The Last of Us Part II — An alternative recut
Introduction
The Last of Us Part II is a fascinating game. Its story and structure have been the subject of endless discussion. In this post, I will present, as many have done before, an alternative version or, to be precise, an edit. The rules are simple: no fan fiction and no made-up scenes. The story remains the same, but the order is different, and some lines, or even entire scenes, may be cut.
I'll present the macrostructure first, along with the main arguments that motivate the changes. Then, I'll detail the edit with the precise order of chapters, and finally, I'll add some comments to further explain my reasoning behind the changes.
The Macrostructure
Original
I. Jackson
II. Seattle — Ellie
III. Seattle — Abby
IV. The Farm / Santa Barbara
Alternative
I. Seattle — Abby
II. Jackson
III. Seattle — Ellie
IV. The Farm / Santa Barbara
As shown, I propose to start the game with Abby's section and to use Jackson as a middle point where we shift to Ellie's story. The change is not arbitrary and tries to tackle the following issues.
Issue #1. The interrupted confrontation at the theater
If there is one thing that I find particularly annoying about the game, it has to be the interrupted confrontation between Ellie and Abby at the theater. Just when the long-awaited face-off is about to begin, the game rewinds and forces you to play as Abby for many hours. The edit avoids this, allowing the confrontation to unfold continuously, without interruptions. It feels more natural to me.
Issue #2. Prejudice against Abby and the connection to Part I
By starting the game with Abby's section, the player might be more intrigued by her story, not knowing yet the exact connection to the events of Part I.
Issue #3. Seattle fatigue
One of the things that made Part I memorable is the variety of locations. In Part II, by contrast, there aren't nearly as many. I find it exhausting to play six consecutive days in Seattle. Placing Jackson between Abby's and Ellie's sections might mitigate that feeling, offering a refreshing —and cold— change of environment.
Issue #4. Continuity of Ellie's story
I feel somewhat disconnected from Ellie at the Farm. After spending so many hours with Abby, it takes some time to reconnect with Ellie's mindset. In the edit, Ellie's three days in Seattle lead directly into the Farm.
The Edit
Here is the complete order of the recut:
Seattle — Day 1 — Abby
The Stadium
On Foot
The Forward Base
Flashback: The Aquarium
Hostile Territory
The Forest
The Coast
Flashback: The Park
Seattle — Day 2 — Abby
Return to the Coast
The Shortcut
The Descent
Ground Zero
Return to the Aquarium
Flashback: Winter Visit
Seattle — Day 3 — Abby
The Marina
The Island
The Escape
Jackson
Flashback: The Overlook
Flashback: The Horde
Flashback: The Chalet
Perspective shift — From Abby to Ellie
Flashback: Prologue
Waking Up
Patrol
The Chalet
Seattle — Day 1 — Ellie
Packing Up
The Gate
Downtown
Eastbrook Elementary
Capitol Hill
Channel 13
The Tunnels
The Theater
Flashback: The Birthday Gift
Seattle — Day 2 — Ellie
Hillcrest
The Seraphites
Flashback: Finding Strings
Seattle — Day 3 — Ellie
Road to the Aquarium
The Flooded City
Infiltration
The Confrontation
The Farm
- The Farm
Santa Barbara
2425 Constance
Pushing Inland
The Resort
The Beach
The Farm — Epilogue
- Epilogue
Comments on the Edit
The edit starts with Abby at the Stadium, introducing her group and establishing the conflict with the Seraphites from the very beginning. This makes Abby's storyline the starting point of the game rather than something introduced halfway through it.
As a structural rule, flashbacks are placed at the end of the days.
Placing The Park at the end of Day 1, before The Aquarium, keeps the details of Abby's connection to the events of Part I hidden, and preserves the mystery alive for a little longer.
As an artistic liberty, I find it appealing to cut the scene where Abby finds her father dead and replace it with her nightmare in which she finds the hanging corpses of Yara and Lev. The information is still there, yet it ties more closely to the present. Furthermore, I find the three repetitions of Abby walking down the hospital hallway in the original version a bit repetitive. This structure seems to favor Yara and Lev's storyline over the revenge plot, which I find suitable for the start of the game.
Winter Visit is moved to the end of Day 2. It serves as a resting point between the intense finale of Day 2 and the upcoming battle of Day 3. It also links nicely with two events: the friction between Abby and Mel, who appears at the Aquarium, and the hint about Tommy, who is about to appear as the sniper on Day 3. This flashback, set in winter, connects visually and narratively with what happens next in Jackson.
The End of Abby's Day 3 / The Shift
How to end Abby's Day 3 now? Finding a momentary conclusion to Abby's plot in Seattle is no easy task. I would argue that the image of Abby and Lev, in the boat, contemplating the burning Seraphite village, is a good moment. Yara is dead, Abby has rightfully betrayed the WLF and saved Lev. The two of them are now alone.
Following the general structure, Day 3 ends with a flashback: Jackson. Abby's flashback arc finally comes to an end. We get to see how Abby finds the town and the man, and lures him into the chalet. This is the point where the shift occurs. Right after Abby shoots Joel in the knee and says the iconic “we don't have to rush this”, we cut to The Prologue, where Joel is cleaning a guitar and confesses to Tommy what he did at Saint Mary's Hospital. This is the moment when the game — Ellie's game — truly starts.
Ellie's Seattle
The edit then follows the original very closely. We play as Ellie, patrol Jackson's surroundings with Dina, and finally witness Joel's murder.
Ellie's three-day adventure in Seattle begins. The only differences from the original in this section are the flashbacks. A Birthday Gift is already in a perfect spot at the end of Day 1. Finding Strings, however, is moved to the end of Day 2. I know how intense it might be to play Hillcrest and The Seraphites consecutively, but it is just as intense as Abby's Day 2, and that works perfectly.
As another artistic liberty, I would remove the flashback where Ellie goes back to Saint Mary's Hospital and finds evidence of Joel's lies. To me, that flashback feels disjointed from the rest of the game and is a plot convenience. I believe the core conflict between Ellie and Joel is perfectly understandable from the hints already placed in the previous flashbacks, as well as from the final conversation on the porch. There is no need to make it explicit.
Chapter 40 — The Confrontation
Let's now describe perhaps the most delicate part of the edit: Chapter 40, The Confrontation.
Ellie has killed Owen and Mel at the Aquarium and returns, heavily affected, to the theater. Notice that Owen and Mel's deaths are new to the player, as we ended Abby's story on Seraphite Island.
Tommy, Ellie and Jesse make plans for the trip back to Jackson. Ellie seems reluctant to leave Abby alive, yet she agrees to it. For now. But we all know what happens. Ellie and Jesse hear noises and run to the hall, only to find their destiny. Abby is there, holding Tommy hostage. She shoots Jesse dead and points her gun at Ellie. “We let you both live and you wasted it.” Cut to black.
Up to this point, the events have happened as in the original version. But now, in the edit, we go back to Abby's viewpoint right where we left her: on the boat with Lev, watching the village burn. It won't take long to reconnect with the climax. Abby and Lev return to the Aquarium, find the dead bodies of Owen and Mel, as well as the map that leads them to the theater. We are back. We see Abby take Tommy down, shoot Jesse and face Ellie. And now, the confrontation finally unfolds, playing as Abby, of course.
I understand there is still an interruption of the climax, yet it resolves quickly.
The Farm and Santa Barbara
After the uncanny fight at the theater, Ellie is left alive. The transition to the Farm seems more natural to me now, as we continue Ellie's arc without an Abby section in between (see Issue #4).
The game then continues as in the original cut. Ellie leaves Dina and their baby to pursue her revenge. Abby and Lev are captured by the Rattlers. Ellie travels to Santa Barbara and makes her way to Abby, where she fights her one last time. Ellie wins and, surprisingly, spares her. Ellie then returns to the Farm —now empty— and remembers her final conversation with Joel on the porch. Same ending.
Known Issues
This version of the game is by no means free of its own issues. Besides minor changes to some lines during gameplay that would need to be removed in order to preserve some of the mystery — I'm thinking, for instance, of explicit references to Joel at the beginning of Abby's Day 1 —, the edit might also suffer from a gameplay perspective, particularly in terms of the progression of mechanics and the introduction of enemy types.
Conclusion
What do you think? I truly believe this edit works much better than the chronological version Naughty Dog gave us in the remastered version for PS5. In fact, I believe it would work even better for someone experiencing the game for the first time, keeping the original story intact while avoiding its most common narrative issues.