The Last of Us Part II – Speculations and Rumors

The Last of Us Part II – Speculations and Rumors

Back at E3 2018 we were finally given more info about The Last of Us Part II. With this new info we were given even more room to speculate. Especially with the new gameplay footage shown at the Sony Press Conference. We have many questions and not enough answers. So we are once again left to speculate. Join us as we throw our wild theories and cater to your wondering minds. This is Gaming Instincts’ The Last of Us theories and speculations part 3.

Dina

What we’d first like to talk about is Shannon Woodward’s character Dina. Now in the preview video Dina is seen wearing a Hamsa, a middle eastern amulet granting the wearer good fortune. Once her and Ellie share a moment together we are thrown into a not too distant future. We can see Ellie look at something on her wrist, and it looks to be Dina’s Hamsa. Now this could mean a few things. Now there are some more theories about this Hamsa that has appeared on Ellie’s wrist. Dina could have possibly made this for Ellie. Someone like Ellie could always use some good fortune. Maybe Dina has been abducted and Ellie was only able to recover her Hamsa? Or maybe Dina loaned it to Ellie for her future endeavor into enemy territory as we see her travel through in the preview. The more popular theory is that Dina was killed and Ellie now wears her Hamsa as a kind of remembrance. Without actually confirming it, Director Neil Druckmann lightly touched on the possibility of her death.

“Sometimes we lean into tropes where they’re best for the story and sometimes we want to subvert them in interesting ways. So I can tell you, especially with that stuff, there’s a lot of conversations about—not only that trope but other tropes that come from that kind of relationship.

And ultimately what wins out is what’s best for the story.

So, for example, if we’re going to have a lead female gay protagonist in the zombie apocalyptic genre, that means the protagonist will be in really violent situations, both that she’s perpetrating and that’s done to her. And sometimes there are certain tropes that might have negative connotations, but we just have to own it if that’s part of the genre. Again, without spoiling who lives, who survives, because so much of the story is about the stakes of the people you care for.

We’re aware of it, but we’re making the best decisions for the story.”

Druckman obviously didn’t want to flat out spoil the story for us, but his answer is a bit cryptic. It’s safe to assume Dina won’t be safe in the story, as most things turn out bad for our main protagonists anyway.

Joel Alive?

Now let’s jump to our first indication that Joel is actually alive in The Last of Us Part II. During the dance scene in the E3 2018 gameplay reveal. Ellie is watching Dina dance when Jesse (Stephen Chang) walks up to her and starts a conversation. He comments about how much he hates dances and the goes on to say how Ellie’s “old man” laid into him today. Now Ellie could only have one figure that could assume the role of her “old man” and that’s our good friend Joel. Apparently Joel laid into Jesse when they were about to go on patrol with Ellie. Now this sounds like Joel has assumed some role in this community that has to deal with security or scavenging. Now we’d say some time has jumped between the scene with the dance and the scene where Ellie moves into enemy territory. We are not sure what has happened  in this stretch of time. Maybe the community was attacked and Joel and Dina and possibly Jesse were killed. We’ve touched on the idea that Joel may be dead before. Now more and more evidence is stacking to support the idea that he may not be dead after all. Neil Druckmann did confirm that like the first game, the player will have an NPC companion with them. Now two things pop into mind when hearing this. One is that it could be Joel and the roles are reversed this time around. Another we touched on a while back and it’s that we will have a canine companion. We already know dogs will somehow be incorporated into the game somewhere, so why not as Ellie’s NPC companion. Not only would this be a more practical approach as Joel is advancing in age, but a more dynamic one as well. Whichever route Naughty Dog decided to go we are sure the interactions between the two will grab us as they did in the original game.

Only Ellie?

The last topic we’d like to discuss is the fact that Ellie is the only playable character in the game. Neil Druckmann has gone on record stating that this is the case. So what does this mean for other characters and her NPC companion. In the first game players were able to take control of Ellie for a time while Joel was critically injured. This decision could solidify the fact this this is Ellie’s game and Naughty Dog wants to heavily focus on her. While we will surely get to know the other NPC’s Naughty Dog doesn’t want us to lose focus on who #1 is. This also doesn’t support some theories that Joel is Ellie’s NPC companion. Surely Naughty Dog wouldn’t our old friend in our faces and not give us a chance to play as him. With this change, we will surely get to know a lot better than we did in the original.

Leave a comment below with your thoughts and stay tuned to Gaming Instincts for more.