The Last of Us 2's narrative deals with emotionally tortured characters who attempt to reconcile tragic events with their own brand of vengeful justice, which only results in violence and death for both parties. Please note that this article will have MAJOR SPOILERS for The Last of Us 2.
Ellie's character is tested throughout The Last of Us 2, from Joel's death to Jesse's death and so forth, as she pursues Abby in Seattle. But after shelving her need to find Abby following Dina's pregnancy, she is guilt-tripped into hunting Abby once more by Tommy. Recently, one fan has portrayed Ellie in one of her most traumatized and vulnerable moments with exceptional artwork.
Star-Gear21 recently shared a black-and-white painting of The Last of Us 2's Ellie. Despite the painting's high contrast, Ellie's pained facial expression and loose hair strands are perhaps easily recognizable to The Last of Us 2 players. Indeed, much of the painting is saturated with a black negative space, though the white highlights detail Ellie clearly and impressively. This particular shot of Ellie was also used in The Last of Us 2's original marketing, though the specific angle of it as a static image does well to omit what is happening outside of the frame.
From the still image, it simply looks as though Ellie is devastated or distraught for an unknown reason, but Ellie is in fact submerging an emaciated and wounded Abby underwater and attempting to drown her. This is, however, a moment where Ellie is grappling with her unrequited revenge that represents the cycle of violence proposed at the end of The Last of Us 2.
Many sequences in The Last of Us 2 conflict the player with character perspectives that create empathy and comprehension of contextual information that the other characters sorely need, but do not have. Ellie is unaware of what Abby's connection is to Joel, but she cares enough about him to avenge his death the same way that she believes Joel would avenge someone. Ellie is familiar with Tommy's map-torture technique, for example, because she knows that he and Joel performed it as smugglers in the outbreak's early years.
Dina attempts to persuade Ellie that they can live happily without grief overwhelming their lives, but Ellie feels a lack of closure and is compelled to find Abby once more, despite Abby having spared her life on two separate occasions at that point. Without Ellie returning to find Abby in Santa Barbara, however, Abby and Lev would have likely died on the beach, so it is a bittersweet providence that the two were perhaps fated to meet again in The Last of Us 2. While the moment may be divisive, this art captures it brilliantly.
The Last of Us 2 is available now on PS4.