The latest The Last of Us Part 2 trailer potentially revealed a pretty damning part of the story, and it’s already souring my experience.

For anyone not aware, there is a certain trope in media wherein women are killed (fridged) to give the lead protagonist motivation. On top of that, LGBTQ+ characters in media, especially lesbians, notoriously never get a happy ending.

If we’re reading the context of the latest The Last of Us Part 2 trailer correctly, then The Last of Us Part 2 commits both of these sins.

The latest trailer covers a lot of ground, starting with Ellie and her friend Dina speaking about their kindling romance. They are patrolling the snowy grounds of Jackson County, when all of a sudden, they are overtaken by a group of raiders.

Ellie is beaten down, and in a split second, a gun fires off, but we don’t see who is shot. The context of the trailer, of course, leads us to believe that it was Dina who was shot and killed.

This revenge is sour

Besides being generic, Ellie being motivated to take down all of the raiders that she feels were responsible for Dina’s death is a horrible means of tugging at our heartstrings. Sure, we’ve been told time and time again that The Last of Us Part 2 was going to be a really dark revenge story, but why does it have to leave Ellie without any hope for a future life?

Ellie’s best friend and crush Riley was infected, and while the two were determined to die together, that poetic ending never happened. Ellie went on to survive due to her immunity, and Riley was gone. She was Ellie’s first kiss, and it meant something. If you’re seeing the problem here, it’s that yes, we’ve already done the same sort of plot with Riley as we’re probably about to do with Dina.

Of course, this is assuming that what’s motivating Ellie in her path of revenge is, in fact, Dina’s death…

A queer bait and switch

It is possible that Dina does survive the game’s opening moments. Although this is unlikely, there have been sly remarks from the creators that it is their intention to pull the rug out from underneath players. The creators also remark that they are purposefully showing the public every bit of marketing material piece by piece so as to strategically allow us to experience their intended narrative.

So what if the comments from The Last of Us Part 2‘s creators mean that Dina was still alive? What fate could actually be better for Dina? Ellie’s revenge has to be stemming from something. While rape seems too dark for even this series, perhaps Dina was captured. But is the “your princess is in another castle” plot device any better?

Dina is purposefully not shown in any of the other cutscenes in the latest trailer. We don’t know her fate, but we’re left feeling hurt. Sure, the setup of the story needs to be in advertisements, so that the audience knows why they are purchasing the sequel. At that, the story itself presents a challenging issue for marketing material, now doesn’t it?

‘The Last of Us Part 2’ deserves better

Being the largest game that developer Naughty Dog has ever crafted (it’s going to take up two Blu-Ray discs of information!), we can only hope that this lengthy title will be filled with so much quality content that come the story’s end, we will feel satisfied. If the game’s team has been working so hard on crafting the best (assumed) end to Ellie’s journey, then why start it off on such a blatantly bitter note?

As stated above, this game is tough to market for. We need to know why Ellie looks so murderous on the game’s cover. Or do we?

Much like with a movie monster, the less we see, the better. While I do want to experience what is driving Ellie to her goals of revenge in the game, I do NOT want to be spoiled via the game’s marketing. Have we seen all that this game will focus on? Likely not, seeing as the creators also state that just when you think that the story is about to end, you will realize that what you just played was only the beginning of the entire game.

Related: The Last of Us is important to the LGBTQ+ community

There is bound to be an epic mid-game conclusion, as there is to be another shocking moment in the title that will turn the whole game on its side (RE: playing as Ellie for the first time in The Last of Us Part 1.) Perhaps we’re going to see more of the stories of the other survivors seen in the (gruesome) Paris Games Week trailer? Or maybe we’ll be able to play as Dina as she works to get back to Ellie. [Please watch the below Paris Games Week trailer on an empty stomach. It’s… very gory.]

Whichever way the story evolves, we’ve been baited, bamboozled, or both. However the The Last of Us Part 2 story unrolls, I’m already angry.