The Real Reason Abby Uses This Weapon In The Last Of Us Part 2

The Last of Us Part 2 brought up many questions for players. Among all the contrasting opinions about the game from critics and fans alike, one random question has surfaced in the aftermath: why did Abby use a golf club as a weapon in the game's most controversial moment?

(Beware of major spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Part 2.)

Recently, Neil Druckmann — TLOU2 co-writer and director, as well as co-president of Naughty Dog — shared some intel with The Washington Post on why he went for the ace in the hole this way. When he was 16, Druckmann was picking up some golf basics from a friend at a driving range when things took an unexpected and painful turn. 

As Druckmann shared with The Washington Post via DM, "My friend was into it. He invited me to go to a driving range. He was showing me the ropes. I stood behind him, and got smacked on the back swing. Blood everywhere." The golf club accident led to a permanent dent in Druckmann's skull and 30 stitches — not exactly creating a positive association with the sport.

As far as making Abby's golf club the lethal weapon that dealt Joel's controversial fate, one of the game's many divisive twists, Druckmann said he originally considered other options but ended up wanting something unique, so he took inspiration from his younger days. "For a long time, Abby stabbed Joel in the back then twisted the knife to paralyze him," Druckmann told The Post. "But knife felt more like an Ellie thing. We wanted something different."

The golf club ended up being a major bit of iconography for the game. The summer before TLOU2 finally dropped, the scene where Abby kills Joel with a golf club was leaked, spoiling the game for many players. As The Washington Post put it, "The golf club quickly became a meme among the angrier corners of the Internet, upset at the character's death. Druckmann embraced the meme anyway, sometimes replying to tweets with GIFs of golfers or making offhand golf club jokes."

Clearly, combining the grisly with the humorous is something The Last of Us series does well, both intentionally and unintentionally. Players have found some hilarious glitches in the game as of late, including one that makes Ellie slap happy in the first game, and another in TLOU2 that lets players break into the trippiest abandoned school of all time.

As for the future of the franchise, Druckmann recently announced a bunch of open Naughty Dog positions via Twitter, tipping off fans that a new game is likely in the works. Not only that, but there's a The Last of Us HBO series in the works featuring The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal as Joel and fellow Game of Thrones standout Bella Ramsey as Ellie.