Summary
The Last of Usis packed full of emotional and heart-wrenching encounters, but one fan believes that Bill’s incomplete chess game revolves around a deep connection he has with another character who appears postmortem. Since the franchise’s debut in 2013, there’s been no shortage of praise for the harrowing narrative found inThe Last of Usalong with its stunning and dark environments filled with unearthly infected who have succumbed to the Cordyceps virus.
Earlier this year, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann teased that he hadcompleted a rough outline ofThe Last of Us 3’s story, but nothing concrete has been announced or hinted at by the studio, implying an agonizing wait for players intrigued to know what happens next in the series' narrative. Druckmann did, however, note that the broad and nebulous idea of love is the throughline for the entire series, which could mean that even if the next entry into the franchise is just as somber asThe Last of Us Part 2, it could still maintain a certain amount of warmth.
In a post on Reddit,TheLast of Usplayer josh_the_jet believes that they may have found an emotional connection between Bill and his beloved chess set. In the fourth chapter ofThe Last of Us, in which Ellie and Joel arrive in Bill’s Town, an ongoing chess game is displayed on a table in an abandoned bar. As Joel and Ellie have a conversation about playing the game, Bill shouts at Ellie not to touch the chess set. This particular scene prompted the player to speculate that he had been waiting for his partner,Bill’s possible lover Frank, to return to finish the game, but, unfortunately, he never came back.
Bill and Frank’s Unfinished Chess Game Connection in The Last of Us
One clue hinting atBill and Frank’s queer relationshipis highlighted towards the end of the Bill’s Town chapter, in which Ellie, Joel, and Bill come across Frank’s body in an abandoned house where he took his own life after being bitten. This is where Bill refers to Frank as his “partner,” and although he tries to maintain an uncaring demeanor, Bill’s eyes fill up with tears. A letter from Frank is also found in the same house, which makes it sound like it’s written by a tired lover fed up with Bill’s rigid mindset.
While players can expect the next game in the series to be several years away, a newjob listing hints atThe Last of UsPart 3being in the works. The studio is also rumored to be working on a mysterious first-person IP, seemingly unlike anything Naughty Dog has previously done before. It’s certainly a frustrating time for fans as the continuation of the game series is up in the air, with the cancelation ofThe Last of Us Onlinestill a sore spot for players.
The Last of Us
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards. In a ravaged civilization, where infected and hardened survivors run rampant, Joel, a weary protagonist, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of a military quarantine zone. However, what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal cross-country journey. Includes the complete The Last of Us single-player story and celebrated prequel chapter, Left Behind, which explores the events that changed the lives of Ellie and her best friend Riley forever.
