The Fireflies have largely been a wild goose chase in The Last of Us or, frankly, an underwhelming and smoldering flare when they were romanticized as a beacon of hope. It’s unclear whether or not the Fireflies would’ve actually been able to make a cure with Ellie undergoing surgery, and that uncertainty alone is arguably enough to justify Joel killing the head surgeon, Dr. Jerry Anderson, and all of the armed personnel who refused to let Joel take Ellie, let alone see her again before euthanizing her. Now, the implication made is that Joel irreparably eradicated any hope of a cure without Jerry.
Perhaps the Fireflies that Abby and Lev find in Santa Barbara are spearheading research for a cure, or perhaps no cure is ever sought out and a Part 3 simply follows characters through grueling experiences. Either way, if Ellie does return in a third and potentially final Last of Us game, the events of Part 2 may have realigned her moral compass or altered her ideologies. Moreover, if presented with yet another opportunity at devising a cure via her immunity, it would be interesting to see if Ellie’s perspective on self-sacrifice is challenged at all by Joel’s unapologetic convictions.
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Ellie’s Trust in Joel is Fractured by a Life-Changing and Life-Saving Lie
The crux of why Joel’s lie to Ellie is so damning in The Last of Us Part 1 is that Ellie obviously wanted the choice to be hers and, seeing how distraught she was about learning that she might have potentially been in service of creating a cure, was unafraid or unconcerned that her life would have ended.
Maybe the sole or primary reason as to why she’s willing to make this sacrifice, especially at such a young age, is because of Ellie’s survivor’s guilt regarding Riley. Ellie explicitly admits that she feels like she’s on borrowed time, having been bitten and then forced to “wait her turn” while she and Riley agreed to poetically accept their shared fates and “lose [their] minds together.”
Plus, she clearly wants her life and the lives of everyone who’s died to have purpose—something Joel denies by not only ‘saving’ her but also forcing her to keep her immunity a secret. The latter is forgivable since anyone who knew she was bitten would likely assume she’s infected, not unlike Joel, Tess, and a pair of FEDRA soldiers did, and yet Ellie is perfectly and justly allowed to be bitter and remorseful about Joel telling her that the Firefly doctors had given up hope.
Ellie’s Rampage May Put Her at Odds with Preconceived Beliefs
The extent to which Ellie is willing to pursue Abby may reverse-engineer any resentment she harbored toward Joel. Caring for Joel so deeply in spite of his lie’s severity, it’d be interesting to see if Ellie would render Joel’s actions meaningless by sacrificing herself for a cure later on anyhow after possibly gaining a newfound comprehension for how he was capable of what he did.
Indeed, all of the heartache that ensues in the opening act of Part 2 is fully due to Joel killing Abby’s father, while all of the heartache that ensues thereafter is arguably caused by Ellie’s compulsion to avenge Joel. Ellie self-sacrificing may give her the satisfaction of resolving her survivor’s guilt and tie a bow on her story nobly, but it could essentially mean that Joel’s death, as well as everyone who died because of him, Ellie, and Abby in their intertwining exploits, was for nothing.
The Last of Us Part I
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 76%
- Released
- September 2, 2022
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Engine
- naughty dog
- Franchise
- The Last of Us
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 15 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
