"Happy birthday, kiddo."
WARNING: Spoilers Off applies to Moments pages.
General
- Just about any interaction between Ellie and Dina makes it abundantly clear how deeply they care for each other. Sure, they fight from time to time, but what couple doesn't? The scene at their farm after their trip to Seattle deserves special mention for showing that even in this crappiest of Crapsack Worlds, people can find love and happiness. Sadly, Ellie putting her revenge on Abby over the needs of her family is too much even for Dina to accept, making the whole thing slide straight into Tear Jerker territory instead.
- Sometimes if Dina is spotted by an enemy she apologises to Ellie once they are safe and Ellie will always reassure her that it’s okay.
The Game
- Assuming the beginning and ending of the E3 trailer takes place in Tommy's town, it's nice to see Joel's brother and Maria really did succeed with creating a safe and welcoming place for several years, to the point they still have electricity and even carefree, fun events like dance nights. It's unclear if the town will last, but it's nice to know Joel and Ellie did live safe and comfortably for five whole years, not bad at all for living in a Zombie Apocalypse.
- In the E3 trailer, Jesse refers to Joel as Ellie's "old man", an expression for someone's father. Either Ellie lets people think Joel is her father and/or Joel lets them think so, or people know they're unrelated but considers Joel her foster father anyway for how close they are.
- The interactions with Ellie and Jesse are just as heartwarming. While Ellie is uncomfortable with how close Dina and Jesse are towards each other, she still treats him with respect and Jesse is pretty friendly to both of them. On top of being a nice guy, a week after he and Dina broke up Jesse teases Ellie about getting together with her with no grudge against her whatsoever. He even approves of the pairing and is very supportive of Dina and Ellie's relationship in general. And he even admitted to Ellie that he looked up to Joel. Lastly, while his death is sad, Ellie's shocked reaction showed that she did care about him.
- Towards the end of "Seattle, Day 1", we're treated to a flashback of when Joel celebrated Ellie's 16th birthday by taking her to the well-kept remains of a museum themed with dinosaurs and space travel; two of Ellie's favourite things. Her and Joel's interactions throughout this part, culminating in Joel giving her a cassette with the voice over from the Apollo 11 launch, which Ellie listens and imagines along to while they sit in an Apollo era crew capsule, has already been lauded by many as being "several times more heartwarming" than the giraffe scene of the first game. Of course, the flashback equally counts for a Tear Jerker as well considering Joel being tragically dead in the present time.
- Abby's flashback to hanging out in the Aquarium with Owen, the two are genuinely a cute couple and it makes Owen's death all the more tragic.
- Abby and Lev's relationship as a whole, Lev saves her life and in return Abby makes Lev feel accepted for who he is and they stick with each other through thick and thin, and it's Lev that prevents Abby from completely losing her humanity by convincing her not to kill Dina.
- Furthermore, Abby repaying Lev and Yara for saving her life by trekking across the Seraphites' bridges despite her fear of heights, battling scores of infected and a downright monster of an Elite Zombie, all to get the medical supplies necessary to safely amputate Yara's damaged arm...and this act of kindness helps assuage her guilt over Joel's torturous death at her hands, allowing her to finally, finally have a dream where she sees her father alive and happy again. Though the two of them don't say anything before the scene cuts to black, they don't need to.
- After Abby leaves Dina and Ellie, the time skip shows a much happier Abby and Lev finally reaching Santa Barbara. They, Abby especially given what happened the last time we see, are much more relaxed and it's suggested they've made peace with the past. Lev's hair has grown out, showing that he's been able to move on from his faith some.
- The happy looks on Abby and Lev's faces say so much when they've been able to successfully contact the Santa Barbara Fireflies.
- After completing the game, the title screen shows an empty boat on the shores of Catalina Island, with the iconic Catalina Casino in the background. Abby and Lev have *finally* achieved their goal of finding the Fireflies.
- Venturing into Tear Jerker territory, by making it to the island, we can see how much growth Abby has a character. Although he's no longer around, Abby finally fulfills Owen's goal that she once so coldy dismissed.
- For that matter, Lev and Yara's relationship. Yara tells Abby that she initially didn't understand, and given her upbringing, it would have been sad but not surprising if she'd reacted similarly hostile to Lev's coming out. Instead, by the time we see her for the first time, she's fully on Lev's side, ready to defend him to the death. And when she talks about him, she never once misgenders or deadnames him
- The ending, at first glance, falls straight into Tear Jerker territory. However, some details that one may see throughout the final sequence hint that it's a lot less bleak than it seems (Although it can still be disproven).
- First off, Ellie is dressed completely differently at the end then she was in Santa Barbara (I.E. wearing boots instead of her converse sneakers) and you can see she's put on weight which would only make sense if she was staying in someplace like Jackson with plenty of food.
- Second, Dina's portrait is noticeably missing from the art room despite everything else there, I.E. things that remind Ellie of Joel, being left intact.
- Third, Ellie does not react as if this is her first time back to the Farm since the fight with Abby (the fact that she has absolutely no weapons on her and her injuries look to be almost fully healed implies that), which implies she's doing this more to finally put her memories of Joel to rest than anything else.
- Fourth, the fact that there's no note from Dina combined with all of the other previous details implies that Ellie did eventually find and reconnect with Dina, or vice-versa.
- Finally, and most importantly, Ellie is seen wearing Dina's bracelet in the ending. She wasn't wearing it previously in Santa Barbara, and if you look in her backpack during said section, the bracelet is noticeably absent. All of this implies that Ellie may not have lost everything, after all.
- Joel and Ellie's final conversation sits between this and Tear Jerker.
- To begin, Joel is unconditionally supportive of Ellie's feelings for Dina.
Joel: I have no idea what that girl's intentions are. But I do know that she'd be lucky to have you.- Which is so perfectly sweet, it enrages Ellie enough for her to finally clear the air about the Fireflies.
Ellie: I was supposed to die in that hospital. My life would've fucking mattered. And you took that from me.- Joel responds that even though Ellie disowned him, he is prepared to meet his maker without a shred of regret for saving her.
Joel: If somehow the Lord gave me a second chance at that moment...I would do it all over again.- Lastly, Ellie admits she's ready to have Joel back in her life. To prioritize her own life and happiness, just as Joel has, however dysfunctionally.
Ellie: I don't think I can ever forgive you for that. ...But I'd like to try.Joel: (Holding back tears) ...I'd like that. - If you look at Ellie's journal throughout the game, she's unable to draw Joel as she remembered him; the drawings are sketchy and rough, have no eyes and are scratched out. Her final journey entry, after sparing Abby, is a drawing of Joel fully drawn out, looking gentle and playing the guitar. Despite the bleakness of the ending, Ellie is finally able to remember Joel for who he was, without any anger or resentment.
- The scene where Lev pets Alice is really sweet since all he might have known of dogs up til then was the WLF's attack dogs.
- Yara, who must have had the same experience, also gets to play fetch with Alice.
