The Last of Us 2 player discovers Easter egg referencing iconic scene from the first game

The Last of Us 2
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

The Last of Us 2 features a reference to one of the first game's most iconic and emotional scenes.

As spotted in a post from Reddit user woahruben, this particular Easter egg is a direct reference to a famous giraffe seen in the original game - be warned, this may bring a tear to your eye.

Never noticed this parallel from r/thelastofus

As you can see, the mural that Abby is standing in front of is a direct parallel to a shot from the original game. The scene in question takes place early on in the final act of The Last of Us, shortly after Ellie is attacked by David and her personality dramatically shifts. As she and Joel make their way through another abandoned building, she gasps. You might automatically assume the worst, but instead of another post-apocalyptic threat, it's a giraffe. 

The beautiful and touching scene reminds us that Ellie is still a child growing up in this strange environment, and the giraffe is a momentary respite from her accelerated maturation. It's also a lovely, well-timed break for the player, who has been slogging through some pretty heavy stuff for quite some time. The Last of Us 2 referencing this scene, especially from Abby's perspective, is a certainly a painful reminder of what Ellie has lost - but it also gives us hope for both women's future. 

This isn't the first time players have discovered The Last of Us 2 Easter eggs several months after its release. There's even a Supernatural Easter egg hiding in the Seattle Conference Center, for those of you who are missing the CW series. That players keep finding Easter eggs is certainly a testament to the attention to detail that went into making the sequel - here's hoping we'll uncover more as time goes by.

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Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.