5 Frustrating Gaming Moments That Forced Us To Take A Break In 2013

By Mark Thompson / December 8, 2013

3. The Last Of Us - Sam And Henry€™s Death

I had a terrible time trying to process this moment from The Last of Us. Sure, the title and the world it inhabits suggests fear and unsafety but when friends of Joel and Ellie began to be picked off, it made the experience feel real. The first character to go was Tess and although her sacrifice is somewhat heroic, I found it hard to feel her loss because I hadn€™t spent as much time as I would have liked with her.

But my time with Henry and Sam was meaningful because the two characters reflect the relationship of Joel and Ellie. Henry is willing to give everything in order to protect his child companion and can€™t contemplate a life worth living without him. Like Ellie, Sam was born into this world and both adults want to see them reach a utopia, to remind them of what the world used to be.

So when Sam is bitten it€™s a brutal reminder that happy endings are for fairytales and not for the real world. As Sam confirms his biggest fear is turning into one of the infected and having no control over his own body, he shows the bite on his ankle as Henry dreams about Harley Davidsons. When he wake, he€™s left to witness his brother turning, with no chance to say goodbye before he€™s forced to shoot him. The guilt of the moment takes its toll and Henry shoots himself. The scene cuts to black and Winter comes up, suggesting things are about to get worse.