As ‘The Last of Us’ season 2 draws near, debate surrounding a controversial video game character reopens old wounds

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us: Part II.

We might never escape the controversy that is The Last of Us: Part II. Some loved it; others hated it. Regardless, it was a lot more complicated in depth and perspective than the original, especially as more lives are on the line, and there’s a larger discussion to be had concerning the morality of these characters.

For those who aren’t aware, Joel makes a life-or-death decision at the end of The Last of Us, upon which he reflects heavily during Part II. Having doomed humanity to clear his own conscience, Joel felt as if he owed something to Ellie after having bonded with her for a considerable portion of the game. Then we find out that Joel’s choices have harmed more than just humanity itself. There’s one specific individual who’s out for blood, and she doesn’t stop until it’s Joel’s head or hers. In the end, he gets his comeuppance, even if it sparks outrage among TLOU fans.

Abby Anderson, the former Firefly and militia soldier, isn’t painted in the most flattering light as Ellie’s archenemy. We’re made to despise her, but Naughty Dog cleverly develops her backstory so that — by the end — we’re supposed to feel some degree of sympathy for her. While some do, it’s hard to ignore Abby’s obvious flaws, but brutally clubbing Joel to death is ranked highest on the long list of mistakes Abby has made throughout her lifetime, and the fandom never quite recovered from that harsh blow. After several replays, some gamers found themselves reaching a level of understanding with Abby, though voice/mo-cap actress Laura Bailey received swarms of death threats following Part II‘s initial release.

As Naughty Dog tries to teach us by having both Ellie and Abby perform unspeakable acts, the concept of hypocrisy becomes a glaring subject. Ellie hates Abby for killing Joel, but Abby despises Ellie for murdering her friends in cold blood. There’s no definition of “right” or “wrong” here, there’s simply two broken hearts looking to mend themselves in the most savage, non-constructive way possible. For certain, the message behind Part II rings true: Humans are all deeply flawed.

If one person justifies a murder, then another person seeks out vengeance and justifies that murder, we’re locked in a vicious cycle of generational trauma that never resolves itself, when realistically, all one needs to do is forgive, not necessarily forget. That leads us to our comment section, which is riddled with Abby haters, as to be expected. Among them, there are the voices of reason, who stated that while Abby’s crimes against Joel and Ellie are unforgettable, Naughty Dog doesn’t want us to forget; it wants us to forgive.

That’s a challenging task for those that strongly believe Abby to be the devil’s spawn. In that case, it doesn’t matter how many playthroughs one finishes, their closed-minded opinion will remain the same. Abby’s face model, Jocelyn Mettler, even addressed similar issues to Bailey more than three years after the game’s release.

Aside from murdering Joel (which we agree was unforgettable), Abby is no more despicable than Joel or Ellie, who have both killed innocents for different reasons. In a dog-eat-dog world, that’s all you can really do — hope for survival.

After HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation got renewed for a second season, there was an apparent buzz online concerning Abby’s anticipated appearance. Gamers are familiar with how her story ends, even if it left most of them with a bad taste in their mouths. There’s been no official world on who’ll be playing her, but if it’s any outcome like Bailey and Mettler’s, they’ll want to be thick-skinned. TLOU fans show no mercy.