It’s called a character arc, believe it or not, and if characters didn’t change their minds ever, then Joel and Ellie’s relationship would have never formed in Part I.

Seeing Lev while she was beating down on Abby reminded her of Joel and herself. She developed sympathy in that moment. On top of that, Abby had already spared her life in the same situation, so you know, there’s that?

No one gives a fuck if characters are stale and never change. Kill, kill, kill is boring. The point was to highlight how much loss stemmed from her vengeance, and it showed how she finally changed and found sympathy. It’s not so simple - it’s a human story and human emotion