Warning: this article contains spoilers The Last of Us Part II.
In The Last of Us Part IIEllie stumbles upon the bodies of a couple, Simon and Paige, who tragically died trying to get back to each other – and their story would make a great episode of The last of us season 2. Simon and Paige's story is easily missed; the player has to deviate from the main story, explore the open world areas and do everything to find them. But this detour is rewarded with one of the most moving never-before-seen stories of The Last of Us Part II.
On her way to the hospital to interrogate Nora, Ellie finds the hanging corpse of a pregnant woman named Paige, with a note she wrote before she died, in which she expressed hope that her husband Simon would return soon. Closer to the hospital, Ellie finds Simon's body with a note expressing hope that someone will find him and bring Paige the medicine he died to buy for her. They both died keeping hope in each other. This would be a great plot for The last of us Season 2 to turn into a standalone episode.
Simon and Paige's story would make a great episode of The Last Of Us season two
Simon and Paige could be Bill and Frank from season 2
Simon and Paige's tragic story would make a great standalone episode of The last of us season 2. By focusing on two people whose love for each other transcends the conflict between the Wolves and the Seraphites, This plot would help personalize the Seattle Civil War. The game had huge open-world spaces for the player to learn about this war through deadly encounters and scattered documents, but the TV show will have to find different ways to explore this mythology. Simon and Paige would bring a human perspective to the bloody conflict in Seattle.
The last of us The first season showed that the series thrives when it moves away from the main narrative to focus on the relationship between two lovable characters. Episode 3, “Long, Long Time,” and Episode 7, “Left Behind,” were two of the strongest episodes of Season 1, and each showcased the strengths of that format. “Left Behind” completed Ellie’s story by showcasing her short-lived romance with her best friend Riley, while “Long, Long Time” turned Bill and Frank’s teased in-game relationship into one of TV’s greatest love stories. Simon and Paige could do that in season two.
Simon and Paige's story connects to the central themes of The Last Of Us
Simon and Paige kept hope in a hopeless world
The reason why The last of us Season 1's deviations from the main plot were because they reinforced the central themes. Bill and Frank's love story took a while for Joel and Ellie, but it was still tied to the central message of Joel and Ellie's journey: finding something to fight for. Simon and Paige's story connects similarly to the underlying themes of The last of us. Ellie gives Joel hope in a hopeless world, and Simon and Paige's final words prove they gave each other hope in a hopeless world.
This epic post-apocalyptic saga is about the juxtaposition of love and violence.
This epic post-apocalyptic saga is about the juxtaposition of love and violence. Joel's eternal paternal love for Ellie leads him to massacre the Fireflies. In The Last of Us Part IIEllie's relentless quest for revenge is all in the name of her love for her deceased father figure. Simon and Paige's story makes that juxtaposition loud and clear. All they wanted was to be with each other – and raise their child together – but they were separated and massacred by the violence of this world. Simon was hit by a Seraphite arrow and Paige was executed by a Seraphite patrol.
Why Simon and Paige's Story Might Not Work on the TV Show
The epistolary nature of the story is what makes it so powerful in the game
While Simon and Paige's story is undeniably beautiful and would be compelling television, it may not be as effective as a TV episode as it was in the game. In the game, the epistolary nature of the story is what makes it so effective. Finding his remains long after the hope expressed in his letters had been brutally dashed is arguably more powerful than seeing it play out as a straight live-action plot would. Reconstructing the story years after their deaths is deeply disturbingand that wouldn't translate to TV.
The TV show has faced the same problem with Ish's story since the first game. Some fans hoped that The last of us the first season was going to adapt the story of Ish building a community in the sewers, but the series ended up leaving that out. Reading about Ish's once-thriving community of happy families while walking through the blood-soaked ruins, long after everyone has been infected (or killed), is much scarier than seeing the story unfold in a more traditional format. Yet, The last of us season two could do something great with Simon and Paige.