Not many weapons are particularly iconic in The Last of Us, but most are made impactful or meaningful through their contextualized usage. If fans were to mention a golf club in The Last of Us’ context, for example, it would have a lot of meaning. There are a wide range of short and long guns that players are able to wield that are truly satisfying, but none stand out as being uniquely definitive of The Last of Us. Instead, Ellie’s switchblade is one undoubtedly iconic weapon from the relatively short franchise.
Joel has multiple weapons throughout The Last of Us, and their importance is mainly regarded to which he decides to entrust to Ellie. This is how Ellie gets her handgun, as well as how she is taught to use a bolt-action rifle. Ellie wields a bow later on, but bows are not unique to The Last of Us either. Both The Last of Us 1 and 2 emphasize violence to a great degree, and while hammers become a unique weapon wielded by the Seraphites, they still pale in comparison to how distinct Ellie’s switchblade is in both narrative and gameplay.
The Importance of Ellie’s Switchblade in Narrative
Ellie’s switchblade suggests a number of things about her that are confirmed when fans see her. She is young, and therefore small, which means that she is not old enough to be responsibly trusted with a firearm. However, her size also allows her to engage in stealth more, and having a concealable melee weapon makes for quick, silent kills when need be. The switchblade was given to Ellie by Marlene, and it is the knife that belonged to Ellie’s mother, Anna.
The switchblade is therefore synonymous with Ellie, and can even be seen stabbed into The Last of Us’ main menu windowsill after completing the game. If Ellie does return in a Part 3 it will be interesting to see if she had managed to retrieve her switchblade from the water after her fight with Abby in Santa Barbara. If so, it could continue to be one of the primary connective threads that tie her development together through each installment.
The Importance of Ellie’s Switchblade in Gameplay
Ellie’s switchblade is unique in gameplay because it is a melee weapon that does not have durability. Players can slash or backstab with the switchblade infinitely, but Ellie is an awful knife-fighting combatant due to her size in The Last of Us 1, meaning that players do not want to be backed into a corner or left without ammunition as Ellie.
In The Last of Us 2, Ellie is considerably better at scrapping, but the switchblade is still far better in stealth than it is in any melee encounters. Ellie can make it remarkably far with her switchblade alone, especially in The Last of Us’ Left Behind DLC and winter sequence. If players stick behind David and allow him to grapple with infected enemies, for example, Ellie can rush up behind them and get free stealth kills, exploiting that NPC companion AI.
This means that players never need shivs as Ellie, which would make The Last of Us 3 interesting if it featured her as a sole protagonist. Ellie’s switchblade is smaller than combat knives or machetes that enemies may wield, but it would also be terrific to see a parry of some sort introduced in a Part 3. If Ellie’s switchblade is truly gone, then she may be stuck with shivs and melee weapons instead.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available now for PC and PS5.
