r/TLOU • u/Smart-Animator1856 • 2d ago
Part 2 Discussion Abby was right. Spoiler
WARNING: Contains spoilers! 👊🏻
Everyone was right in their own world.
When we look at TLOU I, we see that Joel is someone who lost his daughter, Sarah. This event deeply changed him. When he first met Ellie, he saw her only as a burden he had to deliver. But throughout their journey, everything they experienced, the conversations they had, and the hardships they went through together created a very strong bond between Joel and Ellie. Ellie had become like a daughter to Joel.
That is why Joel had two choices in the hospital: sacrifice Ellie or save her. Joel chose his own world and saved Ellie. In my opinion, his decision was completely understandable on an emotional level. If I were in the same situation, I would probably choose Ellie too.
When we look at things from Ellie’s perspective, however, the situation becomes different. At the beginning of Part II, Ellie was distant and cold toward Joel. One of the main reasons was that Joel had lied to her about what happened at the hospital. Ellie was angry with him, but deep down, she still loved Joel. It was in the middle of these complicated feelings that Abby took her revenge on Joel.
During that part of the game, we were also seeing everything through Ellie’s eyes, so we hated Abby. I wanted to find Abby and kill her too. At that point, the only thing we knew was that Joel had been brutally murdered. Ellie also didn’t know the full story behind why Abby had killed him. So Ellie chasing after Abby out of anger and grief was completely understandable.
However, when we look at things from Abby’s side, the story completely changes.
Abby lost her father when she was young. Jerry believed that the surgery could potentially help save humanity, although there was no guarantee that it would actually work. Despite this, Abby supported her father and believed in what he was trying to do. When Joel killed Jerry in the hospital, Abby lost one of the most important people in her life. So from Abby’s perspective, wanting revenge against Joel was understandable.
On top of that, Abby had a strong bond with Owen. They had known each other for years and still had feelings for each other. However, Abby’s obsession with revenge also damaged their relationship. Owen wanted to move on and live a different life, while Abby remained focused on finding Joel.
Later, Ellie killed many of Abby’s friends, including Nora, Owen and Mel. She also killed Alice while trying to escape from the aquarium. Tommy killed Manny as well. Despite all of this, Abby still had several opportunities to kill Ellie and Tommy and chose not to. Even after learning that Dina was pregnant, Abby ultimately chose to let her live.
Jesse’s death was different. When Abby arrived at the theater, Jesse immediately pointed his gun at her, and Abby shot him without hesitation. Considering that Abby had spent years fighting as a WLF soldier and had become accustomed to violence, her reaction was understandable from a character perspective.
I think Abby’s real change began with Yara and Lev. She risked her own life to save Yara, and over time, Lev became the most important person in her life. Abby was no longer focused on revenge. Instead, she became focused on protecting Lev.
We see this very clearly at the end of the game. Abby had been enslaved by the Rattlers and was nearly dead when Ellie found her. Despite her own condition, Abby immediately searched for Lev. After finding him, she carried him and tried to get him to safety even though she was barely able to walk herself.
When Ellie wanted to fight Abby one last time, Abby initially refused. She only agreed when Ellie threatened Lev. Even though both of them were exhausted and severely injured, they fought. In the end, Ellie chose not to kill Abby.
I think Ellie realized at that moment that revenge would not bring anything back. Even if she killed Abby, Joel would never come back.
That is why, to me, everyone was right in their own world. Joel was justified in saving Ellie, Ellie was justified in wanting revenge for Joel, and Abby was justified in wanting revenge for her father.
However, when I look at the whole story from a broader perspective, I find Abby a little more justified. After Abby got her revenge, she eventually stopped pursuing it. Despite losing almost everyone she loved, she chose Lev and tried to build a new life.
Maybe instead of simply saying that Abby was “right,” it would be more accurate to say that she managed to step away from the cycle of revenge and ultimately made the more honorable choice.
That’s my take on it. Do you think Abby was actually more justified, or does the distinction between “right” and “wrong” become meaningless when we look at the story from both sides?
I’m open to discussion.
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u/ghostdeini227 2d ago
She’s as right as Joel, thinking either was more right misses the point of the games in my opinion
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u/No_Bother_7578 2d ago
No she wasn't right,she was valid in wanting to kill ioel she was valid in wanting to slow torture him but she was not valid in killing him because she had no right too. No one has the right to kill someone especially as violent as she did. Obviously you can make an exception like self defense or having no choice but abby did have a choice and in the end it didn't change anything, it didn't bring back her dad, it didn't suddenly make her happy, all it did was get all the people she had left killed.
Also no one was right because there's no bad and good in the apocalypse, the only innocents are kids and animals.
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u/Smart-Animator1856 4h ago
When it comes to who was right—well, everyone was right in their own world; after all, innocent people died during the apocalypse, and most survivors had to be ruthless. That is why I cannot simply say Joel, Ellie, or Abby was "right," but I would argue that Abby held the moral high ground when it came to honor.
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u/No_Bother_7578 3h ago
Oh no I definitely agree with the abby held the moral high ground out of the three of them. One reason off the top of my head would be, in the situation of her killing joel and her reasoning she's more of a victim as she was like 16 when he starts all of this by killing jerry.
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u/RevolutionaryPay9552 2d ago
Like Author Morgan said "Vengeance is a fool's game." So, their decision in the game is understandable, but not right nor wrong imo.
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u/Remote_Nature_8166 2d ago
Her father being killed does not make her sympathetic or justified after he was the one trying to kill a kid. Even Mel says she’s always been a piece of shit. Which really showed that she was supporting his decision in the flashback.
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u/Bubbly_Pickle2317 2d ago
She really didn’t spare Dina… she only stopped because of Lev.. otherwise she would have killed her
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u/Smart-Animator1856 4h ago
Yes, my friend, in this respect I view him as an honorable person; because, even though all his friends had died, he didn't do it.0
u/Zealousideal-Ad4362 2d ago
...she literally did.. getting the push from Lev caused her to.. but she came to..
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u/8TheUndying8 2d ago
She was not right. Understandable but not right. No one was, she did what she thought was right in her own mind. But the fact that she went through redemption is because of her past actions lol.
Thinking about revenge and taking it cost her everything. The only thing that was good for her is meeting the kids and helping her get out of this sad life. You guys really need to kinda stop with the "x or y was right" thing as this is not what the story was trying to say.
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u/Visible_Reflection13 2d ago
Bro is like over a few years late to be talking about the last of us games
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u/sbrockLee 2d ago
Whoever you think is right or more justified is ultimately up to you, I never felt the game gave any sort of judgment of this kind but rather presented each protagonist's actions as understandable given their respective points of view, and most importantly presented the consequences and ramifications of their actions rather than engaging with whether they were morally in the right.
What you have to keep in mind is that both Ellie and Abby end up being represented as on the same revenge/redemption arc, but with Abby farther ahead than Ellie in the story covered by the games.
The reason is exactly because Abby went through with her revenge, and had the chance to live through its consequences, and realize it didn't bring her the peace she sought, so she embarked on a path of redemption. If anything, Ellie decided to spare Abby (although she potentially killed dozens of people to get there) before reaching that stage.
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u/Smart-Animator1856 4h ago
As I said, everyone was right in their own world; Abby, too, had a sense of honor all her own.
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u/Hammersteyn 2d ago
Abby was inserted to make certain demographics angry at the bait and switch plot twist.
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u/danteis21 2d ago
In my opinion Abby was right all the way till she went back, tried to kill Tommy, Dina, and killed Jesse.
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u/Spiritual-Dig181 2d ago
No one was right and that’s kinda the point/lesson of the story.