‘The Last Of Us’ is one heartbreak after another in Season 2. Seriously, the blow of Joel’s brutal death will hurt for a long time. Now, Ellie is on a mission to avenge the man who saved her, whether she asked for it or not. It was in the heart-wrenching climax of Season 1 when Joel made the decision to save Ellie from martyring herself for giving the world a cure for the Cordyceps infection. The only way out was for a full-blown shootout. He killed the Fireflies doctors and carried the sedated Ellie out of the hospital, and into relative safety.
Upon waking up, the girl didn’t get the truth. Instead, to her frustration, Joel lied and said there was no cure. She knew something was up and she pushed Joel to come clean. Unfortunately, those confrontations never yielded results. But in the fifth episode of ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Ellie tells a dying Nora that she knew about Joel’s murderous rampage. But, how did that happen?
‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Reveals Ellie Knew About Joel’s Murderous Rampage
Throughout Season 2, Ellie has denied having knowledge of Joel’s actions before seeking refuge in Jackson. She even asked Joel multiple times and talked to the resident therapist Gail, but never let on even to her best friend, Dina, the secret of her rage toward Joel. She remained distant and lashed out at him.
But the twist is, that Ellie knew. After tracking the WLF to Seattle, she breaks into their hospital and finds Abby’s teammate, Nora. Ellie has no qualms while torturing her for the whereabouts of Abby. She even chases Nora to a place festering with spore infection.
Related: How Joel’s Tragic Fate In ‘The Last Of Us’ Episode 2 Compares To The Game Version
Nora knows she is dying, and pleads while Ellie ruthlessly interrogates her. The realization also dawns upon the dying girl that Ellie is immune. So, in a last-ditch effort to avoid further pain in her last moments, she tells her that Joel killed the only person who could restore the world with a cure from Ellie. That surgeon was Abby’s father, who took a shot to his head for his duty. So, consumed by grief and anger, Abby went after Joel.
Nora tells Ellie in a moment of vulnerability that she shouldn’t have had to see Joel’s end. But that he deserved retribution. Then, in a chilling moment, Ellie stares into Nora’s eyes while she tears up, bleeds from her nose, and wheezes from the spreading virus. She smirks at this life-changing truth and admits she knew everything, and she “doesn’t care.” She only wants “justice” for Joel. This marks a dark shift in Ellie’s journey. Her humanity is shaken as she keeps attacking Nora without remorse.
When Did Ellie Uncover Joel’s Deadly Secret?
The answer to how Ellie found out about the Salt Lake City massacre can be referred to from the video game. While HBO has made changes to the ‘The Last Of Us’ show adaptation, largely it has remained faithful to the characters’ fates.
In the game, flashbacks reveal how Ellie and Joel’s relationship deteriorated, They were still happy, despite Ellie’s skepticism, when they arrived in Jackson. But all that changed as Ellie grew increasingly paranoid about Joel’s mannerisms and her rescue from the hospital. So, she takes things into her own hands and sets off to find the truth about the day that haunts her.
In case you missed it: How ‘The Last Of Us’ Series Changed Dina’s Role From The Game
Ellie returns to the scene of the crime, back in Salt Lake City. She digs up evidence of how the Fireflies’ medical staff was killed by Joel in cold blood. The documents are vivid and varied: her own brain scans, notes on the procedure planned to extract the cure from her body, and even a doctor’s voice recording.
The gut punch arrives when Joel finds her and she demands his honesty, once and for all. No doubt Ellie feels betrayed. She wanted to have a choice in saving the world from being ravaged by all sorts of infected. This causes a major rift in their remaining years together. The wall that she built is only broken by witnessing Joel’s horrific death. She remembers him, and she intends to honor his memory by taking Abby’s life, at whatever cost the circumstances demand.
