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The Last of Us Season 3 Can Make One Major Retcon to Get Ellie’s Story Back on Track

It’s as simple as adding one thing to Season 3.

Ellie looking to the distance in The Last of Us Season 2.

Ellie is a woman on a mission in The Last of Us Season 2. After witnessing Joel’s death at the hands of Abby’s crew, she vows to get revenge and plans to head to Seattle. Her good friend, Dina, agrees to go with her because she was also there when Joel died and was close with him. The town votes against sending a team to Seattle, but the two girls have enough support in the form of Seth, who gives them supplies and a horse. With nothing standing in their way, they leave Jackson Hole behind and prepare to do whatever it takes to find Abby.

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Despite being gung-ho after arriving in Seattle, Ellie struggles with her mission because there are times when she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. The only issue with her attitude is that she doesn’t hurt that many people before turning over a new leaf. Fortunately, there’s a way The Last of Us Season 3 can validate her feelings.

The Last of Us Season 2 Doesn’t Push Ellie Far Enough

By the end of The Last of Us Season 2, Ellie kills a handful of people. She seems to take out a Washington Liberation Front soldier early on, but the show sort of glosses over the kill. Ellie doesn’t get another chance to give in to her anger until she heads off to find Nora, who’s working in a hospital. Ellie sneaks in, locates her target, and chases her into a lower level, which is full of spores. Nora immediately feels the effects of the Cordyceps and notices that Ellie is breathing fine. At that point, it’s clear Ellie is the immune girl the Fireflies were after, giving the situation a whole new context.

Nora tries to explain to Ellie why they did what they did, but Ellie already knows and just doesn’t care. Ellie tortures her target for information and leaves her to turn, which is a fate worse than death. The next thing Ellie does in the show is head back to the theater and talk to Dina, and it’s clear the vibe is shifting. Ellie feels bad about what she’s done, and that attitude carries over to when she confronts Mel and Owen and kills them without even really meaning to.

The main issue with Ellie’s story at the end of The Last of Us Season 2 is that it’s hard to believe she feels so guilty after killing a single person, one who doubles down on her actions. However, Season 3 can make her mood change feel more natural by revealing that she goes back into the hospital and wipes out everyone inside.

How Ellie’s Rampage Can Fit Into Abby’s Story in The Last of Us Season 3

After getting information out of Nora, Ellie appears to walk out of the hospital and head right to the theater. The timeline is a little murky, though, as Jesse gets Dina cleaned up and put to bed before Ellie returns. By making Ellie’s trip a little longer, she can drop more bodies in the hospital and make use of Seth’s gun, which he makes a big deal of giving to her before she leaves for Seattle. It would even line up with the events of The Last of Us Part II, where Ellie travels to the hospital but has a difficult time avoiding all the WLF soldiers around the building.

The best part about the retcon would be that the show wouldn’t have to show Ellie killing anyone. Without going too deep into spoiler territory, Abby finds herself in the hospital not long before Ellie and runs into Nora. She leaves before Ellie arrives, but it would be easy to add a moment where Abby hears on the radio or from another WLF soldier that the hospital got attacked and everyone was found dead. That way, when Abby eventually realizes that Ellie’s behind everything, she can put two and two together and pin all the deaths on her. It will make the events after Season 2’s cliffhanger even more dramatic, as all the cards will be on the table when the two characters face off.

The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on HBO Max.

Would you like to see The Last of Us Season 3 reveal that Ellie killed more people? How do you think it could fit into Abby’s story? Let us know in the comments below!