Now that The Last of Us Part II is out and smashing sales records, director Neil Druckmann and co-writer Halley Gross have shared with The Washington Post some of their original ideas that didn’t make it into the final game, including a meeting with Joel’s girlfriend, Esther.
This article contains spoilers so proceed at your own risk.
Although Esther didn’t appear in either of the two games, she was first referenced way back in 2014 as a woman Joel dated. In Part II, Druckmann and Halley planned to have Ellie visit Esther in an epilogue to the first game that was eventually left out of the final release.
“I think she lived out by the dams, by the electric dams, and they kind of had a commuter relationship,” Gross recalled. “And Joel and Ellie were headed out there and saw that the building had been taken over by infected.”
Esther was injured and was going to die. Both her and Joel realized this and sent Ellie away. The player wouldn’t have known if Esther killed herself or if Joel killed her. However, the idea was that both adults made a conscious decision to end things in order to protect Ellie.
Elsewhere, Druckmann and Gross revealed that Part II‘s dance scene, in which Ellie and Dina exchange a kiss, was originally playable. “It was another thing that we cut because it wasn’t progressing anything,” said Gross.
The Washington Post’s article delves deeper into the scrapped ideas, which also includes a different perspective on the Seraphites as well as how Ellie and Dina’s relationship plays out, so head over to the source if you’re curious. However, be reminded that the article is full of spoilers for both games.
[Source: The Washington Post]
