As Naughty Dog’s record-breaking sequel continues to be debated throughout the gaming community, fans have spotted a small detail in the conclusion that could potentially change how fan’s perceive the ending. The Last of Us Part II appears to be open to more interpretation than before.

As with anything discussing endings, the following contains spoilers to the PS4 sequel that should be read after completion of the game.

The detail in question lies in a comment made by a user on YouTube in response to a review video that highlights something that Ellie’s wearing during the closing scene on the farm. During the final moments of the game the camera zooms in to show Ellie’s hand in close up that exposes her missing fingers, however YouTube user Ray Kincaid points out a bracelet that Ellie is wearing which suggests that some players misread Ellie’s ending.

To give some backstory, the bracelet in question was given to Ellie by Dina and during a tense fight with Abby, near the end of the game, Ellie is not wearing the bracelet. The narrative between this fight and the end guitar scene doesn’t reunite Ellie and Dina, however the fact that she is wearing the bracelet in the final scene suggests that she had already be reunited with Dina which we never got to see.

The user also pointed out that when Ellie comes back to the farm she has no wounds from the previous action we had witnessed nor was she carrying any weapons, which she would have been if she was continuing on her own survival mission. She is also not searching for Dina or questioning why the house is empty upon her arrival, which also hints at how more time has passed in between these events than previous thought.

Junior lighting artist at A44 Games @maracrrt picked up on these comments and shared the screenshot to Twitter to try and get more input from fans. Most players who had completed the game met this theory with open arms as it presented some resolve and closure for Ellie as well as a much-needed ‘happier’ ending for fans. There was a lot of nitpicking going on in the thread as the debate was in full swing with many users calling on Naughty Dog to respond to the fan theory that stole the hearts of everyone.

While it is unlikely that Naughty Dog will respond, it’s a great detail caught by Ray Kincaid and perhaps others that gives TLOU2 players a sense of comfort.

Source: maracrrt/Twitter