'The Last of Us' Season 2 finale: This death is different in the game
Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Season 2 finale.
The finale of The Last of Us Season 2 sees more than a few deaths, but some deviate from the Naughty Dog games.
Soaked to the bone and spiralling into her quest for revenge, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) catches up to more members of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), namely two who were present for Joel's (Pedro Pascal) brutal murder in episode 2.
But there's a difference in one of these deaths between Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's adaption and The Last of Us Part II. Here's how it all compares.
How does Mel die in The Last of Us Season 2 finale?
Having attacked and left Nora (Tati Gabrielle) for dead in the spore-filled basement of Seattle's Lakehill Hospital in episode 5, Ellie has started down a dark, violent path of vengeance. Toward the end of Season 2, episode 7 of The Last of Us, she finally makes it to the Seattle Aquarium, where she believes Joel's killer Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) is holed up. Instead, she finds two of her closest companions: Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord) discussing imminent plans. Remember, they're both former Fireflies; Mel is the doctor who put Dina (Isabela Merced) to sleep during Joel's murder, while Owen appears to be Abby's partner, and the one who told her to "end it."
During a tense confrontation with the two, Ellie tries to use Joel's map technique to make Owen and Mel give up Abby's whereabouts. Being closer to Abby, Owen decides to try a quick draw instead of ratting her out, but Ellie's too quick with Joel's powerful pistol and shoots him through the neck. Tragically, the gun's force also means Mel is shot too — and she's pregnant.
Tragically attempting to save her unborn child with her medical skills in her dying moments, Mel tries to guide Ellie through the necessary actions, but it's too late.
How does Mel die in The Last of Us game?
In The Last of Us Part II, the events leading up to Mel and Owen's deaths are the same. Owen is shot when he attempts to disarm Ellie, but the change is that Mel attacks Ellie with a knife in response. It's kill or be killed, and Mel comes very close to overpowering Ellie — you have to smash the square button to stop her ending you. However, the tables are then turned and Ellie stabs Mel in the neck, and she dies instantly. Then, in Owen's final breath, he tells Ellie that Mel is pregnant. While this news is horrifying to Ellie, you, as a player, have actually known this since early in the game — Owen tells Abby this when they first find Jackson, before she murders Joel.
In the show, it appears Ellie does not mean to kill Mel — in the scene, Mel is visibly pregnant. The game doesn't include a scene of Mel trying to save her unborn child, nor Ellie trying to help her. However, both scenes are cold, hard reminders of The Last of Us' world of brutal tête-à-tête — a world Dina's child will soon be born into — and Ellie's spiral into all-consuming hate.
Abby's own act of revenge has seen her friends falling one by one — Nora, Owen, Mel — all at Ellie's hands. It's an endless cycle of violence, and one that likely won't end in this leaking, crumbling tomb of an aquarium.
The Last of Us Season 2, episode 7 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
Topics The Last of Us
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
