The Last Of Us Season 2 Made Ellie's Aquarium Scene More Disturbing - Even Without The Dog

Ellie has had no shortage of sinister moments throughout The Last of Us, but her darkest incident from the source material was just made even more disturbing by HBO, despite excluding the controversial dog moment. The Last of Us season 2's ending left Ellie's Seattle story on a cliffhanger while setting up Abby's perspective for season 3, but the finale was filled with gloomy moments that highlighted just how far Ellie's search for revenge has gone. While she initially set out to kill Abby and return home, Ellie's journey took several drastic turns that got countless people hurt.

Having killed Nora two episodes prior, Ellie took down two more of Abby's crew in the finale, as she shot Owen and Mel inside the aquarium. While we haven't seen much of the pair so far, their story will presumably get expanded on in season 3, further fleshing out Abby's motivations, which explains why she shot Jesse in The Last of Us season 2's closing moments. Interestingly though, the aquarium scene played out slightly differently in HBO's adaptation compared to the video game, and the major differences add to how tragic the fatal confrontation is between Ellie, Mel, and Owen.

The Last Of Us Season 2 Changes How Ellie Kills Mel In The Aquarium Scene

Mel's Death Was Much More Accidental In The HBO Series Compared To TLOU Part II

Although Owen's death is largely similar in both the game and the TV show, Mel's fate was tweaked slightly by HBO. Both versions see Ellie demanding the duo to give up Abby's location, holding them at gunpoint while telling them to individually point to her enemy's location on a map. In the game, Owen attempts to disarm Ellie, who fights him off before shooting him in the torso. This leads to Mel attacking Ellie with a knife, but the protagonist manages to fight her off, eventually using Mel's own weapon against her by stabbing the WLF member in the neck.

In contrast, Owen reaches for a gun in the TV show, prompting Ellie to shoot him in the neck. However, alongside killing Owen, the bullet manages to graze Mel's neck as well, who dies after an emotional final sequence. The aftermath remains largely the same, as Tommy makes his first Seattle appearance in TLOU season 2, arriving with Jesse to escort Ellie back to the theater before Abby shows up, setting up a major cliffhanger. Therefore, Mel's death may seem like a minor alteration considering everything that follows remains the same, but her new fate makes one reveal more tragic.

Why Making Mel's Death An Accident Makes The Pregnancy Reveal So Much Worse

Ellie's Quest For Revenge Feels More Tragic Since She Truly Had No Intentions Of Killing Mel

After murdering Mel in The Last of Us Part II, Owen uses his dying breath to inform Ellie that Mel is pregnant, causing an emotional response from the protagonist, who clearly didn't know. While it could be argued Ellie wouldn't have killed Mel had she known the truth, the TV adaptation adds an even more heartbreaking twist to this reveal since Ellie didn't actually mean to shoot her. Rather than dying straight away, Mel manages to tell Ellie that she's pregnant while bleeding out and attempts to talk her through delivering an emergency C-section but ultimately dies in the process.

The gut-wrenching tweak makes Mel's reveal hit so much harder, especially since The Last of Us revealed Dina was pregnant just a few episodes prior. HBO's version of Ellie seems to have more humanity and remorse than her video game counterpart, so there's every chance she would have let Mel live had she given up Abby's location. Unfortunately, the main character never gets the opportunity to show mercy, and watching Ellie struggle to operate on Mel as she desperately tried to save her baby was one of season 2's most emotional scenes, making the twist truly traumatic.

The Last Of Us Season 2's Aquarium Scene Notably Left Out The Guard Dog

Ellie Killed Another One Of Abby's Loved Ones At The Aquarium In TLOU Part II

Despite being one of season 2's darkest scenes, the aquarium scene could have been even more haunting had it included Alice's death. While TV viewers haven't been introduced to Alice yet, Abby's companion will likely feature in season 3, but she sadly suffered a brutal demise in the game that the TV series may avoid. Abby's Seattle "Day One" scene in TLOU season 2's finale indicates that her side of the story is coming in season 3, which means we may be introduced to her patrol dog Alice, who was notably absent from the aquarium in the adaptation.

She was already dead by this point in the game, as Ellie's infiltration of the aquarium saw her get attacked by Alice, causing the protagonist to stab the dog. Although Ellie had come across several dogs throughout the game, finding out that this one belonged to Abby and her crew only adds to how depressing the entire aquarium sequence is. Fortunately, HBO's The Last of Us has already spared Shimmer the horse from her video game death, meaning Alice could be the second animal to receive a more upbeat fate, making Mel's pregnancy twist marginally easier to swallow.