With The Last of Us Part I Remake and a TV show in the works, it's an exciting time to be a fan. The games, developed by Naughty Dog, are widely regarded as being among the best of all time. However, they are also highly controversial, with Part II being particularly divisive. With both games containing such bold narrative decisions, fans should expect more unexpected twists when the third entry is released.
With Part III of the series rumored to have already been written, fans are understandably excited to find out who the main protagonist, or protagonists, will be, where it will take place, and what the plotline will be. The most obvious answer would be for Part III to focus on a possible redemption arc for Ellie, who's been a staple of the franchise and whose ending in Part II was heartbreaking. Others have suggested that following Abby and Lev's journey with the Fireflies at Catalina Island could be where the franchise takes players next. However, both of these stories were arguably concluded at the end of Part II. Therefore, it could be time for The Last of Us to move beyond these characters and explore new avenues.
Ellie's story was a tragic one in which her worst fear -- being alone -- came true. It was hard enough seeing her lose her father figure, Joel, at the start of Part II, but it was even harder to see her destroy the rest of her life trying to get back at the woman who murdered him. Her thirst for vengeance totally consumed her, blinding her to the other important people in her life and causing them to leave her. To make matters worse, in her final showdown with Abby, Ellie also lost two fingers. As a result, she could no longer play the guitar well, an instrument she'd previously used to connect with Joel. By losing everything, she learned that continuing the cycle of violence was not the solution, but rather a key part of the problem.
Many fans would love to see Ellie get a redemption arc in Part III as she comes to understand how self-destructive her past actions have been. Although this would be a compelling plotline, Naughty Dog has made it very clear that The Last of Us isn't a fairytale. Instead, it delivers hard-hitting, emotional, somber stories, driven by the characters' actions, not the player's desires. Leaving Ellie with her bleak ending would nail home how vengeance and violence consumed her and ruined her. It would be a tragic ending, but not dissimilar to the one Joel was given. In a way, they would have both faced the dark consequences of their actions.
On the other hand, Abby's story in Part II ended on a more hopeful note. After nearly losing everything in her own revenge-fueled journey, unlike Ellie, she was able to find a new purpose when she befriended Lev and made contact with a band of regrouped Fireflies on Catalina Island. Although Abby and Lev's story could be continued, it doesn't need to be, having already reached a satisfying conclusion.
The post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us is no doubt full of other untold stories and characters, whose narratives could further drive home the franchise's universal theme of balancing survival with humanity. There are several different factions and ways of life shown throughout the first two games, highlighting the disparate ways people choose to survive. Part III could potentially explore these further, or introduce new groups and ideologies, to shed new light on the various ways of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Perhaps it could even go so far as to explore how other countries, with potentially different values and infrastructures, are coping with the Cordyceps virus.
Of course, moving beyond the franchise's established and beloved characters would be a bold choice, but it's clear Naughty Dog isn't averse to making such decisions. However, continuing the main franchise without any of the previous protagonists could potentially lead to it feeling a little disconnected, especially given how closely linked the first and second games are. Perhaps then, the recently announced standalone multiplayer title, or a later spin-off, would be better suited to explore these other branches of The Last of Us' world.
Regardless, the emotional struggle to maintain one's humanity while surviving in a post-apocalyptic world is universal, and can be carried across different character plotlines, and even across different continents. The Last of Us, with Naughty Dog's brilliant writing, is the perfect franchise to explore this.