Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II served as a perfect continuation of Ellie and Joel’s journey through a post-apocalyptic world but no one was prepared for the unexpected death of Joel. In a past interview, the game’s director Neil Druckmann, revealed that many emotional parts of the game were eventually removed. Even Joel’s death scene was originally much more heartbreaking but Troy Baker, voice actor of Joel, made a small suggestion that made a huge difference.
The Last of Us Part II went through various changes throughout its production, in fact, the game’s ending was initially very different from what fans saw in the final version. Thanks to its compelling narrative, complex characters, and emotional depth, The Last of Us Part II became one of the best action-adventure video games of all time.
Joel’s death scene in The Last of Us Part II was initially different
In a 2020 interview with IndieWire, Neil Druckmann, the game’s director revealed that many emotional scenes in the game were removed during the production. He revealed that Joel initially had some dialogue when he was dying but they decided to cut it out,
There are so many emotional parts of the game that for a long time didn’t land, and every time it’s so daunting to make them work – What comes to mind right now is Joel’s death. In the first edit of that scene, you felt nothing. Ellie’s being held down and Joel’s looking at her and we had this idea of like, ‘Oh man Joel’s brain is so f**ked up at that moment that the only word that’s coming out of his mouth is his daughter’s name, ‘Sarah.’ It felt powerful, but then Troy [Baker] — to his credit — was like, ‘I don’t think he should say anything.’ We shot both versions, and Troy was right. The scene was stronger without it.
This would’ve made the scene far more emotional but for some reason Troy Baker, Joel’s voice actor, felt like it was not necessary. In the end, they decided to use Baker’s suggestion. Joe’s death was indeed a turning point in the game as Ellie then sets out on a journey to get her revenge.
The Last of Us Part II had a different ending as well
In the same interview, Druckmann also revealed that in the initial drafts, Ellie was supposed to kill Abby but they decided to change the ending because this ending wasn’t honest to Ellie’s character. He said,
I should say that for more than 50 percent of the production, Ellie used to kill Abby at the end. Which gave a whole different kind of feel to the ending, and then another character would have to stop the cycle of violence. But at some point, through our conversations about Yara and Lev, we came to the realization that it wasn’t as honest to Ellie’s character that way. Deep down inside there’s goodness there. Hopefully she can go forward and build her life.
The Last of Us Part II was praised for its gameplay, audio design, score, performances, characters, and visual fidelity, but there was some criticism regarding its bold storytelling choices. Nonetheless, the game managed to become one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games and won more than 320 Game of the Year awards.
