Left Behind focussed on lead character Ellie by bookending her story as an aside to the main campaign. Although Naughty Dog is still beavering away on a mythical multiplayer for Part II, our dreams that we'll get a Left Behind-inspired DLC have been dashed by the latest rumours. Arthur is left bloody and exhausted on the rock face of a mountain when Dutch arrives and disregards Arthur's claims that Micah is the rat who betrayed the gang.As with any AAA game, players have come to expect something more. After urging John to run, and fending off their attackers, Arthur gets into a lengthy fist fight with Micah. For the sake of argument, we will be considering the most well-known version, which happens for those players with high honor and who choose to help John escape in Arthur's final mission. There are also several versions of Arthur's death, depending on the actions of the player throughout the game. RELATED: The 5 Most Effective Twists in Games His condition deteriorates as the player progresses through the story, each coughing fit sounding like it could be his last. Halfway through the game Arthur is diagnosed with tuberculosis for which, at the time the game is set, there was no cure. What separates Arthur's death from Joel's is that, by the time it occurs, it is expected, inevitable even. Given the game's scale and the intricate details of it, Arthur is a fully fleshed out character, with different sides of his personality being unveiled through the countless interactions he has with non-playable characters.
Starting out as a ruthless enforcer of the Van der Linde gang, Arthur shows compassion, empathy and bravery as he progresses through the game's story. It's a testament to Rockstar Game's storytelling and the acting of Roger Clark that Arthur became such an important character to so many people. Players take control of Arthur for the majority of the game before the perspective shifts to John Marston, the first game's protagonist, after Arthur's death. RELATED: A Last of Us Remake Is a TERRIBLE Idea Red Dead Redemption 2Ĭonversely, Red Dead Redemption 2's major death was of a character not previously established: the outlaw with a heart of gold, Arthur Morgan. Though the leaks somewhat ruined the moment, Joel's death was a shocking event. Such a death wouldn't have made sense in The Last of Us Part II, especially for such a conflicted character. So often in games, television and films, beloved characters are given bold, glorious deaths that somewhat ease the pain of their passing. It highlights the ugly cycle of violence and the futility of revenge and resentment. The killing of Joel made sense within the context of the world established in the franchise. Ellie is seeking revenge while Abby is reckoning with the emptiness of her own vengeance, and how it unleashed Ellie's wrath on her own loved ones. In-game, Joel's death is the catalyst for the grueling and engrossing events that transpire. The nature of this scene caused many fans of the game to rail against its creators, arguing that Joel deserved a more noble sendoff.
He simply found himself surrounded by the wrong people, a violent life meeting a violent end. There is no blaze of glory, no final stand for a character players had seen perform countless heroics. RELATED: How Days Gone's Secret Ending Sets Up Its (Canceled) Sequel It is a stunning and harrowing cutscene in which Joel's kneecaps are shot out before his head is caved in with a golf club, wielded by a largely unknown character with Ellie watching on, screaming for her surrogate father to get up. Then, Joel is unceremoniously bludgeoned to death at the beginning of The Last of Us Part II. So, when a sequel was announced, players were eager to pick things back up with Joel.
Through a dozen-or-so hours of gameplay in the original game, Joel became an icon, a personification of just how effectively the medium can explore significant topics and themes. In fact, due to significant leaks prior to that release, news and footage of Joel's demise hit the internet a lot earlier than intended, sparking outrage among fans of the franchise. It's difficult to understate how much of a seismic shock Joel Miller's death caused when the game released in 2020.