Hey, everybody,
I'm Troy Baker, and I'm here to answer
your final questions for HBO's<i>
The Last of Us.</i> ♪ ("THE LAST OF US" THEME
BY GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA PLAYS) ♪ The scene in the season finale
between Anna and the birth of Ellie is such a significant one
on so many levels. I hate to use the word "meta,"
but it's so true. Because you do have this handoff
from one Ellie to the other. <i>And wonderfully, beautifully,
and flawlessly played</i> <i> by Ashley Johnson,
who played Ellie
in the original game.</i> There's so many similarities
between Ashley and Bella. It's like the same soul
was split and put into two
different people. I've known Ashley now
for over a decade. And to me, she's just Ash. She's just one
of my dearest friends. And someone that I care
so much about. I forget sometimes
how fierce of an actor she is. And I couldn't wait to see
what Ashley did with that. And I knew
she was gonna crush it. Putting her in that situation
of, to me, one of the most dense,
dramatic moments of the entire season, and I thought I was ready
to watch it and then I did and I wasn't. She just smashes that scene. ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ ANNA:
Take her with you to Boston. Find someone to bring her up
and make sure that she's safe. I can't do that. And I want you
to give her this. There's this totem
of the baton being passed from not only one Ellie
to the other, but also from a mother
to a daughter. And in this world where
Anna realizes that her daughter's
going to need protection, she's going to need someone
or something to help protect her. And the only thing
that she has to offer her, her birthright, is personified
in this switch blade. In that moment,
it's also a very violent one because she realizes
that she has to do it quickly before the worst part of her
is passed on to the best part of her. -(ELLIE COOS)
-I cut it before I was bit. Before. And so that's why every time
we've seen that ownership of that knife
be threatened to Ellie, she will scramble
and she will fight for it. 'Cause she understands
the significance of that knife. ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ Something that I love about<i>
The Last of Us</i> is that whether it's the game
or the show, it raises more questions
than it answers. There's a temptation, I think,
to try to answer every question
that you can. And other times,
it's great to just go, "I don't know.
Why not both?" And leave people
in the Schrödinger's purgatory of not knowing
the actual answer. "Why is Ellie immune?" "How is it that she is the only person in the world
that is not affected by
this virus?" "Is she the only one
that's not effected by
this infection?" To me, is one of the
compelling things that keeps people
in this world. Because I still want to know
so many things, and I think the beauty is
never answering those questions. ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ You have this wonderfully,
poetically beautiful, yet incredibly tragic story
about these two people who discover love
at the wrong time. <i>And what one beautiful night
can mean to one individual.</i> <i> And being able to really
slow down</i> <i>and examine those moments and</i> either remind players
of that story or introduce new people
to that story was so foundational
to who Ellie is. Because seeing where Ellie goes
only is as impactful
as it can be if we understand
where she came from. When I got bit in the mall,
I wasn't on my own. My best friend was there.
And she got bit too. We didn't know what to do
and she says, "We can just wait it out. Be all poetic and just lose
our minds together." And then she did. And I had to-- That story right there,
in one episode, explained so much about Ellie. And so much of that
is predicated upon Ellie saying,
"It's not the first time
I've killed someone." And being able
to explore that and what that means for her. The fact that it was--
it was to Ellie what Sarah was to Joel. ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ If you played the game,
you wrestled with the ending. And now you're gonna have
to wrestle with it
all over again. If you haven't played the game,
welcome to the fight. It's hard to tie
a pretty little bow on a story. It is an Olympic feat to do that
to a tragic story. And there is gonna be
a lot of people that are frustrated,
challenged, and wrestle
over this ending. You find something new
to fight for. -And maybe that's not what you--
-Swear to me. Swear to me that everything
you said about the Fireflies
is true. I swear. And I remember asking Neil
when we shot the scene, I said, "Dude,
you're gonna piss people off." And he goes, "Good. Because that means
they felt something. If they love it, they hate it,
we did our job. If they don't care about it,
that's when we failed." ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ As we end season one
and we now pivot to anticipating what
season two looks like, I, myself, as a fan,
start asking a lot of questions. Who do you cast as Abby? That, to me, is one
of the biggest questions
I can't wait to see. Because so far,
Neil and Craig have nailed the casting. Who plays Dina? What characters from the game
are brought into this story? What new characters
that didn't exist in the game are they going to include? ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ To all of those who
have finished season one and are now anxiously
anticipating season two, number one I would say,
if you haven't played the game, play the game. But more than anything,
it's do what everybody else
has been doing for the last 10 years.
And that is, find someone to talk about it. Because that's been
my favorite part, all of the conversations
that have happened in the wake of this story. And the community
that has been born because of this game
is probably the best byproduct. Thank you guys for allowing me
to answer all of your questions. I would say that if you haven't
listened to the podcast, the podcast that we're doing
with HBO where I get to sit down
and talk with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann,
the two show runners, will answer not only
the questions I've answered, but a whole lot more. And it's been one of my
favorite conversations, one of my favorite aspects
of being involved with HBO's<i> The Last of Us.</i> So, please check it out. I would love for you to be
a part of that conversation too. No matter what, if you're lost in the darkness,
look for the light.
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