100°

The Last of Us: What Joel's Impossible Decision Tells Us About Real Grief, From a Bereaved Father

A bereaved father himself, writer Dan Lipscombe dives into the complicated, grief-led emotions that drives Joel's actions at the end of The Last of Us.

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-Foxtrot371d ago

Not really an impossible decision, he loved her

Also the Fireflies were incompetent assholes who saw him try and do CPR on an unconscious person when they clearly looked distressed. They told Joel about how this one person could POSSIBLY get a cure out of Ellie despite performing no other procedures, studying her or taking blood samples. They had no real plan to distribute the cure and would most likely use it more as leverage against FEDRA with them being terroists (they blow up checkpoints killing civilians) and also they marched Joel out of that hospital at gunpoint without any of his gear after treating him like shit and were most likely going to kill him outside.

He did the right thing, I don't even know how this is a debate sometimes, the world in TLOU universe is gone and I don't think a cure would totally fix it.

LucasRuinedChildhood370d ago (Edited 370d ago )

"despite performing no other procedures, studying her or taking blood samples." That's false. https://youtu.be/m7fG_UAD_-...

"I don't even know how this is a debate sometimes." You yourself used to praise TLOU1's ending for being morally grey and intentionally written in a way that people could come to different conclusions about Joel's choice and discuss it.

-Foxtrot370d ago

The point is they did this in like what? A day

If you are a doctor or scientist the last thing you do is the kill the person…you keep them alive to perform as many tests as you can over a long period of time

They didn’t know what they were doing

DarXyde370d ago

Even with all of the justifications you provide, I don't think that's what drove Joel to make that decision. That's what a rational, clear thinking person would do.

To me I think Joel has never recovered from his personal grief and the world as it is doesn't give him that opportunity or luxury. It's just been pure hardship since Sara died. The cruel conditions of the world cost him his daughter's life—in Ellie, he had a second chance and had the power to change the outcome, so he did.

His intentions were not so noble, but you are thinking about it. I think that's the magic of this game, especially the first one: this idea that the people you control are of are protagonists and therefore "the good guys". In reality, they do an excellent job of humanizing Joel by showing that his actions saved another life for selfish reasons. He's done some horrible things that characters must contend with in the sequel and it becomes more apparent that there are no heroes. Just survivors.

RauLeCreuset370d ago

I maintain that there's a reason the game begins and ends with a group attempting to murder a child as a sacrifice for the survival of humanity. It's the conundrum of trying to sacrifice humanity to save humanity. Killing Sarah didn't save humanity and neither would killing Ellie. We, the audience, are supposed to assume the cure would have worked. The reason it's questionable in the world of the game/show is to show that the Fireflies, like the government and military at the beginning of the outbreak, are willing to murder a child on a gamble. The cure would have worked. It wouldn't have saved humanity from itself.

GoodGuy09370d ago

I mean it's a post apocalyptic world. Everyone will make very difficult and selfish decisions. For Joel, Ellie is like a daughter to him. Would anybody else in Joel's position and bond with Ellie have done the same? There is no good or evil in such a world, everyone will do anything to survive and protect those they care about.

I think Joel made the right decision and Ellie should've made the decision herself instead of being forced to at adult age. But no, they decided to go ahead with the operation of a clueless child for a chance to save humanity with absolutely no guarantee. From their perspective, it was the right decision. From Joel's perspective, it was the right decision for him and Ellie. Again, no right or wrong, no hero nor villain in such a world. It's everyone for themselves. Survival of the fittest.

370d ago Replies(2)
QuickdrawMcgraw370d ago

All Marlene had to do was tell the Doctor to infect mothers during child birth to get a generation of people born who were immune. The hard part would be finding volunteers. Then again I don't remember the Dr. explaining things to Ellie before he was going to kill her.

90°

The Sounds of the Fireflies ("The Last of Us") concert kicks-off on April 28th, 2024

"The Game Music Foundation are today very proud and pleased to announce an additional concert, circling back to the roots of Game Muisic Festival in Poland. On April 28th, 2024, the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw will once again become a place to celebrate the art of video game music, featuring scores from The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II." - The Game Music Foundation.

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The Last Of Us Series Has Remarkable Potential For Spin-Offs

Najam from eXputer writes "It's time fore a new installment in the series, not another pointless remaster."

anast85d ago

They are working on something new. Not to be rude but it is impossibility stupid to think ND next major announcement is going to be a remaster or their next Last of Us entry is going to be another remaster.

AlterRecs82d ago

I think this is in response to them releasing a remaster for the sequel, a game that didn't need a remaster.

Basically a "why did you put out a remaster no one asked for when you have all there options available"

anast81d ago

They remaster is to put out something quick while they are deving new stuff. I don't get how people can be so static.

AlterRecs80d ago

There's no news about a third game being in production, you're just assuming that they're working on something that they aren't

anast80d ago

When they release the news to start the hype-train, you can give me my props then.

DrDoomer84d ago

I want an alternate timeline spin-off, where part 2 never happened.

CrimsonWing6984d ago

They’ve already done Remasters of 1 and 2… what else is there to Remaster?

AlterRecs82d ago

Considering they remastered the first game twice, who knows lol

CrimsonWing6981d ago

That was a Remake. I guess they could do that to 2, but man…. They should wait a couple generations so it can look like a major upgrade.

100°

The Last Of Us Online Devs Celebrate Their Experience With The Canceled Game

The team is sad for losing out on such a great project but celebrates its growth because of spending time on it.

Chocoburger129d ago

All they had to do was make a basic online mode like their previous games. Instead they wanted more money and choose to go live service which makes games worse in my opinion.

What a waste of time and money, what a shame.

seanpitt2385d ago

I can't wait for season 2 so they can kill Joel off in the first 2 episodes!! Then it will be just Abby and Ellies revenge plot!

Something is telling me that this won't happen though because it wouldn't make sense, oh wait

Linzoid129d ago

Not sure why they didn’t just make Factions 2. There was no need to make it a live service.

TLoU Factions was a great addition such a shame they couldn’t be bothered to remaster that for PS5 considering the crazy high price tag of the remaster of a remaster…

anast128d ago

This is something to be celebrated. This studio is smart and they get it, even factions 2 wouldn't've have been worth the time. I am surprised they didn't just remaster the first one though, but actually how popular was Factions?