Is Ellie Dead? ‘The Last Of Us' Season 2 Finale, Explained

Forbes

26-05-2025

Bella Ramsey as Ellie in 'The Last Of Us' season 2 finale
The season 2 finale of HBO's The Last Of Us sees Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face the consequences of her actions, emphasizing the cyclical nature of violence.
The shocking murder of Joel (Pedro Pascal) at the beginning of the season by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her gang motivates Ellie to undertake a dangerous journey into Seattle, as she hunts down Joel's killer.
Ironically, Abby and Ellie share the same motivation, as Abby's father was murdered during the infamous massacre of The Last of Us season one finale, in which Joel demonstrated just how far he was willing to go to save Ellie.
The season 2 finale teaches Ellie the ugly reality of revenge.
Spoilers Ahead
Having tortured a couple of words out of Nora (Tati Gabrielle) in a previous episode, Ellie now has a clue about Abby's whereabouts. Nora uttered the words 'whale' and 'wheel,' before Ellie drops her weapon and leaves her to succumb to the fungal parasite.
Ellie is disturbed by her own willingness to torture, and when she confesses to Dina (Isabela Merced), she finally reveals why Abby wanted to kill Joel in the first place. Dina, having realized that Joel was no innocent victim, decides that they all need to drop the revenge fantasy, and return home.
Ellie and Jesse (Young Mazino) then head out to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna) so that they can finally leave the wastelands of Seattle. While Jesse tries his best to impart some wisdom to Ellie, emphasizing that community is more important than individual wants, especially during the end of the world, Ellie just can't let go of her thirst for vengeance.
When Ellie spies a Ferris wheel and aquarium on the horizon, she understands Nora's 'wheel' and 'whale,' and abandons her responsibility to find Tommy.
Soon, Ellie is riding a motorboat through a terrible storm, and is ill-equipped to handle the danger, washing up near a Seraphite camp.
The Seraphites (Scars) are engaged in a complicated conflict with the W.L.F. (Wolves), and unluckily for Ellie, the Scars are cultists that practice human sacrifice. Just before she can be disemboweled, Ellie is saved by a fortunate attack from the Wolves, and walks away intact.
Seemingly having learned nothing, Ellie gets back on the boat and heads to the aquarium, where she finds two members of Abby's crew—Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer).
Ellie points her pistol at the two, demanding to know Abby's whereabouts, but Owen makes a move for his own gun.
Pointing a gun inevitably means firing a shot, and Ellie fires in self-defense, accidently killing both with one bullet.
As Mel (who is pregnant) bleeds out, she begs Ellie to give her a C-section and save her baby's life. Ellie immediately realizes that she is in way over her head, having mistakenly murdered a mother and child, and cannot bring herself to make a single incision.
Mel dies, in the delirium of death, and expresses her gratitude to Ellie, under the impression that her baby is saved. Ellie is now at the point of no return, and has committed far more heinous acts than Abby's vengeful murder.
Jesse and Tommy then enter the aquarium to rescue Ellie, and she accepts that her quest for revenge has failed miserably. But violent actions have consequences, and an armed Abby soon uncovers the three.
Abby shoots Tommy and kills Jesse, then aims her gun at Ellie. In disbelief, she reiterates that she allowed Ellie to live, seemingly determined to fix her mistake. She fires, and the screen fades to black.
In a brief epilogue that hints at the direction of season 3, Abby is shown inside a stadium that has been converted into a commune, implying that viewers will soon learn the details of Abby's backstory.
Unless there was a significant change during the adaptation from video game to TV series, then no—Ellie is still alive.
In the original video game, Ellie survives this encounter with Abby, but remains angry and traumatized. Players spend a great deal of time playing as Abby and learning about her side of the story, before a time jump sees Ellie learn of Abby's whereabouts, and the two come into conflict once more.
The Last Of Us franchise spends a great deal of time musing on ethics, and highlighting the ever-escalating cycle of violence that can ignite from a single death.
True to the video game, The Last Of Us season 3 will surely flesh out Abby's motivations, as well as reveal the complexities of the conflict between the Scars and the Wolves.