Like all good things, the first season of ‘The Last Of Us‘ came to an end after 10 episodes. Joel and Ellie survived a treacherous journey across the post-apocalyptic ruins of the dystopian United States. While Joel starts to get cold feet, Ellie is still solid. Joel tries to tell her it’s okay if she’s afraid. But Ellie’s mind is made up.
Ellie wants to do whatever it takes to make the vaccine and see it make a difference. She’s come too far to walk away. She asks Joel to keep moving and deliver her to the Fireflies. While they talk and see each other, they are unaware of how differently they stand on Ellie being a volunteer for the Cordyceps vaccine.
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‘The Last Of Us’: Joel Lies To Protect Ellie
After fighting the FEDRA, Fireflies, and the Infected, the most dangerous person for Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is Joel (Pedro Pascal). Close to their destination, Ellie starts to get jittery. While she’s not a child, the killing she had to do to stay alive has left her haunted. Joel sees and recognizes it, having been down the same road many times.
But Ellie’s mind is made up. As Joel and Ellie get closer to their final destination, they are attacked by a group of Fireflies’ soldiers. Joel finds himself facing Marlene, asking about Ellie’s whereabouts. Marlene informs him how the doctors have to reverse engineer the vaccine because of the Cordyceps evolving.
As a result, Ellie will have to die. But before the great sacrifice for humanity can be made, Joel rescues Ellie from the surgery and kills everyone standing in their way. Having lost a lot, Joel is not ready to lose Ellie. What follows is a white lie and the killing of more Fireflies soldiers.
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‘The Last Of Us’: Ellie Believes Joel’s Lie
When Ellie regains consciousness, she demands an answer. Joel chooses to hide the truth from her. He tells her Fireflies could not make a working vaccine from her blood samples. He further takes the wind out of her sails by saying none of the trials worked and all of it had been for nothing. From Joel’s rearview mirror, we watch a suspicious Ellie thinking about the authenticity of the facts presented to her.
Ellie is disappointed. But more than that, this is when their relationship seems to drift away. Their return to Wyoming is uncharacteristically quiet. No more jokes. No more banter. It’s made more awkward by Joel reliving and recreating her daughter Sarah’s memories with Ellie. It would have been a sweet moment had he not lied to Ellie.
Unable to take it anymore, Ellie asks Joel if he’s being honest about the failure of the vaccine. Without flinching, Joel lies again, saying everything broke down back at the hospital. Ellie studies him as she’s still not over her suspicion. She’s beginning to notice that in Joel’s mind, she’s her daughter. And it is when it dawns on her that their relationship won’t be the same. In the present moment, she says she believes him.
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