There’s been a lot of discourse about Season 2 of The Last of Us on HBO. Specifically, people are complaining about Bella Ramsey’s portrayal of Ellie. Although some of the chatter is vitriolic BS about Bella Ramsey’s appearance (which is stupid, and I won’t give that credence), most of the concerns are for Ellie’s character. She isn’t rage-y enough. She’s too jokey and happy-go-lucky. She’s just inconsistent!!!!!
I experienced this first hand when I stepped into The Rest of Us Watching Now podcast. Fellow contributors Nick and Aun felt like she had been nerfed. They didn’t see the rage and intensity they experienced in the first half of The Last of Us Part II. Gamers around the world feel betrayed by this version of an iconic character.
But are they right? Did HBO nerf Ellie’s character? And, if so, why?
Is HBO’s The Last of Us Ellie bad at combat? I’d say that in hand-to-hand fisticuffs or with knives, she isn’t abysmal. They had that scene where she was dominating someone with her MMA skills (or so I’m told ‘cause I don’t know anything about MMA aside from Pete from Friends). She’s pretty good with the stabby-stabs, taking out a clicker here and a fella in the TV station there. That’s proficiency, for sure.
However, she is also awful with a gun. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this video compilation posted by friend of Retro Replay, Anthony Caliber. Ellie is almost Stormtrooper-esque! Her aim is bad, and she cannot handle the recoil on Joel’s revolver at all.
But have her combat abilities been nerfed?
Well, that sorta depends on you as a player. If you’re Anthony Caliber, speedrun record holder in multiple categories, then absolutely yes. However, he makes Ellie look like she could be Deadshot in disguise. Me? I’m intermediate, but I miss a lot of shots. This Ellie has the shooting skills of an average player. She’s fine.
Dina, though? Her combat skills are buffed to high heaven. She’s so much more useful than she is in the game.
Ellie flits back and forth between broody anger and jokey or flirty interactions with Dina. This seems like quite a diversion of character from the game and can be immersion-breaking. That’s not really in question, but it’s an enigma. Why is she so inconsistent?
Here’s something that I need to remind people: the game is not the show. I know that’s self-evident, but we need to keep that in mind to answer this question.
There are two significant factors here:
The three-month time skip allowed Ellie to sit with her feelings, get therapy and accept that revenge was out of reach… until Dina told her it may be possible. I’m not saying therapy was very successful, but it’s different to Ellie instantly following the WLF from Jackson for her vengeance.
Now for the Dina effect. By the time they arrive in Seattle, game Ellie and Dina are an item. It was established that they’re steady girlfriends (it was a long trip from home). Show Ellie still needs to woo Dina to a degree. A one-note rage-induced Ellie isn’t capable of building that relationship, so she needs to soften and create fun moments. Then, after the dirty deeds are done, of course she’s going to be lovestruck in her presence. It’s understandable.
So yes, she’s inconsistent, but it’s true to this version of the character.
This is the big one. This is the most prevalent complaint I’ve heard. Ellie is not ANGRY ENOUGH!!! She should be rage-induced all of the time. Joel is dead, damnit! Why isn’t she more committed to her revenge?
Ok, here’s my take: she’s fine. There’s plenty of anger there, and it manifests in extreme acts of violence, laser-focus when she has a target in her sights, and angry screaming outbursts. Nora’s execution, followed by lashing out at Jesse so that she can irrationally chase after a possibility of an Abby sighting, shows this perfectly.
So why can’t she be like this all of the time? Well, it’s already a struggle to see Ellie as a protagonist in this series. She makes stupid decisions and is kinda petulant and unlikable at times. If you add to that a continually shouting, screaming, swearing, kicking and fighting nature, it’s not conducive to watchability. Nevermind that we’re supposed to believe that Ellie and Dina get together while she’s such a mardy bum. It wouldn’t make sense.
A lot of this is situational, which links in with her apparent inconsistency. But there’s one more thing: Ellie seems more angry to you, the player, because of what you’re doing in the game. You’re murdering a boatload of people and infected without remorse or conscience. Of course, you think she should be more rage-filled after seeing the twentieth axe to the head you just gave a Seraphite!
So, has the Ellie we know and love from The Last of Us Part II been nerfed, a shadow of what she once was? Yes. Also no. And, also, it depends. I know you may be pissed at me right now. “Stop sitting on the fence, you big dumb IDIOT!” I can hear ya, I can hear ya. You’re right. But it’s not like I’m not taking a stance here. She’s less than, more than, and the same as the video game version in the HBO show.
Not MY Ellie.
That’s the phrase that keeps coming to mind. She’s not necessarily worse or better than what you’ve known for the past five years since the game’s release; she’s different. I felt that a lot in the first season, and it’s become far more apparent in the second season. She’s more petulant, more mood-swingy, and a hormonal freaking teenager. And she’s not a Navy SEAL, pinging headshot after headshot and beating people to death with two-by-fours.
I made my peace with that, similar to how I accepted Joel’s more emotional side last season. So, if you’re mad at Ellie for not being laser-focused on the objective of killing swathes of enemies with mind-blowing accuracy, without having levity at times, then maybe take a look at whether you’re conflating a video game experience with a well-rounded character.
Remember, even the angriest man alive, The Hulk, has lighter moments in Thor: Ragnarok. It doesn’t mean he’s not the angriest creature in the ‘verse. What are you realistically expecting from a teenage girl? Ellie is only human at the end of the day.
She’s not been nerfed or buffed. She’s just different from what you once knew. And whether you like the show as an adaptation is a WHOLE different question.
What do you think? Was Ellie nerfed? Was she angry enough for you? Let us know in the comments where we can all agree, I’m a cowardly fence-sitter.
