Attack on Titan Shone Where The Last of Us Part II Flopped

Both critically acclaimed stories tackled the same themes but with diverging levels of success

Images from DualShockers

The Rise of Naughty Dog

Image from Naughty Dog website
BTS on Naughty Dog’s “filming” process
The Last of Us, source from USA Today

“The Last of Us has an unparalleled understanding of what it means to be human, of what it means to love and to lose. There is no right or wrong when it comes to protecting the ones we care about — only shades of grey” — Vice

The Shock of The Last of Us 2

Source from Metacritic

The Parallels with Attack on Titan

  1. Morality is gray and subjective
  2. The cycle of hatred is futile
  3. All decisions have gravity

The Subjectivity of Morality

Abby kills Joel with a golf club as Ellie watches
Abby and Owen

“Caring about Abby is an uphill battle — you feel like you’re being preached at as you play her” — VGS Youtuber

Reiner revealing to Eren that he’s the Armored Titan in the manga (chapter 42)
Young Reiner hoping to be treated as a human and reunited with his dad (chapter 96)
They were just kids… told to do a mission (chapters 42 and 95)
Bertholdt reminding Reiner that he is a Warrior (Marleyan personality), not a Soldier (Walldian personality)
Reiner with a gun in his mouth (chapter 97)

The Futility of the Cycle of Hatred

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” — Confucius

Abby spares Dina in the theatre

“Ellie likely realized that this isn’t what Joel would’ve wanted for her… When Ellie is beating Abby, the look on her face implies that it doesn’t feel as satisfying as she had expected it to. Through that, not only did Ellie realize that this wasn’t going to bring back Joel (or honor his memory in any way) but it would only be contributing to the cycle of violence. Abby killed Joel because he killed her father. Who would be killed next if Ellie was to kill Abby?” — Screenrant

Ellie spares Abby and Lev
Kaya wants to help others, like Sasha (chapter 109)
Kaya tries to stab Gabi, after learning that Gabi killed her sister Sasha (chapter 111)
Even against a world-ending threat, Eldians and Marleyans can’t work together
Jean sparing Gabi after she kills Sasha
Sasha’s parents forgiving Gabi (chapter 111)
Gabi realizing that the Walldians are just like her (chapter 118)
Kaya, Gabi, and Niccolo realizing that hatred is a self-fulfilling prophecy (chapter 124)

The Weight of Decisions

Ellie is bitten by an infected human and doesn’t change
Levi says goodbye to Erwin (season 3 part 2)
Eren angry at Hange for their lack of direction
Hange overwhelmed with the choices they have to make as a leader
Armin with the weight of humanity on his soldiers (chatper 85)
The military’s thoughts on Serumbowl (chapters 85 and 90)
Read from right to left. Historia chooses to save Eren, but later realizes he’ll destroy the world. (Chapters 66 and 130)

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