Contemplating The Ending Of The Last Of Us

GI - "I suspect that Naughty Dog's The Last of Us is going to be many people's game of the year. It's certainly mine. It's an experience that has stayed with me long after I finished it. In the months that have passed since it released, I've continued to think about the game's ambivalent ending and what it means."

[NukaCola]

This is a game where your opinion of the characters determines whether or not you agree or disagree with the ending. I as a father, can understand the final outcome and personally feel I would of done the same. Be it selfish or whatever. In that scenario, it's too difficult to truly know. TLOU isn't black and white, but a shade of grey that tears at emotional strings, strumming a tune unlike anything else.

[Thatguy-310]

Joel is just human. He did what any other human would've done if put in the same situation. At the core humans do things for their advantage no matter how it affects others. I like when he says that you always find something to fight for which in reality is true. ND tackled the story of The Last of Us in a realistic way. That's the reason I love it so much. At the end of the day there isn't any good or evil.

[Callediceman]

i couldnt agree more. Just imagine the sequel

[badz149]

the ending is stuck with me even now too! I still am thinking of what would have been but the odds are against the Fireflies! nobody likes them aside from themselves and even then the members are already at the verge of breaking down and falling apart because they are cornered by the military and there's no visible light at their endless tunnel of unsuccessful rebel.

on the other hand, Ellie is nothing more but a resemblance of his lost child 20 years later but I also think that the Prologue scene is a flashback dream for Joel that act like a sign (something like the sixth sense) that he will meet and get attached to Ellie down the road but it was clear that he still thought of Ellie as his mission up until he met Tommy.

man...I can go all day dissecting the story of TLoU as I love it so much but back to the topic...I understand why he did what he did but I can't help but feeling guilty about it. the effort of the Fireflies is in no way 100% sure to work but the possibility was there as Ellie is a proven immune! the choice is too tough to make - choose the better world if the cure is found but with the death of Ellie or forever living in denial and lies with Ellie when there's no doubt Ellie pretty much knows you're lying!

[HammadTheBeast]

How can we regain our humanity if we begin the process with an act that defies its very essence?

-pretty much the ending as I interpreted it.

Edit: If you also look at the last words of the kid who dies (forgot his name) he basically says the people who are infected move on, so there's no need for a cure.

[creatchee]

Joel's decision saved humanity. Not so much in a literal sense, but more along the lines of preserving the notion of what humanity is. It's easy to say that the lives of many are worth sacrificing the life of one, but it is our humanity that says that killing a girl for the mere possibility of a cure is not worth what we'd become to allow that to happen.

I mean, look at the world of TLOU. Stealing and murder is commonplace. Concentration camps are de facto refuges. Survival overcame the urge to be human and to make decisions based on the tenets of compassion and love. If Joel allows Ellie to die, even for the supposed greater good, then humanity is lost and we are just a species clinging to life instead of being alive.

[Conzul]

+ int

[MichaelPachter]

Your analysis beats every analysis I'm getting paid for.

Have a bubble.

[ajax17]

I'm not a parent, but I completely agree with the ending.

[objectivePSfan]

how many endings in video games are analyzed to this extent? Very few, which demonstrates the brilliance with how it ended.

[mikeslemonade]

I like your username.

[HammadTheBeast]

I like yours.

[JackVagina]

spoilers*

The world was already gone to shit anyway, no justice system, full of rapists, murderers and cannibals. There's no going back from that, sacrificing Ellie would have just been a waste.

[ginsunuva]

Don't contemplate it. It'll mess with your head and cause depression.

[Conzul]

Every time I hear a bar of the soundtrack I get shivers of depression......for real.

[Stevino321]

So in conclusion, simple is easy. They made such a complex story seen simple, using real life scenarios made the game amazing. The virus really drove people crazy, and they displayed the emotion like no other game could, I like that, they took a real life setting, with an awesome story adding a pinch of imagination, a dabble of emotion, and spoonful of action. This game got me too attached, i think a narrative standpoint is better than taking things out proportion, cough cough call of duty

[BABY-JEDI]

Society had gone to ruin & it's humanity with it. Sacrificing Ellie in Joel's eyes would not have changed this fact.

[RE_L_MAYER]

what is weird is the saying "life is worth fighting for"or something like that in the end that joel says is also in a letter of ellies mom so I thought he must have read it and tried to lure her into living but its probably just a coincidence........I hate how they took most of the game from" the road" movie