How The Last Of Us SHOULD have ended...

If you did not complete The Last Of Us, do not bother reading this, as there are major spoilers. With that being said, read at your own discretion. 

Firstly, let me say The Last Of Us is an outstanding game that Naughty Dog has created. The graphics are stunning, the gameplay is good, and the story is beautiful. However, a driving force that kept me playing The Last Of Us was the characterization Naughty Dog was conveying. You see, every other aspect (besides graphics) of the game were only "above average" to "okay". I especially found that the gameplay was getting redundant near the end, and the story was pretty generic and simple to follow. But, I digress.

One of the outstanding and awesome aspects of the game was the emotional attachment you get to Joel and Ellie. Their relationship, too, is a very powerful aspect of the game. I feel Naughty Dog worked on this the most, as you get hit with strong emotions for the characters within the first five minutes, given the death of Sarah. I feel like Naughty Dog said "how can we make a book-like video game? What aspect of reading is the most powerful, and how can we transfer that to a game?" The answer is simple: characterization. A book would be nothing without having a diverse set of characters that you get emotionally attached to. Take Game of Thrones or The Hunger Games for instance. These books have AMAZING characterization, and they're successful books because of it. 

Now we're going to jump to the end of the game. Joel lies to Ellie that she isn't needed to make a cure. Why? The only reason is because Joel is attached to Ellie, as a father-daughter relationship, and doesn't want her to die. He kills every firefly he sees to save her. He loves her like a daughter. This was very touching for an end, but it wasn't spectacular like I was expecting. It was deep and sensual. I liked that, but it wasn't the epic finale I was expecting. It was a little obvious that Ellie was going to get saved by Joel, and they'd get out of the hospital both alive. That's the only reason I found it generic. We already knew Joel had an emotional attachment to Ellie - this wasn't a surprise. That's why I feel if it was more of a surprise, it would have MUCH more meaning and get more waterworks up.

So how do I think The Last Of Us should have ended? Well, as I said earlier, I feel the game was dragged out MUCH too long. So, in order to end it peacefully, I would have backed the game up a little. Specifically, to Winter. Winter was without a doubt a very unique portion of the game. Not only did involve an insane killer (David), but it gave off a very helpless feel. This was the portion that I really slowed down and had to think about everything I did. I had very few supplies; I had no ammo or health kits. I was helpless, and I loved that feeling. 

More importantly, Winter is when Joel and Ellie first show an amazing bond. With Joel's serious injuries, Ellie puts everything on the line to save him. She's afraid to let him go. Even if it means giving a deer to an insane lunatic for medicine, she's willing to do it for the chance to help him. It's truly touching, and it's one of my favorite parts of the game. When Ellie wanted the antibiotics, I was trying to figure out who they were for, as I thought Joel was dead (and he should have been at that point, honestly). 

So, where in Winter should the game have ended? In my opinion, it should of ended inside the burning house with Ellie and David. I LOVED this part of the game. I loved switching between Ellie and Joel, trying to reunite them in order to save each other. Ellie needed Joel, and Joel needed Ellie. It was an amazing experience trying to fight through everyone to get to her. The suspense was amazing, in addition. The moment was just perfect. The house on fire, in addition to it being Winter, gave an even more foreboding and helpless atmosphere. That's the perfect atmosphere to end a game on, in my opinion. However, we're not done yet. 

From here on out, I'm going to write up a cutscene that I think should have ended the game. None of this ever happened

Joel gets into the house that is on fire, and sees Ellie desperately trying to get David off of her. Ellie managed to stab David's throat, but he got the best of her. David grabbed her knife, stabbed her stomach and threw her off of him. Joel sees Ellie, then looks at David. Quickly, he shoots David in the stomach with a pistol (he doesn't think of shooting his head because he was focused on Ellie) and rushes over to tend to dying Ellie. Joel is near tears, showing how much he cares for her. Then, with David's last breath, he manages to pick up his pistol and shoot Joel in the stomach. The three of them are lying there, inside the burning house. The camera is going crazy, but smooth, transitioning between the house burning, Joel and Ellie's dying bodies, and dead David. Angelic music is playing, and you can't hear anything else. This goes on for about ten seconds. Still without sound, you see the door open. Tommy (Joel's brother) rushes in, followed by his wife. They take Joel and Ellie, and bring them out of the house. The screen fades to black, with the music still playing. After a few seconds, it fades. 

The screen violently flashes to an air view of Tommy's village. In a second or two, it goes to a top view of a badly bruised/bandaged Joel lying on a hospital bed. Joel's eyes flash open, and he asks where he is, without looking around. Tommy is in the room, and explains to him what happened. Joel starts crying, asking where Ellie is. Tommy goes silent for a second, looks down at his feet, and says "I'm sorry Joel..."

Joel is enraged, and is crying. He runs out of the room (limps, he's badly hurt still) and goes to the dam gate. He looks out at the river, and then up to the sky. The camera zooms out, to an aerial view of the forest. You have Joel loudly scream "No!" (or "Why!"), scaring nearby birds, sending them into the air.

^^^^^This last part is up for dispute. Many different endings could of taken place, such as Joel committing suicide. I felt this would satisfy the majority of people, however.^^^

So why do I feel this is a better ending? Firstly, because Joel and Ellie's relationship is just starting to show (but has clearly been there), I think a seperation between them would be VERY dramatic, less generic, and less predictable than the actual ending. Secondly, the atmosphere of Winter + The burning house is too good to pass up. That was where I thought the game was ending, honestly. Thirdly, I love the idea of Tommy coming to help. Tommy really hates Joel, and to see him come out of nowhere and save his brother (and his "daughter") would show a great brotherly relationship, with a completely unexpected encounter. Granted, it wouldn't make sense, such as "how did Tommy know where Joel was?". This would just be up for grabs for whatever theories you want. Lastly, the death of Ellie. I honestly felt deprived at the end of this game. I felt like in order for it to be complete, one of the two had to die. It just felt too cliche with them both living and going to live a happy life. Plus, death of a major character would have brought much much more emotion and depth to the epic conclusion of the game. It really shows, that in a post-apocalypse world, nothing is for sure.

This was my take on how The Last Of Us should have ended. If you like it, or completely disagree, let me know in the comments!