At the end of The Last of Us (2013), Joel performed an act that split the community. He dove into a hospital full of Fireflies and slaughtered them to rescue Ellie, his ward. For the last decade, it has been the topic of widespread debate, with fans on both sides of the fence arguing whether Joel was right to save Ellie.
In the run-up to the release of The Last of Us season two, showrunners and writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann sat down with IGN to discuss that very topic, and we secured a definitive answer from the highest authority in the debate.
Did Joel Do The Right Thing?
Love it or hate it, Joel’s decision kicked off a chain of events that led to The Last of Us Part II being born, and that was good enough for me to side with him. On a more real note, I fully appreciate where Joel was coming from – we do crazy things for family, even if that family is represented by a twisted, pseudo-adoptive daughter figure.
In a recent interview with IGN, Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last of Us, offered his two cents:
I believe Joel was right.
If I were in Joel’s position, I hope I would be able to do what he did to save my daughter.
Craig Mazin, who has been partnered with Druckmann for the last few years working on HBO’s The Last of Us, chimed in:
That’s so interesting, because I think that if I were in Joel’s position, I probably would have done what he did.
But I’d like to think that I wouldn’t. That’s the interesting push and pull of the morality of it. And that’s why the ending of the first game is so provocative and so wonderful. It just doesn’t let you off the hook as a player.
It’s mostly subjective, and it’s not a binary thing – there’s no black and white with what Joel did, and every person will end up giving a unique take on what they think about Joel’s actions.
Would you have saved Ellie if you were in Joel’s shoes? Let me know what you think in the comments, or hop over to the Insider Gaming forum.
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