In a new interview discussing the season finale of The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann reveals they tried to make a prequel game centered on Ellie’s mom, Anna.
If you haven’t watched last night’s finale for The Last of Us (what’s wrong with you), then you may want to turn around to avoid some spoilers. Nothing too huge, really, but if you want to go in completely fresh, perhaps come back later.
Still here? Okay, because this is particularly neat. In a break from the game, the finale episode opens up with a flashback to Anna, Ellie’s mother, in the throes of labor. While giving birth to Ellie, she is attacked and bitten by an infected, offering some hints (with no outright confirmation) to exactly how Ellie manages to be immune.
In an interview with io9, recapping the finale (and more), The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann revealed he’s had this idea for a story about Ellie’s mom pretty much since they wrapped up the first game, and has been wanting to do something with it ever since. These efforts even included trying to make a prequel video game about Anna:
“Then we were talking to another game company to potentially do it as a whole other game. That deal fell apart to tell that story then.”
Apparently, the idea was fleshed out enough to have some more details, and would even include Ellie’s father (to which the games give no hints about). “I will say there was some stuff written for the mom and the dad,” Druckmann said. “Again, we were talking to this sort of game studio to potentially do a whole Anna game, the climax of which was this scene. So I’m reluctant to say anything about it because as I now found out several times, stories that I think are failures and will never see the light of day, sometimes see the light of day.”
While that’s far from saying it could still happen, it sure sounds like they’re more than willing to keep the door open to it. Who knows, maybe it could be part of the rumored Part III game in some fashion. Either way, it’s pretty neat and I’m crossing my fingers some sort of spin-off/prequel game happens.
Also, be sure to check out that full interview on io9 as it’s filled with tons of other great tidbits about the show.
