Before the launch of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," many fans believed that main protagonist Nathan Drake may soon meet his end. The director of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" recently shared some details about the character and his potential of getting killed off.
Director Neil Druckmann revealed that Naughty Dog never intended for Nathan Drake to die "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" because the idea would not blend well with the tone of the franchise. Druckmann said that it felt like the "Uncharted 4" A Thief's End" hero did not have a lot of places left to go. They were thinking of a definite way to close the story while keeping true to the tone of the series. He continued that killing the character would be one way of making a definitive ending.
GameSpot cited Druckmann in saying that maintaining the mystery about Drake's fate in "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" was a strategy to keep people in the dark about the next situation, although they never thought about killing the character. Early on, Naughty Dog decided that killing the "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" hero will not be proper for the lighthearted pulp tone of the action-adventure series.
Kotaku revealed that Nathan Drake won and survived in the final boss fight of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End." What followed was an epilogue set 12 to 15 years in the future, in the perspective of Cassie Drake, Nate and Elena's child. It was a good way to end the "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" story without having to kill Nathan. The epilogue offered the proper closure for longtime fans of the franchise and gave the opportunity to look back on previous installments coming full circle.
"Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" was released on May 10, 2016 and is reportedly the last entry in the series that will feature Nathan Drake as the main protagonist. It is also the final game developed by Naughty Dog. There are talks of a fifth "Uncharted" game under another game developer, which will most likely showcase a new hero as well. More updates and details on "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" are expected soon.