who might have suffered with trauma to understand that they are not alone. The writers wanted to deconstruct the perception of violence in Joel and Ellie: while Joel is indifferent and practical, Ellie kills to maintain a "culture of honor" by attaching violence to her ego. Some of the team considered Ellie's obsession with Abby akin to a drug addiction, and that Dina left as she felt that the obsession would never end. Gross considered the game's final shot, wherein Ellie leaves behind the guitar that Joel gave her, represented Ellie moving on from his death to a new chapter. Druckmann felt that it illustrated Ellie finally overcoming her ego, though he preferred that the player create their own interpretation. Druckmann felt that Joel's character arc was complete after the first game. Joel's death was a core part of the game's narrative structure from early in development; Druckmann considered it one of the most difficult to write, rehearse, and shoot. Though it initially caused some internal resistance, the team felt compelled when more of the narrative was built out. An early version of Joel's death scene had him utter "Sarah", his daughter's name, until Baker suggested that he should remain silent. While Sarah's death in the first game intended to evoke sadness, Joel's death aims to elicit anger. Ellie was originally absent during the scene, and was to be informed by Joel's brother Tommy, but Druckmann felt that witnessing the death through Ellie's perspective emphasized the anger of the player. He wanted it to be portrayed as "gross, unceremonious, and humiliating" instead of heroic; it was originally more gruesome, but later toned down as the gore was not crucial to the scene. He predicted that it might lead to negative reactions, but felt it was necessary to tell the story; he particularly felt that Naughty Dog's notability in the industry gave it the opportunity to take risks that other developers could not. In an earlier version of the scene, Abby stabbed Joel in the back and twisted the knife to paralyze him; however, as knives are more closely associated with Ellie, the team replaced it with a golf club to demonstrate Abby's blunt force attacks. When auditioning actors for Abby, Druckmann specifically wanted to avoid casting Laura Bailey due to her proliferation of roles; he had originally considered Bailey to play Dina. When reviewing her audition tape, however, Druckmann was