In the world of The Last of Us 2, the Cordyceps fungus caused a global outbreak in September 2013 that brought about the end of the world as we know it. Since society collapsed and the world essentially ended in The Last of Us 2's September 2013, some fans have been wondering how it was possible that Joel was able to perform a cover of Pearl Jam's "Future Days" song at the beginning of The Last of Us 2, when the song wasn't released until October 2013 alongside the band's Lightning Bolt album. While this has been described as a "plot hole" by some critics, it turns out that there's an explanation for it.
The Last of Us 2 director Neil Druckmann took to Twitter to offer an explanation for this supposed "plot hole," revealing that the song was actually performed live by Pearl Jam in the months prior to the album's release. Not only that, but Pearl Jam's live version of "Future Days" was actually uploaded to YouTube in July 2013. Therefore, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that Joel had listened to and learned the song prior to Outbreak Day, even though it didn't actually release until the next month.
Joel performs his version of Pearl Jam's "Future Days" near the beginning of the game when he gives Ellie her guitar. Ellie's guitar remains an important symbol throughout the entirety of The Last of Us 2, featured prominently in cut-scenes and used as part of gameplay as well.
There are multiple times in The Last of Us 2 when players use Ellie's guitar to play a song as part of a rhythm mini-game. Players also have the opportunity to practice on the guitar at their leisure, and some players have even managed to play real songs using The Last of Us 2's guitar. What could have been a throwaway feature actually has a surprising amount of depth, and is a good example of Naughty Dog's insane attention to detail in the game.
Considering how accurately and painstakingly Naughty Dog recreated Seattle in The Last of Us 2, it would be somewhat out of character for the studio to slip up with this Joel Pearl Jam plot hole, so it's good to see that there is a logical explanation for it.
The Last of Us 2 is out now, exclusively for PlayStation 4.
