An Alternative Last of Us Part 2 story
I'd like to point out from the start that I didn't hate TLOU2, it was a fantastic visual and gameplay experience in a post-apocaliptic zombie world. The biggest and most notable flaw however is the narrative, that you've all heard ppl complaining about. In my opinion the story is just as much important as the gameplay. Now I'd like to present a different story, that for me makes a little more sense following up with TLOU1 story.
The Alternative Story: The beginning of the original Part 2 story was perfect, having this retrospect on the events of Part 1 and Joel talking to Tommy about what happened, brother to brother. Then 4 years later, Ellie is now grown up with a little more experience, sharing more of Joel's traits during the time he raised her, however now she despises Joel as she has learned the truth about the fireflies and knows the truth that Joel has been keeping from her (so far sounds like TLOU2, right?).
Now here's where the big twist would happen, this reverse climax where we see the Fireflies looking for Joel and Ellie, all these years after what Joel did in that hospital where he almost killed off all the remaining fireflies left in the world and Marlene specifically, and took the only chance for a cure left to save the world. Now seeking for Ellie (the cure) and revenge on Joel, this group of Fireflies are led by a close relative/lover of Marlene's, perhaps a Brother or a Husband since Marlene was in her mid 40's (as specified in the game). After a long journey across the country, they end up in Jackson, after hearing about a few rumours that Tommy, a former firefly, has been riding out with Joel and Ellie, keeping the area safe from the dead. The fireflies come up with a plan, where they wait for a patrol to go on their routinely inspections, but to their surprise find Ellie (their prime subject) fleeing from Jackson, where we find out that Ellie doesn't want to be in Jackson anymore after a fight with Joel about the firefly cure topic, where she tells Joel that he "should've left her to die in that hospital as her life would have meaning". Now full of rage, she leaves Jackson in hopes of finding a new purpose in life. The fireflies use this opportunity to kidnap her, and take her to their Headquarters. Joel, trying to find Ellie right after she left, in attempt to convince her to stay, finds stains of firefly gear and symbols where they kidnapped her. Joel, now full of rage and guilt, asks Tommy for help to retrieve her, and both of them go looking for Ellie. Tommy, who was a former firefly, knows where they took her and they end up ambushing their facility. They go on a killing spree, torturing fireflies in the process with their tactics to find Ellie. However they get outnumbered and separated. Now we have control over Tommy, who is trying to find Ellie and Joel in the process. We find Ellie, who is unharmed, after the fireflies found out they can't reverse engineer a vaccine for fungi, since they don't have the experts to do it. Now Tommy and Ellie attempt to find Joel, who we find out is trying to fight off Marlene's close relative/partner. Joel manages to kill him, but gets heavily wounded in the process. Because of the loudness and commotion of the ambush, they realize that the whole facility is surrounded by all sorts of infected (runners, clickers, bloaters etc.). The only way to get out of there is for a diversion, which Joel forces himself to become since he is already heavily wounded. Because of this Tommy uses this chance, and forces himself and Ellie to get out of there. Joel,who is putting up a figh,t gets bit from each side, but manages to sacrifice himself in order for his family to live on.
What do you think of this story? Is it a reasonable replacement for what we got in the end? If you have any other ideas or anything you'd like to add into this, feel free to share your opinion. (Note that I'm no writer, but I think this would be a valid alternative story).
I'd like to point out from the start that I didn't hate TLOU2, it was a fantastic visual and gameplay experience in a post-apocaliptic zombie world. The biggest and most notable flaw however is the narrative, that you've all heard ppl complaining about. In my opinion the story is just as much important as the gameplay. Now I'd like to present a different story, that for me makes a little more sense following up with TLOU1 story.
The Alternative Story: The beginning of the original Part 2 story was perfect, having this retrospect on the events of Part 1 and Joel talking to Tommy about what happened, brother to brother. Then 4 years later, Ellie is now grown up with a little more experience, sharing more of Joel's traits during the time he raised her, however now she despises Joel as she has learned the truth about the fireflies and knows the truth that Joel has been keeping from her (so far sounds like TLOU2, right?).
Now here's where the big twist would happen, this reverse climax where we see the Fireflies looking for Joel and Ellie, all these years after what Joel did in that hospital where he almost killed off all the remaining fireflies left in the world and Marlene specifically, and took the only chance for a cure left to save the world. Now seeking for Ellie (the cure) and revenge on Joel, this group of Fireflies are led by a close relative/lover of Marlene's, perhaps a Brother or a Husband since Marlene was in her mid 40's (as specified in the game). After a long journey across the country, they end up in Jackson, after hearing about a few rumours that Tommy, a former firefly, has been riding out with Joel and Ellie, keeping the area safe from the dead. The fireflies come up with a plan, where they wait for a patrol to go on their routinely inspections, but to their surprise find Ellie (their prime subject) fleeing from Jackson, where we find out that Ellie doesn't want to be in Jackson anymore after a fight with Joel about the firefly cure topic, where she tells Joel that he "should've left her to die in that hospital as her life would have meaning". Now full of rage, she leaves Jackson in hopes of finding a new purpose in life. The fireflies use this opportunity to kidnap her, and take her to their Headquarters. Joel, trying to find Ellie right after she left, in attempt to convince her to stay, finds stains of firefly gear and symbols where they kidnapped her. Joel, now full of rage and guilt, asks Tommy for help to retrieve her, and both of them go looking for Ellie. Tommy, who was a former firefly, knows where they took her and they end up ambushing their facility. They go on a killing spree, torturing fireflies in the process with their tactics to find Ellie. However they get outnumbered and separated. Now we have control over Tommy, who is trying to find Ellie and Joel in the process. We find Ellie, who is unharmed, after the fireflies found out they can't reverse engineer a vaccine for fungi, since they don't have the experts to do it. Now Tommy and Ellie attempt to find Joel, who we find out is trying to fight off Marlene's close relative/partner. Joel manages to kill him, but gets heavily wounded in the process. Because of the loudness and commotion of the ambush, they realize that the whole facility is surrounded by all sorts of infected (runners, clickers, bloaters etc.). The only way to get out of there is for a diversion, which Joel forces himself to become since he is already heavily wounded. Because of this Tommy uses this chance, and forces himself and Ellie to get out of there. Joel,who is putting up a figh,t gets bit from each side, but manages to sacrifice himself in order for his family to live on.
What do you think of this story? Is it a reasonable replacement for what we got in the end? If you have any other ideas or anything you'd like to add into this, feel free to share your opinion. (Note that I'm no writer, but I think this would be a valid alternative story).