It genuinely never occurred to me that both of the sex scenes that we saw in the game were Ellie and Abby’s ‘first time’ before it was mentioned here. That was a really good spot!
Neither did I, I've replayed the game maybe 7 times, the last on grounded and yet despite my adoration never put that together. It seems so obvious but i never considered he was heavily traumatized by that. I never even noticed he left during the majority of the torture
"Sex is a normal part of being an adult" She said while censoring the word "sex" because youtube has taken censorship, way too far and are now actively hurting the content on the site. But that's nothing new with youtube.
its censored because of advertisers not wanting to promote their brand alongside it. UA-cam suppresses those types of videos as its not profitable for them. UA-camrs who want to profit have to censor the word. Nothing to do with sensitivity
@@Nalphahe addressed that in his comment. He put the blame on youtube,not the content creator. UA-cam is hurting the content being put on the platform with the steanglehold they and also these sponsors they put the content creator in so they make make a profit. Hope you understand.
@@Skoogaloochinot you tube but advertisers , UA-cam can try to fight but UA-camrs complained for not getting money , it’s sad but it allows you to see great videos just with word censored
I can't believe how actually difficult this game is to comprehend... I'm still finding new things out about the plot after 2 years of having accomplished it. The amount of subtext in here is crazy, and so much is hidden behind the scenes, too. Neil did a very good job of getting us confused with this way of story-telling, every vital piece of each character's life is just scattered across the game, and you make the puzzle yourself. This is incredibly unusual for today's level of gaming, really. And your analysis is amazing, made me tear up even.
I figured this scene was included to contrast how happy Ellie and Dina were as a couple having sex vs. Abby's unhappy relationship, further illustrating how killing Joel didn't heal her trauma. Abby doesn't necessarily look happy having sex, and she's faced away from Owen so it's less intimate too. Your analysis is wonderful, it adds so much more depth to her character and this scene!
Abbys destroyed and disjointed life after what joel did to jerry is so juxtaposed in every way. Ellie was happy with dina before joel died, just as abby was happy with Owen.
My jaw hit the floor when you brought up Owen struggling to kill the older Seraphite comparing him to Joel! How did I never piece that together?! I have watched TLOU2 full playthrough many times on different channels and I never even considered that! Thank you for a different perspective of things in the game. I subbed so I can be notified of any new TLOU content you post in the future🙂
The Abby-Owen-Mel love triangle… to me, at least, is a perfect display of what happens when people jump into relationships without dealing with their traumas first. Abby and Owen almost feed off the pain they cause each other and but recognize how toxic they are for each other. They embark on their own personal missions to move on by preoccupying themselves with distractions; Owen with Mel and Abby with her revenge. But that’s not DEALING with it, it’s ignoring it. That trauma only gets bigger and more painful and destroys everything in its path, ie: Mel
I never considered how it could have been their first time with each other, or Abby’s first ever. It makes so much sense after everything we’ve seen with them, the years of tension broken in an aggressive, passionate, extremely emotional moment, a touch. Amazing video, thank you for understanding the real meaning of this story; seeing all the people who wrote off the entire game for choices they don’t approve of (in turn proving the point of the game as you said) continues to dishearten me. So thanks for seeing the humanity in ALL of the characters!
My reaction was weirded out because it had a little bit of SA feel to it at first rather than a consensual encounter. But on my second playthrough I recognized it for what it was: a goodbye, an affirmation of life after more than a lifetime of trauma and death, and the culmination of the end of their relationship.
@@makhibarber7213 LMAO thanks for proving my point completely. I said nothing about finding Abby attractive just pointing out the blatant immaturity of people like you who can't handle a sex scene and react so negatively to it.
@@makhibarber7213 You're telling on yourself there. There's absolutely nothing gross about it to any mature reasonable person who doesn't have an unhealthy relationship with sex. Like I said. This scene is a great litmus test on someone's maturity and you are proving it more and more with each comment.
When Owen was shot and he dies, it stuck with me when I heard him say "shes pregnant" to Ellie after she had killed Mel. He was dying and he still had his humanity right up until he stopped breathing. It made me tearful... This game is simply incredible 🤷♂️
Okay, the whole analysis was already really compelling and quite needed, but my god, that call to introspection at 27:24 felt like witnessing a knock-out. Many thanks for bringing out all this stuff about this scene (and all the commentary surrounding it) in such a exhaustive and logic manner. First time I see the video, it appears to be a reupload. I hope youtube would leave the video alone this time, and I wish you the rime and ressources needed to deliver more banger like these. Good writing in video games deserves more comentary like this.
Yeah, there are quite a few people who are outraged that female video game characters allegedly have become less attractive over the last couple of years, when in reality many of them just look like real people. "Conventionally attractive" has just become "photoshopped into oblivion". It's also sad how common it is to openly bully people because they don't look like one's set of accepted stereotypes, and by proxy, in this case, bullying people who exist in the real world who look, for instance, like Abby.
@@Sturzfaktor2 I come from the future, just look at any comment or reaction about the Witcher 4 and Intergalactic( ND even had to deactivate comments on their trailer). This is a real thing. Female characters according to a really big set of the gamer community, have to exits to entice them and cater to their likings.
18:09 if you spell out her sentence, it’s one letter away from her saying,” what about me”. I wonder if Mel was named that so that line could be written.
Owens lines in the scene when he’s talking about how he couldn’t bring himself to kill that old man were acted just as good as you would see in any sort of medium whether it be TV show or movie the voice actor who played Owen and the script that he was given are amazing. Owen is a good person who makes mistakes but in the end he REALLY was trying to “look for the light”. This scene is great and passionate but you need to be an adult with a brain and heart to understand it.
15:20 I have played this game about 10 times and never realised that owen was thinking about joel here. It makes so much more sense why he couldn't do it. Great video!!
The storytelling in this game is just on another level. I literally can’t think of a single other game outside of this franchise where you could analyse a single scene so deeply for this long. Lucky if even the best AAA games outside of this series could sustain such scrutiny for even a 10 minute video in totality. It will forever be an absolute masterpiece. Bring us TLOU3 please.
I love your comment about how this scene is "traumatizing" to some. I completely agree with you, if this scenes makes people use that word as being "uncomfortable", probably they shouldn't be playing a game for mature audiences.
That's a very immature look at things.....people have different traumas that present in different ways. I found the scene uncomfortable because it resonated with me and many traumatic things that happened in my own life; it wasn't pleasant to have something similar thrusted at me from a character I already did not like Of COURSE having the mirror of humanity suddenly placed in front of you is uncomfortable. It forces vulnerability. If it DIDN'T make ypu uncomfortable at all then that's more a red flag of a broken mind that has been heavily desensitized
The only reason this scene made me uncomfortable is because my mom walked in on it happening. (And the Ellie & Dina one). But other then that… experience (I got in trouble) I didn’t necessarily care.
@@Sterling_Qrow You are a very small minority in the sea of TLOU1 fanboys that cry ‘traumatization’ from the scene to imply that it grossed them out, not because it made them uncomfortable but because they see Abby as too masculine. I’ve seen it in a lot of other YT video comment sections, and these are the type of people who would have had no problem with the scene if they found Abby attractive.
The idea that Abby may have been a virgin before the boat scene makes me see it way differently now. Despite being an adult, she’s stunted in terms of intimacy and that was her coming of age.
I really appreciate your analysis of these scenes and look forward to more in the future. It's been a big help in understanding the story better! Right now, I'm working on my own analysis just to get a clearer picture of everything.
I only played for the first time last year, and now it;s a game that I have 100%'d and played at least 5 times through. I had a lot of people "warn" me about a boat scene, and never really thought of anything aside from a potential boss fight (similar to the rat king crawling up the ambulance) I would never have guessed people were being so immature to talk about a very emotional, gut-wrenching sex scene between two people that have had their entire world flipped in a very quick period of time. It works, and the scene is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable, confused, bc that's how Abby & Owen feel.
I said it once and ill say it again, but making the connection between Joel and the old guy Owen couldn't kill still baffles my mind. Youre the first analysts i think I've ever heard made that observation. 💜💜
I have to say that was one of the most thoughtful, articulate, and descriptive analysis I have ever seen. I've played and beat the game, and think it is PERFECT! That being said, I did a whole 4 part series on the game zbout a year ago (you can find that on the channel) This must have taken a LONG time you put together (writing the script, editing,, recording etc.) I very much look forward to your next video.
I disagree with the idea that Owen saw Joel in the old man, what I think he saw in the old man was a potential future or version of himself, for one, a person who gave themselves and their all to their given faction and had obviously seen more pain than anything from doing so, and is so willing to finally end it all. And for two, I think he saw the old man’s humanity in that moment. True humility came to him ina moment where somebody was so ready to end their lives. Kinda crazy that it took someone WANTING to die to jar him
Loving this series!! I've played this game three times and it never damned on me that the boat scene is the first time that Abby and Owen are meeting since Jackson.
THANK YOU! I’ve been telling people for years of WHY Abby tortured Joel. I always saw her putting him down quickly especially after him saving her but since Joel showed no type of remorse and belittled her with his “why don’t you say whatever speech you have rehearsed and get this over with” comment; she decided to belittle him and knock him off that tough guy pedestal.
Some people may put on a tough guy act after being immobilize via bodily harm (getting shoot and then beaten) If I’m getting killed or at least about to by people I just saved, as they already proceeded to shot and beat me, I and many other people wouldn’t be saying the most kindest of words to my perpetrators that harmed me. When your in pain, you’ll probably say stuff like that. I don’t get how you can twist torture as a way of “well he kept saying mean things after they injured him and that the perp might as well just kill him, so that’s why she did it!” It’s weird to try and make torture out to be reasonable because the victim was talking crap to their perpetrators that already heavily injured them.
I truly love how the game transformed me as a person, since the moment I controlled and moved around the game as Abby the first thing I did was try to intentionally k!ll her off, running into infected and jumping out of map, in that anger and disgust I heard how she screams when she’s hurt and it did not make me feel any better, then learned about her fear of heights and how she got strong to take revenge and never let that kind of thing happen to someone she cares about, the fight with the scars and the rat king made me appreciate how physically capable she is of handling shit and not see hir as a monster, I went from hating her and considering not playing the game altogether to the very end crying and wishing Ellie has a change of heart for the sake of Lev and to stop the cycle of violence nobody asked for, in the end I felt a great relief and sadness when Abby got shown how much she is hated by the world, and Ellie was left with nothing and no one crying and bleeding into the ocean while repressed memories of Joel came flooding her with grief. This game was a masterpiece for anyone mature enough to grow and enjoy imperfection and human shortcomings. Love how you put things into perspective in the video this scene was one of the things I didn’t fully understand ❤️
I hate that people took down your video just because they don't like the game. I watched it when it originally came out and thought it was good and helped me genuinely understand the point of the scene, as before I didn't think it added too much. I think everyone who doesn't like the game just doesn't really understand Abby's story. :/ I also liked your other video about the "what happened to us" scene and I hope you just keep making videos like this as I find them quite enjoyable. Sorry for the long comment, I just wanted to give my support on this video as it deserves it.
There were far too many people who watched the leaked cutscenes and made up their minds about the game from there. They’ve missed hours upon hours of subtext and casual conversation that adds to context.
Have you seen the TLOU subreddit? It’s really heartbreaking how badly some people hate this game. I even saw a video of Abby kneeling to Ellie in the water at the end of their second fight. The title of the post said something along the lines of “look at this pathetic coward, can’t defend herself” (yes, the same Abby that was tortured and starved for months lol). Truly weird.
But regardless those leaks and the outrage that followed was still rooted not just in misogyny but transphobia too many people were upset and alleged trans woman killed Joel
such a great analysis. This definetley earned a sub from me lol. The acting and writing in this game is so great and constantly overlooked. Also owens monologue is one of the best acted scenes in the game, it gives me chills every time. His facial expressions, his line delivery, everything is just perfect about it.
Wow, I've been through the game multiple times and your thoughtful and insightful analysis got me thinking about things in a new light that I hadn't considered before! Really well done, can't wait to see more scenes analyzed!
I am replaying the game and just rewatched this scene. It made me uncomfortable, but its supposed to. I think you nailed every point. Especially the flawed humans stuff
This is such a good analysis and I'm so glad to finally have found someone that doesn't say "tHe cReAtOrS aRe tRyiNg sO HaRd fOr uS tO LiKe AbByyYyyY". Geez! I'm also not impressed you're a fellow woman, gurl. We see things differently, and calling out misogyny and Abby's appearance was just *chef's kiss*. You nailed it! I couldn't find a way to explain this point and you did it perfectly. Thank you so much for this.
I also like how Owen says “this fucking guy” and Abby says “those fucking kids” when she wakes up after the nightmare. both realizing their choices. Owen was possibly the only one who was open-minded in this overall war and I think Abby finally followed too.
I understand better after listening to the directors cut commentary that the tone of the sex scenes were so much more important than the actual content or how much was shown.
What an analysis, I played through this game at least 5 times now and every single time I learn something new and deep about the world, story and characters. Your thoughts and disscection of the scenes are very enlightning and minuscious, great job you are very smart and explains very well.
This was brilliant! I've always loved this scene, but couldn't quite place my finger on exactly why. Your explanation of the subtext presented here is wonderful and convincing. I always knew it was there, but I couldn't articulate it as well as you have here. But what especially grabbed me is the two things you noted I hadn't really considered before: 1) that the old Seraphite man reminded Owen of Joel (wow, mind blown here! This makes so much sense), and 2) that this was Abby's first time, just as it was Ellie's first time earlier in the narrative. The context here fits so well into the narrative, and to portraying each character's human side and their desires. I can't believe I'd never considered that before. This is one of my favourite channels on YT. I adore The Last of Us (both parts), and your brilliant breakdowns of the strengths in its writing structure is so amazing to me. I'm a writer myself and I've been learning so much from these videos, that it's been informing my own writing and how I can grow too. Thank you again! ❤
The second time I watched this scene it really got to me. Knowing what happened to Owen and seeing how broken he actually is makes his death much harder
Fantastic analysis. I never really understood why people had such an issue with this scene in particular. As you said in the video, with all the information we’re given about these two characters, there’s no other way for this scene to end. It was always going to happen. It’s a beautifully messy moment in a beautifully messy story. Subscribed
Thanks for these videos. TLOU2 Is my favourite game ever. Still discover new things even after having played it 4 times. Best and most immersive game I’ve played
easily one of the best scenes I've seen in videogames. I fear most ppl who were loud about this scene haven't loved enough to have this tension. They will circle back.
It's rare I watch a video which introduces such well-thought out original ideas and analysis of my favourite game after all these years but I'm really impressed. Ellie leaving Dina at the farm scene next?
Thank you for this. Maturing is realising Owen and Abby weren't bad people their feelings were just conflicted. It's human nature to not know what to do all the time, so we run to whatever makes sense even though its hypocritical. Which is exactly what Ellie went through. Owen fighting his friends off to spare Ellie was enough proof to see he has good morals
my first reaction to this scene was me out loud saying “oh okay,” but it was purely because i was shocked at the suddenness. but once it progressed, i could understand why it happened. and i think this is a perfect analysis of just why they did end up having a sexual encounter. i also think it’s a good point to bring up that it was most likely abby’s first time, which is very interesting. i never thought about it before, but it would definitely make sense given the situation she was in.
Honestly I didn’t think about him seeing that seraphite the same way they did Joel. That’s unique and thanks for noticing that. I don’t think many of us even realized that part of this scene. There’s so much to analyze about this game. I really wonder how the story will go on HBO
Thank you for doing this at first when I saw this I did not dig deeper than "oh they had sex...ok" but seeing you explain the sub text just makes this scene better for me
TLOU pary II: wins many awards Niel Druckmann: *wants to follow Elden Ring's Story Format* I played this over and over several time. And this game doesnt need to follow Miyazaki's way of storytelling. This game is a masterpiece in its own right. Plus your explaining (although i finally got the context of it) puts more depth into the name of the game title "The Last of Us".
Young lady, you are brilliant. I know I'm late to the party but I absolutely love your process, and take on this amazing story. I'm subscribing and watching ALL of them. Thank you 🙏
This scene is a fucking masterpiece in writing. The way you react to it says a lot about your ability to understand literature. People bashed TLOU 2 for shoving 'woke' themes down your throat but it handles these themes in a way that's far more careful, unique, considerate and realistic than most of the other garbage out there nowadays. Simply beautiful
This is an amazing video and you have helped me fully realize why I love TLOU2. Please keep making more videos analyzing and contextualizing these scenes and characters. I would love to see a video on abby and levs relationship. :)
I noticed you had to remove the part about people saying that owen and Abby were together before Abby was 'ready'. Sucks that had to be removed but I understand it lol. I never thought about that detail and I agree with your assessment, she was already ready lol
The main reason why people especially guys find the sex scene uncomfortable is because of Abby’s physique, they consider it weird and borderline gross that a girl with muscles is having consensual sex in front of them which I don’t really understand imo and while I personally don’t like her as a character I find this scene completely believable and very naturally human
Yeah, I’ve watched a couple of otherwise entertaining play throughs where the gamers are so icked out about this scene, particularly when you see Abby’s breasts, and it’s sort of embarrassing. It also speaks volumes that people are more grossed out by that scene but excited by the gratuitous violence throughout the game.
I quite like this scene if you analyze it as an adult with common sense and not as a child who is seeing a scene that ends in sex for the first time. You can get a lot of messages about the story of the game like Owen was traumatized by Joel's death and that's why he left the Seraphite alive which is the same thing Abby does later also showing that Abby was also bad and traumatized by Joel's death too It shows how illogical the war of factions is and how hatred makes you blind. how Owen and Abby still loved each other and endured what they felt for each other because of the relationship they had with Mel and that Owen walked away from Abby because of the whole revenge thing is a very deep scene but I don't expect the haters of the never understand the game since they don't usually use their brains XD
Well done! I did a video on Abby not too long ago emphasizing this scene and how it was her turning point towards redemption. I utterly agree this wasn’t only necessary, but TREMENDOUS acting by both characters. GOD I love how good gaming has gotten over the years. This scene as good as any movie I’ve experienced in decades
woah, this is a really great video!!! i had never really taken the time to analyze and think about this scene before but this has really opened my eyes up to how thoughtless i’ve been and it’s really cool!
I appreciate you trying to break down Abbys scenes. I love The Last of Us Part 2, but ive always focused that on Ellie's side of the game. And looked at Abby as a mirror for Ellie and not much else. This isnt just a plot summary too. Great stuff.
I’m so happy u analyze this game because I really did think it was awful but I guess that’s my fault for skipping the majority of the Abby scenes. I can appreciate the writing a lot more now, so thank u!
The traumetizing factor was just that it was cheating and I dont like cheating partners And that it looked veryyyy messy and violent Thats it Thats my personal trigger to it. And i understand why it's there why it's been shown.
One of the best TLOU2 analysis videos!! Before playing this game, I remember being on TikTok and people were whining about this infamous “boat scene”. All I knew was that it involved a s3x scene with Owen and Abby: this huge amount of hate it received made me think it was going to be SA and that definitely ruined my experience with Owen’s character, because I was constantly worried it was going to go there. Now Owen is one of my favorite characters and his relationship with Abby is one of the most interesting parts to this game, in my opinion.
This scene always reminds me of the sex scene in monsters ball where Hallie berry says she just wants to feel good. Her character wanted to feel something different than the pain of a death and abby wanted to feel something more than the emptiness of a murder. Abby had given up so much to take on the boogey man she had made in her head to the point that she turned her body into a weapon. After the loss of friends, boyfriends, and herself she just didn’t want to feel nothing anymore.
Thank you for these videos! I initially disliked TLOU 2 and as many others complained about it being too much of a “teenage drama”, but your videos gave me a new perspective and something to think about.
Incredible essays, really enriches the memory and understanding of the game’s narrative. Haven’t play it again since it’s release and I’m excited to see the next season of the show’s adaption. To see what people make of her journey in that format all over again will be amazing.
To be honest, I could take it, or leave it with the scene. The scene is kind of pointless to me. But watching his video made me look at scenes differently. Keep up the good work.
Idk if ive already left a comment here but whenever i first came across tlou2 boat scene i was traumatized (i mean i ace sex repulsed) but im less caring about it now and just hit skip cinematic as soon as they get “physical”
so glad I clicked onto this video. Your insight and attention to detail is crazy. You made me appreciate this scene way more than I ever did (which, like many wasnt a lot as I wasnt too interested in Abby and Owens relationship and their love scene after this). I cant wait for Abbys story in the live action TV Show, I think itll translate well onto the screen as TLOU part II has always felt more cinematic than an actual video game. Thank you for making this!
Joel's line with 'Get this over with' and the old man's resignation to his death are not the same thing. While Joel might know unconsciously that his actions would catch up to him, he wasn't 'ready'. Furthermore, this old man in question is someone who doesn't have the will to live anymore in such a meaningless world, consciously accepting the oblivion by not making a move for his weapon. Unable the find meaning while pushing the boulder up the mountain. Comparing that despair which Owen also feels (as he says 'I'm tired' to Abby) to Joel there who has the will to live, has hope, and Ellie to still live for is not a good comparison. It goes against the idea that the writers wants to portray at least in my estimations.
Tlou 2 is my favorite game of all time. Maybe the best content that i ever consumed. With that said, im loving your content. It brings soo many layers of the story. Many different perspectives that makes the history even more profound. Waiting for the nexts videos! Congrats on your work on this videos ❤
The fact that Owen sees Joel in the Seraphite, and then talks about how he killed Danny... You missed that the description of how he kills Danny is also a reference to how Ellie kills him.Ellie points her gun at him, he grabs it, and they struggle until Ellie manages to shoot. This time, Owen didn't get to be the one to shoot first.
I just found your channel and wanted to say thank you for your scene and thematic breakdown videos. This scene was one of my favorites as well and I think your analysis is spot-on. I love Joel and Ellie across both games but I was surprised by this game's ability to get me to so viscerally hate a character at the start and then provided me an opportunity to contextualize their actions and grow to understand and care for them as a person. Of all the things I love about this game Abby is my favorite, and I certainly didn't expect to feel that way by the end. I'd really like to see more about her and Lev in future games. Thanks again!
This is a beautiful analysis. Both Abby and Owen are my favorite characters in Part 2, and this scene is one of my favorites. You have just added more to think about in this video which makes me appreciate it even more.
thanks for bearing with this reupload and excessive censoring yall, youtube demonetized the original😢
I was wondering why I saw this video uploaded 2hrs ago. Like I knew I watched it before. :o
That being said very good dive into this scene!
Keep going! The videos are great
why though?
watching this a few times with the volume down, love your work, love the essays. Gotta get those view numbers up!
@@Mac-Ole wow thanks so much, I really appreciate that!!
It genuinely never occurred to me that both of the sex scenes that we saw in the game were Ellie and Abby’s ‘first time’ before it was mentioned here. That was a really good spot!
Holy shit I never realised the parallel that Owen saw the Scar as Joel
I will admit that was pretty good, past trama resurfaces and it did in that moment.
Neither did I, I've replayed the game maybe 7 times, the last on grounded and yet despite my adoration never put that together. It seems so obvious but i never considered he was heavily traumatized by that. I never even noticed he left during the majority of the torture
"Sex is a normal part of being an adult" She said while censoring the word "sex" because youtube has taken censorship, way too far and are now actively hurting the content on the site. But that's nothing new with youtube.
its censored because of advertisers not wanting to promote their brand alongside it. UA-cam suppresses those types of videos as its not profitable for them. UA-camrs who want to profit have to censor the word. Nothing to do with sensitivity
@@Nalphahe addressed that in his comment. He put the blame on youtube,not the content creator. UA-cam is hurting the content being put on the platform with the steanglehold they and also these sponsors they put the content creator in so they make make a profit. Hope you understand.
@@Skoogaloochinot you tube but advertisers , UA-cam can try to fight but UA-camrs complained for not getting money , it’s sad but it allows you to see great videos just with word censored
I can't believe how actually difficult this game is to comprehend... I'm still finding new things out about the plot after 2 years of having accomplished it. The amount of subtext in here is crazy, and so much is hidden behind the scenes, too. Neil did a very good job of getting us confused with this way of story-telling, every vital piece of each character's life is just scattered across the game, and you make the puzzle yourself. This is incredibly unusual for today's level of gaming, really.
And your analysis is amazing, made me tear up even.
I figured this scene was included to contrast how happy Ellie and Dina were as a couple having sex vs. Abby's unhappy relationship, further illustrating how killing Joel didn't heal her trauma. Abby doesn't necessarily look happy having sex, and she's faced away from Owen so it's less intimate too. Your analysis is wonderful, it adds so much more depth to her character and this scene!
Abbys destroyed and disjointed life after what joel did to jerry is so juxtaposed in every way. Ellie was happy with dina before joel died, just as abby was happy with Owen.
My jaw hit the floor when you brought up Owen struggling to kill the older Seraphite comparing him to Joel! How did I never piece that together?! I have watched TLOU2 full playthrough many times on different channels and I never even considered that! Thank you for a different perspective of things in the game. I subbed so I can be notified of any new TLOU content you post in the future🙂
sameee I love that comparison, and i hadnt thought about it till now
The Abby-Owen-Mel love triangle… to me, at least, is a perfect display of what happens when people jump into relationships without dealing with their traumas first. Abby and Owen almost feed off the pain they cause each other and but recognize how toxic they are for each other. They embark on their own personal missions to move on by preoccupying themselves with distractions; Owen with Mel and Abby with her revenge. But that’s not DEALING with it, it’s ignoring it. That trauma only gets bigger and more painful and destroys everything in its path, ie: Mel
I never considered how it could have been their first time with each other, or Abby’s first ever. It makes so much sense after everything we’ve seen with them, the years of tension broken in an aggressive, passionate, extremely emotional moment, a touch. Amazing video, thank you for understanding the real meaning of this story; seeing all the people who wrote off the entire game for choices they don’t approve of (in turn proving the point of the game as you said) continues to dishearten me. So thanks for seeing the humanity in ALL of the characters!
How people react to this scene is a great litmus test on someone’s level of maturity.
My reaction was weirded out because it had a little bit of SA feel to it at first rather than a consensual encounter. But on my second playthrough I recognized it for what it was: a goodbye, an affirmation of life after more than a lifetime of trauma and death, and the culmination of the end of their relationship.
way to tell on yourself lol, their comment wasn't even about finding Abby attractive?
@@makhibarber7213 LMAO thanks for proving my point completely. I said nothing about finding Abby attractive just pointing out the blatant immaturity of people like you who can't handle a sex scene and react so negatively to it.
@@makhibarber7213 finding a sex scene "gross" because you're not attracted to the people involved is very immature lmao
@@makhibarber7213 You're telling on yourself there. There's absolutely nothing gross about it to any mature reasonable person who doesn't have an unhealthy relationship with sex.
Like I said. This scene is a great litmus test on someone's maturity and you are proving it more and more with each comment.
I’m impressed by how thorough this is while still feeling tight and pointed. Well written and also very well narrated.
When Owen was shot and he dies, it stuck with me when I heard him say "shes pregnant" to Ellie after she had killed Mel.
He was dying and he still had his humanity right up until he stopped breathing. It made me tearful...
This game is simply incredible 🤷♂️
Okay, the whole analysis was already really compelling and quite needed, but my god, that call to introspection at 27:24 felt like witnessing a knock-out.
Many thanks for bringing out all this stuff about this scene (and all the commentary surrounding it) in such a exhaustive and logic manner.
First time I see the video, it appears to be a reupload.
I hope youtube would leave the video alone this time, and I wish you the rime and ressources needed to deliver more banger like these. Good writing in video games deserves more comentary like this.
Yeah, there are quite a few people who are outraged that female video game characters allegedly have become less attractive over the last couple of years, when in reality many of them just look like real people. "Conventionally attractive" has just become "photoshopped into oblivion". It's also sad how common it is to openly bully people because they don't look like one's set of accepted stereotypes, and by proxy, in this case, bullying people who exist in the real world who look, for instance, like Abby.
@@Sturzfaktor2 I come from the future, just look at any comment or reaction about the Witcher 4 and Intergalactic( ND even had to deactivate comments on their trailer). This is a real thing. Female characters according to a really big set of the gamer community, have to exits to entice them and cater to their likings.
18:09 if you spell out her sentence, it’s one letter away from her saying,” what about me”. I wonder if Mel was named that so that line could be written.
Owens lines in the scene when he’s talking about how he couldn’t bring himself to kill that old man were acted just as good as you would see in any sort of medium whether it be TV show or movie the voice actor who played Owen and the script that he was given are amazing. Owen is a good person who makes mistakes but in the end he REALLY was trying to “look for the light”. This scene is great and passionate but you need to be an adult with a brain and heart to understand it.
15:20 I have played this game about 10 times and never realised that owen was thinking about joel here. It makes so much more sense why he couldn't do it. Great video!!
The storytelling in this game is just on another level. I literally can’t think of a single other game outside of this franchise where you could analyse a single scene so deeply for this long. Lucky if even the best AAA games outside of this series could sustain such scrutiny for even a 10 minute video in totality. It will forever be an absolute masterpiece. Bring us TLOU3 please.
I love your comment about how this scene is "traumatizing" to some. I completely agree with you, if this scenes makes people use that word as being "uncomfortable", probably they shouldn't be playing a game for mature audiences.
That's a very immature look at things.....people have different traumas that present in different ways. I found the scene uncomfortable because it resonated with me and many traumatic things that happened in my own life; it wasn't pleasant to have something similar thrusted at me from a character I already did not like
Of COURSE having the mirror of humanity suddenly placed in front of you is uncomfortable. It forces vulnerability. If it DIDN'T make ypu uncomfortable at all then that's more a red flag of a broken mind that has been heavily desensitized
The only reason this scene made me uncomfortable is because my mom walked in on it happening. (And the Ellie & Dina one). But other then that… experience (I got in trouble) I didn’t necessarily care.
@@Sterling_Qrow You are a very small minority in the sea of TLOU1 fanboys that cry ‘traumatization’ from the scene to imply that it grossed them out, not because it made them uncomfortable but because they see Abby as too masculine. I’ve seen it in a lot of other YT video comment sections, and these are the type of people who would have had no problem with the scene if they found Abby attractive.
The idea that Abby may have been a virgin before the boat scene makes me see it way differently now. Despite being an adult, she’s stunted in terms of intimacy and that was her coming of age.
I never even thought about it being abbys first time thats a whole other level
I really appreciate your analysis of these scenes and look forward to more in the future. It's been a big help in understanding the story better! Right now, I'm working on my own analysis just to get a clearer picture of everything.
I only played for the first time last year, and now it;s a game that I have 100%'d and played at least 5 times through. I had a lot of people "warn" me about a boat scene, and never really thought of anything aside from a potential boss fight (similar to the rat king crawling up the ambulance) I would never have guessed people were being so immature to talk about a very emotional, gut-wrenching sex scene between two people that have had their entire world flipped in a very quick period of time. It works, and the scene is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable, confused, bc that's how Abby & Owen feel.
I said it once and ill say it again, but making the connection between Joel and the old guy Owen couldn't kill still baffles my mind. Youre the first analysts i think I've ever heard made that observation. 💜💜
I have to say that was one of the most thoughtful, articulate, and descriptive analysis I have ever seen. I've played and beat the game, and think it is PERFECT! That being said, I did a whole 4 part series on the game zbout a year ago (you can find that on the channel) This must have taken a LONG time you put together (writing the script, editing,, recording etc.) I very much look forward to your next video.
This was so well explained! I always was a bit confused about the boat scene but now it makes total sense! Thank you!
I disagree with the idea that Owen saw Joel in the old man, what I think he saw in the old man was a potential future or version of himself, for one, a person who gave themselves and their all to their given faction and had obviously seen more pain than anything from doing so, and is so willing to finally end it all. And for two, I think he saw the old man’s humanity in that moment. True humility came to him ina moment where somebody was so ready to end their lives. Kinda crazy that it took someone WANTING to die to jar him
It can be both
this is a good analysis too
arguably the most human scene to be shown in the series, it’s so heavily nuanced and raw and people are too quick to look the other way.
Loving this series!! I've played this game three times and it never damned on me that the boat scene is the first time that Abby and Owen are meeting since Jackson.
So glad this has been reuploaded, this is one of my favourite analysis videos of Abby’s story
Dude this whole scene I was like “PREACH OWEN!! PREACHHHH!!! WHAT WAIT THE FUCK?!??”
THANK YOU! I’ve been telling people for years of WHY Abby tortured Joel. I always saw her putting him down quickly especially after him saving her but since Joel showed no type of remorse and belittled her with his “why don’t you say whatever speech you have rehearsed and get this over with” comment; she decided to belittle him and knock him off that tough guy pedestal.
I never thought of it that way until this video and it makes so much sense I still loved the game but man this makes me love it more
Some people may put on a tough guy act after being immobilize via bodily harm (getting shoot and then beaten)
If I’m getting killed or at least about to by people I just saved, as they already proceeded to shot and beat me, I and many other people wouldn’t be saying the most kindest of words to my perpetrators that harmed me.
When your in pain, you’ll probably say stuff like that. I don’t get how you can twist torture as a way of “well he kept saying mean things after they injured him and that the perp might as well just kill him, so that’s why she did it!”
It’s weird to try and make torture out to be reasonable because the victim was talking crap to their perpetrators that already heavily injured them.
I truly love how the game transformed me as a person, since the moment I controlled and moved around the game as Abby the first thing I did was try to intentionally k!ll her off, running into infected and jumping out of map, in that anger and disgust I heard how she screams when she’s hurt and it did not make me feel any better, then learned about her fear of heights and how she got strong to take revenge and never let that kind of thing happen to someone she cares about, the fight with the scars and the rat king made me appreciate how physically capable she is of handling shit and not see hir as a monster, I went from hating her and considering not playing the game altogether to the very end crying and wishing Ellie has a change of heart for the sake of Lev and to stop the cycle of violence nobody asked for, in the end I felt a great relief and sadness when Abby got shown how much she is hated by the world, and Ellie was left with nothing and no one crying and bleeding into the ocean while repressed memories of Joel came flooding her with grief. This game was a masterpiece for anyone mature enough to grow and enjoy imperfection and human shortcomings. Love how you put things into perspective in the video this scene was one of the things I didn’t fully understand ❤️
Bro, Abby’s Braid changes length every cene for freaks sake im gonna go insane
(Amazing vídeo and analisis, just absolutely flawless)
I hate that people took down your video just because they don't like the game. I watched it when it originally came out and thought it was good and helped me genuinely understand the point of the scene, as before I didn't think it added too much.
I think everyone who doesn't like the game just doesn't really understand Abby's story. :/ I also liked your other video about the "what happened to us" scene and I hope you just keep making videos like this as I find them quite enjoyable.
Sorry for the long comment, I just wanted to give my support on this video as it deserves it.
is youtube letting this banger stay this time ???😢
we shall see🤞🏼
I see what you did there
@@sapphixatedit's cuz Dina and ellie was ss
@@sapphixatedalso, you are like my hero TlouEx. You have saved me from many boring midnights
THIS!! i also think the parallel of owen telling the scar/danny’s story is a parallel to lev and abby
There were far too many people who watched the leaked cutscenes and made up their minds about the game from there. They’ve missed hours upon hours of subtext and casual conversation that adds to context.
Have you seen the TLOU subreddit? It’s really heartbreaking how badly some people hate this game. I even saw a video of Abby kneeling to Ellie in the water at the end of their second fight. The title of the post said something along the lines of “look at this pathetic coward, can’t defend herself” (yes, the same Abby that was tortured and starved for months lol). Truly weird.
But regardless those leaks and the outrage that followed was still rooted not just in misogyny but transphobia too many people were upset and alleged trans woman killed Joel
when dina feel devastated when ellie left her in farm to continue the revenge, I said to myself "that's what happened to owen for years"
such a great analysis. This definetley earned a sub from me lol. The acting and writing in this game is so great and constantly overlooked. Also owens monologue is one of the best acted scenes in the game, it gives me chills every time. His facial expressions, his line delivery, everything is just perfect about it.
Wonderful, wonderful analysis. I agree fully and have been arguing many of your points for a while now. Glad I stumbled across this.
Thank god someone appreciates this game as much as I do, and can even articulate it more analytically... great content!
Wow, I've been through the game multiple times and your thoughtful and insightful analysis got me thinking about things in a new light that I hadn't considered before! Really well done, can't wait to see more scenes analyzed!
I have to say it, I love your analysis!!! Makes me see these scenes on a different level completely, amazing!
I am replaying the game and just rewatched this scene. It made me uncomfortable, but its supposed to. I think you nailed every point. Especially the flawed humans stuff
Glad to see this is back up. It deserves to be seen
thank you SO much for making these! Theyre truly brilliant.
This is such a good analysis and I'm so glad to finally have found someone that doesn't say "tHe cReAtOrS aRe tRyiNg sO HaRd fOr uS tO LiKe AbByyYyyY". Geez!
I'm also not impressed you're a fellow woman, gurl. We see things differently, and calling out misogyny and Abby's appearance was just *chef's kiss*. You nailed it! I couldn't find a way to explain this point and you did it perfectly. Thank you so much for this.
I also like how Owen says “this fucking guy” and Abby says “those fucking kids” when she wakes up after the nightmare. both realizing their choices. Owen was possibly the only one who was open-minded in this overall war and I think Abby finally followed too.
I understand better after listening to the directors cut commentary that the tone of the sex scenes were so much more important than the actual content or how much was shown.
What an analysis, I played through this game at least 5 times now and every single time I learn something new and deep about the world, story and characters. Your thoughts and disscection of the scenes are very enlightning and minuscious, great job you are very smart and explains very well.
This was brilliant! I've always loved this scene, but couldn't quite place my finger on exactly why. Your explanation of the subtext presented here is wonderful and convincing. I always knew it was there, but I couldn't articulate it as well as you have here.
But what especially grabbed me is the two things you noted I hadn't really considered before: 1) that the old Seraphite man reminded Owen of Joel (wow, mind blown here! This makes so much sense), and 2) that this was Abby's first time, just as it was Ellie's first time earlier in the narrative. The context here fits so well into the narrative, and to portraying each character's human side and their desires. I can't believe I'd never considered that before.
This is one of my favourite channels on YT. I adore The Last of Us (both parts), and your brilliant breakdowns of the strengths in its writing structure is so amazing to me. I'm a writer myself and I've been learning so much from these videos, that it's been informing my own writing and how I can grow too. Thank you again! ❤
The second time I watched this scene it really got to me. Knowing what happened to Owen and seeing how broken he actually is makes his death much harder
27:24 you absolutely nailed it here, I don't think you could have said it more eloquently than this. Thank you.
You’ve done an outstanding job with all of your analysis videos. 25:58 - 26:23 very well said!
Fantastic analysis. I never really understood why people had such an issue with this scene in particular. As you said in the video, with all the information we’re given about these two characters, there’s no other way for this scene to end. It was always going to happen. It’s a beautifully messy moment in a beautifully messy story. Subscribed
i didn’t even realize the flashback aquarium scene was them breaking up, it didn’t seem like that to me
Thanks for these videos. TLOU2 Is my favourite game ever. Still discover new things even after having played it 4 times. Best and most immersive game I’ve played
easily one of the best scenes I've seen in videogames. I fear most ppl who were loud about this scene haven't loved enough to have this tension. They will circle back.
It's rare I watch a video which introduces such well-thought out original ideas and analysis of my favourite game after all these years but I'm really impressed. Ellie leaving Dina at the farm scene next?
Yay this beautiful positive explanation is back ❤
I was waiting for the reupload, I love how humanizing your analysis is for Abby.
Thank you for this. Maturing is realising Owen and Abby weren't bad people their feelings were just conflicted. It's human nature to not know what to do all the time, so we run to whatever makes sense even though its hypocritical. Which is exactly what Ellie went through. Owen fighting his friends off to spare Ellie was enough proof to see he has good morals
my first reaction to this scene was me out loud saying “oh okay,” but it was purely because i was shocked at the suddenness. but once it progressed, i could understand why it happened. and i think this is a perfect analysis of just why they did end up having a sexual encounter.
i also think it’s a good point to bring up that it was most likely abby’s first time, which is very interesting. i never thought about it before, but it would definitely make sense given the situation she was in.
this is the best channel i discovered recently, i looove these analysis. thank you for your work!
Thanks for being smart and thoughtful. I think a person's true self comes out when they interpret how they feel about this game.
Honestly I didn’t think about him seeing that seraphite the same way they did Joel. That’s unique and thanks for noticing that. I don’t think many of us even realized that part of this scene. There’s so much to analyze about this game. I really wonder how the story will go on HBO
Thank you for doing this at first when I saw this I did not dig deeper than "oh they had sex...ok" but seeing you explain the sub text just makes this scene better for me
right? i never cared much for this scene but the creator does an amazing job providing subtext and fleshing this scene out.
TLOU pary II: wins many awards
Niel Druckmann: *wants to follow Elden Ring's Story Format*
I played this over and over several time. And this game doesnt need to follow Miyazaki's way of storytelling.
This game is a masterpiece in its own right.
Plus your explaining (although i finally got the context of it) puts more depth into the name of the game title "The Last of Us".
Still wonder how a story could be told like this? Just a bunch of notes and environmental storytelling?
Young lady, you are brilliant. I know I'm late to the party but I absolutely love your process, and take on this amazing story. I'm subscribing and watching ALL of them. Thank you 🙏
This scene is a fucking masterpiece in writing. The way you react to it says a lot about your ability to understand literature. People bashed TLOU 2 for shoving 'woke' themes down your throat but it handles these themes in a way that's far more careful, unique, considerate and realistic than most of the other garbage out there nowadays. Simply beautiful
This is an amazing video and you have helped me fully realize why I love TLOU2. Please keep making more videos analyzing and contextualizing these scenes and characters. I would love to see a video on abby and levs relationship. :)
I noticed you had to remove the part about people saying that owen and Abby were together before Abby was 'ready'. Sucks that had to be removed but I understand it lol. I never thought about that detail and I agree with your assessment, she was already ready lol
The main reason why people especially guys find the sex scene uncomfortable is because of Abby’s physique, they consider it weird and borderline gross that a girl with muscles is having consensual sex in front of them which I don’t really understand imo and while I personally don’t like her as a character I find this scene completely believable and very naturally human
Yeah, I’ve watched a couple of otherwise entertaining play throughs where the gamers are so icked out about this scene, particularly when you see Abby’s breasts, and it’s sort of embarrassing. It also speaks volumes that people are more grossed out by that scene but excited by the gratuitous violence throughout the game.
them when a woman in a video game doesn't exist solely to visually please them: 🤯
There’s a lot of homophobia and transphobia tied into it to, all over her physique. Which is insane considering this is a straight sex scene.
I quite like this scene if you analyze it as an adult with common sense and not as a child who is seeing a scene that ends in sex for the first time. You can get a lot of messages about the story of the game like Owen was traumatized by Joel's death and that's why he left the Seraphite alive which is the same thing Abby does later also showing that Abby was also bad and traumatized by Joel's death too It shows how illogical the war of factions is and how hatred makes you blind. how Owen and Abby still loved each other and endured what they felt for each other because of the relationship they had with Mel and that Owen walked away from Abby because of the whole revenge thing is a very deep scene but I don't expect the haters of the never understand the game since they don't usually use their brains XD
I’m excited to watch this again. Thank you for putting it back up 🖤
Well done! I did a video on Abby not too long ago emphasizing this scene and how it was her turning point towards redemption. I utterly agree this wasn’t only necessary, but TREMENDOUS acting by both characters. GOD I love how good gaming has gotten over the years. This scene as good as any movie I’ve experienced in decades
woah, this is a really great video!!! i had never really taken the time to analyze and think about this scene before but this has really opened my eyes up to how thoughtless i’ve been and it’s really cool!
Touching on the intimacy subject, during the kiss in the break-up scene, he asks. "Do you need me to slow down?" A question common during first times
I appreciate you trying to break down Abbys scenes. I love The Last of Us Part 2, but ive always focused that on Ellie's side of the game. And looked at Abby as a mirror for Ellie and not much else.
This isnt just a plot summary too. Great stuff.
I’m so happy u analyze this game because I really did think it was awful but I guess that’s my fault for skipping the majority of the Abby scenes. I can appreciate the writing a lot more now, so thank u!
The traumetizing factor was just that it was cheating and I dont like cheating partners
And that it looked veryyyy messy and violent
Thats it
Thats my personal trigger to it. And i understand why it's there why it's been shown.
“It meant nothing to me” “it did to me”
One of the best TLOU2 analysis videos!!
Before playing this game, I remember being on TikTok and people were whining about this infamous “boat scene”. All I knew was that it involved a s3x scene with Owen and Abby: this huge amount of hate it received made me think it was going to be SA and that definitely ruined my experience with Owen’s character, because I was constantly worried it was going to go there.
Now Owen is one of my favorite characters and his relationship with Abby is one of the most interesting parts to this game, in my opinion.
This scene always reminds me of the sex scene in monsters ball where Hallie berry says she just wants to feel good. Her character wanted to feel something different than the pain of a death and abby wanted to feel something more than the emptiness of a murder. Abby had given up so much to take on the boogey man she had made in her head to the point that she turned her body into a weapon. After the loss of friends, boyfriends, and herself she just didn’t want to feel nothing anymore.
Thank you for these videos! I initially disliked TLOU 2 and as many others complained about it being too much of a “teenage drama”, but your videos gave me a new perspective and something to think about.
These analysis videos are amazing! Please keep them coming.
Incredible essays, really enriches the memory and understanding of the game’s narrative. Haven’t play it again since it’s release and I’m excited to see the next season of the show’s adaption. To see what people make of her journey in that format all over again will be amazing.
To be honest, I could take it, or leave it with the scene. The scene is kind of pointless to me. But watching his video made me look at scenes differently. Keep up the good work.
I'm glad you are looking at scenes differently, but you really watched the whole video and still think the scene is pointless?😬
Idk if ive already left a comment here but whenever i first came across tlou2 boat scene i was traumatized (i mean i ace sex repulsed) but im less caring about it now and just hit skip cinematic as soon as they get “physical”
so glad I clicked onto this video. Your insight and attention to detail is crazy. You made me appreciate this scene way more than I ever did (which, like many wasnt a lot as I wasnt too interested in Abby and Owens relationship and their love scene after this). I cant wait for Abbys story in the live action TV Show, I think itll translate well onto the screen as TLOU part II has always felt more cinematic than an actual video game. Thank you for making this!
Can you please do the final fight scene?! I believe your analysis would be so insightful compared to some other breakdown videos I’ve seen of it!!
i thought it always showed how vulnerable and desperate abby was for care and attention.
Well, seems like I’ll have to watch it again!❤
Joel's line with 'Get this over with' and the old man's resignation to his death are not the same thing. While Joel might know unconsciously that his actions would catch up to him, he wasn't 'ready'. Furthermore, this old man in question is someone who doesn't have the will to live anymore in such a meaningless world, consciously accepting the oblivion by not making a move for his weapon. Unable the find meaning while pushing the boulder up the mountain. Comparing that despair which Owen also feels (as he says 'I'm tired' to Abby) to Joel there who has the will to live, has hope, and Ellie to still live for is not a good comparison. It goes against the idea that the writers wants to portray at least in my estimations.
amazing analysis. thank you for this. it's definitely enriching my second playthrough
Tlou 2 is my favorite game of all time. Maybe the best content that i ever consumed. With that said, im loving your content. It brings soo many layers of the story. Many different perspectives that makes the history even more profound. Waiting for the nexts videos! Congrats on your work on this videos ❤
The fact that Owen sees Joel in the Seraphite, and then talks about how he killed Danny... You missed that the description of how he kills Danny is also a reference to how Ellie kills him.Ellie points her gun at him, he grabs it, and they struggle until Ellie manages to shoot. This time, Owen didn't get to be the one to shoot first.
This is extremely refreshing. I’ve seen enough hate on this game lately to break a guy’s soul.
I just found your channel and wanted to say thank you for your scene and thematic breakdown videos. This scene was one of my favorites as well and I think your analysis is spot-on. I love Joel and Ellie across both games but I was surprised by this game's ability to get me to so viscerally hate a character at the start and then provided me an opportunity to contextualize their actions and grow to understand and care for them as a person. Of all the things I love about this game Abby is my favorite, and I certainly didn't expect to feel that way by the end. I'd really like to see more about her and Lev in future games. Thanks again!
This is a beautiful analysis. Both Abby and Owen are my favorite characters in Part 2, and this scene is one of my favorites. You have just added more to think about in this video which makes me appreciate it even more.