in Season 3, using the phrase “it’s most probable.

Ramsey mentioned he’s been informed and anticipates his involvement, although he won’t be participating extensively. He’s had discussions about it and has a general understanding of the proceedings, yet he can’t disclose specific details.

At the press conference, Mazin offered further insights regarding various aspects of Season 3, particularly addressing lingering queries about the roots of the WLF and the Seraphites, as well as the factors that incited their conflict.

Mazin confirmed that the questions posed will be addressed. Here are some of them: When did the war begin, why did it happen, who were the Seraphites and their prophet, what became of her, what are Isaac’s intentions, what occurred at the end of Episode 7, and what was that explosion? As for the possibility of Season 3 delving deeper into Joel’s past through flashbacks, such as revealing what Joel and Tommy were up to during the 20 years between the pandemic outbreak and the series start, Druckmann did not reject this idea.

He remarked that we hadn’t anticipated including a tale about Joel’s father in the series beforehand, as evidenced by the flashback in Episode 6. In essence, he was indicating that it’s hard to foresee such things.

Alongside Druckmann, Mazin considered various methods to weave Abby’s tale into the series. These strategies ranged from interspersing her narrative with Ellie’s, or presenting separate episodes dedicated to each character. However, they ultimately opted to maintain the game’s structure for the show, a decision Mazin admitted was risky given the show’s success and the fact that it had previously terminated one of its main characters in Episode 2.

He stated, “Continually, you’ve been posing questions such as, ‘I assume you cherish this, we’re replacing it with this instead.’ Ideally, the response would be, ‘Well, I never realized, but it turns out that we truly prefer this.’

Regarding Ramsey, they discussed several topics with EbMaster, including their struggles during the filming of Nina Lopez-Corrado’s intense final scene, their enjoyment of being drenched by rain and sea while on a dinghy, their secret sign language with Merced, and the most terrifying aspect of Ellie’s encounter with the Seraphites.

Let’s start at the very end. There’s obviously more that happens after the cut to black. Is that where you stopped shooting?

To clarify, I haven’t watched it myself, so I can’t point out exactly where it ends. However, I recall it finishing rather abruptly, and we did indeed pause there. It was quite challenging for me. I felt that perhaps we should have carried on, as it was tough to just halt so suddenly. But yes, that’s where it concludes. Mwa ha ha!

I didn’t see the ending myself, but I remember it was abrupt and we stopped there. It was difficult for me. Maybe we should have kept going because it was tough to stop so suddenly. However, that’s where it ended. Mwa ha ha!

A lot has to happen in those final moments. What is the emotional choreography of that scene for you?

Absolutely, that sequence was intense. Watching my friend get shot right before me, witnessing Tommy being threatened and barely surviving, and all these events unfolding simultaneously was overwhelming. We repeated that particular scene multiple times to ensure its authenticity. It was quite complex to manage because, while a multitude of distressing incidents were transpiring before her eyes, she was also encountering Abby, someone she had long been anticipating. That scene presented significant challenges for me, and I had to converse with Craig and Nina, the director, to determine the ideal balance between being traumatized and disoriented due to the horrifying events versus the objective Ellie has harbored for a long time: to kill Abby. However, the situation quickly shifts, putting Ellie in a vulnerable position instead. That moment was truly chaotic.

What part of the balance was the most challenging for you to find?

As a devoted cinephile, I found myself traversing an emotional rollercoaster when Jesse was fatally shot, plunging me into an instant sorrow. But instead of retaliating, I found myself surrendering and imploring for my life, and it was none other than Abby who stood before me. In that moment, the scene was far from ordinary because it was her – it was Abby. The complexity of Ellie’s thoughts in that instant was immense, as if a whirlwind of emotions swirled through her mind.

I was fascinated by the differences between the show and the game, specifically with Ellie’s confrontation with Owen and Mel. On the show, killing Mel is an accident and Mel is alive when Ellie realizes she’s pregnant — whereas in the game, it’s the opposite. How did you feel about those changes?

In the second game, I’d witnessed numerous scenes, but that particular one was new to me. As a result, I wasn’t aware of any modifications. To put it simply, what the script described and what we performed on set felt familiar to me. This final episode certainly had its fair share of challenging moments! Indeed, this scene was quite intense and profound. I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to act it out, yet filled with dread because it was so disturbing. It might even surpass the emotional impact of Joel’s death, as in that instant, Ellie seems to acknowledge she has assumed all the aspects of him that she never wanted to embody. At this point, she’s grappling with the repercussions of her actions, her sorrow, her thirst for vengeance, and her inability to pause and reflect for a moment.

Before Season 2 premiered, you told me that you listened to really upbeat music before those kinds of scenes. What were you listening to for that one?

To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to anything. It wasn’t at all similar to Joel’s death, which required a very specific mental state for me. Joel’s death was so sudden, intense, and overwhelmingly loud. This experience, however, was much quieter, more intimate, and subdued. There was definitely a growing sense of darkness within me beforehand.

Ellie spends so much time getting battered by the elements on that boat. Was that fun to do? I imagine you’re in some sort of water tank with fans blowing water in your face.

Indeed, by the end of the filming process, I must admit I was completely drained, hanging on by a thread. However, it was an incredibly enjoyable experience. I have always been captivated by water and aquatic scenes, and this opportunity allowed me to spend an entire day immersed in a heated water tank within a studio setting. To top it off, I am somewhat proficient with boats and navigating, so maneuvering the dinghy was thrilling for me. All in all, it was a fantastic experience.

The scene at the start of the episode, when Dina takes Ellie’s shirt off to tend to her wounds and Ellie confesses to Dina about what Joel did, is so sweet and vulnerable. What was that like to shoot?

As a movie critic, I must say, that particular scene in “The Last of Us” was exceptionally heartwarming. The atmosphere on set during its filming was palpably tender, as if the actors and crew were all sharing a quiet, reverent moment. It was filmed with an almost reverential care, capturing a fleeting, precious pause amidst the chaos. Rarely in “The Last of Us,” and especially this season, do we witness two characters sitting together in a scene, engaged in an emotional, tender interchange that doesn’t carry the weight of trauma.

Isabela Merced told my colleague Kate Aurthur that during the subway sequence in Episode 4, you guys created a secret sign language with each other. How did that work?

There were many instances where we found ourselves in situations where we’d hesitate to ask each other direct questions like, “Do you need the bathroom? I do, but is there time?” especially when in public. Isabela, who often wore skinny jeans and felt uncomfortable at times, would ask me to give her privacy while she adjusted herself. To avoid such awkward situations, Isabela suggested we should invent a signal or sign instead. Unfortunately, I can’t recall the specific signs we came up with, but it was a thoughtful way to communicate non-verbally in an inconspicuous manner.

Did it ever involve action sequences that were really intense and you needed some support? That was part of Isabela appeared to be talking about.

To put it simply, the atmosphere was quite casual. We had a way of expressing “I’d rather not do this now,” but it was done in a manner that suggested we both understood it was necessary. It might have been a subtle shake of the head or sticking out the tongue, something like that. Essentially, it was reassuring to know that there was someone else going through it with you.

What was it like to shoot the scene where Ellie is strung up and almost disemboweled by the Scars? Of all the scary things in that episode, it was the scariest to me!

Scars are the scariest aspect of this season for me. The sensation of a tight noose around my neck – even though I’m wearing a harness and it’s not real, it still feels restrictive. Acting convincingly is effortless in such situations. I’m completely secure, but my mind can be deceptively tricked into believing otherwise. The thrilling parts of the filming process are undoubtedly the most enjoyable.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

2025-05-26 06:52

Shocking Season Finale of ‘The Last of Us’: Bella Ramsey Reveals the Biggest Twist!