『Between a love that cannot be abandoned and revenge that consumes them, two hearts are torn』
🎥 Series Overview
🎬 Title: The Last of Us (2023)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 United States
🎞️ Genre: Action Adventure / Survival / Drama
🗓️ Production & Release: Naughty Dog, 2 Seasons
📢 Director: Neil Druckmann
🖋️ Screenwriter: Craig Mazin
📺 Platform: HBO
👩💼 Cast: Ellie Williams: Bella Ramsey
Riley Abel: Storm Reid
Dina: Isabela Merced
🧩 Deep Story Exploration (Spoilers)
🌸 Innocent First Love and Tragic Loss (Episode 7 “Left Behind”)
The relationship between Ellie and Riley represents Ellie’s first love and original sin. Their story is mainly depicted in Episode 7, “Left Behind.”
- Innocence and Danger: Riley, Ellie’s closest friend from the FEDRA school, symbolizes rebellion and freedom. Their bond, set against the confines of a decaying world, unfolds in the glowing space of a shopping mall, portraying the innocent escapism and thrill of two teenage girls.
- Awakening to Love: Amidst emotional tension, the two share their first kiss, confirming their feelings for each other. This kiss marks the moment Ellie first becomes aware of her queer identity.
- Tragic Ending: Their joy is short-lived when they are bitten by an infected. The event leaves Ellie with the trauma and guilt of believing that “everyone she loves will eventually die.” Her immunity, a miracle to others, becomes a lifelong burden because she could not save Riley.
- Narrative Importance: Ellie’s relationship with Riley becomes the root of her later fear of connection—her tendency to avoid relationships out of fear of loss and her obsession with protecting loved ones even at her own expense.
👩❤️👩 A Mature Relationship Born from Hope, Ending in Collapse
Dina is Ellie’s most significant partner after Riley and drives the emotional core of Part II.
- A Realistic Beginning: Unlike her bond with Riley, Ellie’s relationship with Dina develops within the relative safety of Jackson’s community, evolving naturally from friendship to romance. Their kiss at the New Year’s party—and Ellie’s journal entries—reveal that Ellie had harbored feelings for Dina for a long time.
- Trust and Devotion: Even after learning about Ellie’s immunity, Dina remains by her side. She accompanies Ellie on her revenge journey despite being pregnant, showing . For Ellie, Dina represents both a refuge from trauma and her only hope for a normal life.
- Conflict and Collapse (Revenge): What destroys their relationship is not an external threat but Ellie’s trauma and obsession with revenge. After Joel’s death, Ellie’s fixation blinds her to Dina’s sacrifices—her pregnancy, motherhood, and desire for stability.
- Choice and Separation: In the end, Ellie abandons the peaceful life she built with Dina and their child to pursue vengeance once more. Dina leaves her, symbolizing that Ellie chose trauma and vengeance over love. The paradox of “destroying love in the act of trying to protect it” completes Ellie’s tragic arc.
📝 Echoes of Loss
The relationships between Ellie–Riley and Ellie–Dina are contrasting yet deeply connected.
- Riley: Represents lost innocence and the first wound of love, planting the seed of revenge and fixation within Ellie.
- Dina: Embodies ordinary happiness and a second chance at peace, yet her love is destroyed when Ellie fails to overcome the trauma reignited by Joel’s death.
Together, these relationships encapsulate the central message of The Last of Us: even the purest and most beautiful forms of love cannot escape the shadow of trauma and violence in this devastated world.
🎯 Personal Rating (Based on Preference)
💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★
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