Minority Mindset

The hit series The Last of Us concluded its intense and controversial second season, failing to provide the resolution found in the HBO adaptation’s highly praised first installment. Instead, it ended abruptly, roughly halfway through the video game sequel on which it is based, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the destiny of Ellie, Dina, Tommy, Jesse (with less uncertainty about Jesse), and particularly Abby, who resurfaces in the final moments of “Convergence” to deliver a cliffhanger and then return the timeline to “Seattle, Day One.

Following “Through the Valley,” it might have seemed like The Last of Us had exhausted its supply of killing off its decent characters. However, this is far from the truth! Jesse’s sudden death in the finale, “Convergence,” is just another instance of senseless violence in a season saturated with it. Jesse was trained to one day lead Jackson, eagerly expecting a baby, and without hesitation, he plunged into an uncertain situation to rescue his mentor, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Regardless of all this, none of it saved him from Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) shooting him in the head, thus ending his life prematurely and cutting short a promising future.

The title “Convergence” increases the feeling of foreboding, as this season has primarily revolved around Ellie but introduced other characters like Abby and her group, the WLF organization they belong to, and the Seraphites. Additionally, there’s Tommy, who seems to be in a precarious situation somewhere. With all these elements converging, it’s unlikely that things will end peacefully. The significance of the term “convergence” becomes clearer only towards the end of the episode, where time is cleverly manipulated both at the beginning and the end, moving us from Ellie’s past to her current grim reality, and then playing with the concept of time in a surprising manner.

In a different take, you might refer to it as a turn of events rather than a twist, given that the term “twist” can sometimes be misleading when discussing such a widely recognized game like The Last of Us Part II. However, for the sake of this conversation, let’s use the term twist. In the final episode of HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s franchise, titled “Convergence,” Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) catches the Jackson gang off guard in an abandoned Seattle theater. The sequence unfolds swiftly: Jesse (Young Mizuno) is fatally shot as he rushes into the room where Abby has Tommy (Gabriel Luna) at gunpoint, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) faces the repercussions of her quest for revenge against Joel (Pedro Pascal). Overwhelmed with anger and grief, Abby shouts, “I spared your life, and you squandered it!” A gunshot echoes through the room before the screen goes black. When the episode resumes, the plot returns to three days prior, but this time, we follow Abby’s storyline, suggesting that the next season will delve into her experiences during those crucial days in Seattle.