The Last of Us

[Deepster]

Yeah, I'm conflicted with all of it. On the flip side, he saw her as a kid with the puns, the silliness and wanted to give her a "real life". And, in the end, maybe he didn't care about a cure. He's a wanderer. So save her, give her a life and let the smart people left figure something else out? I don't know, all that said....I do feel like he shouldn't have lied either though.

 

[iri10]

Yeah, I'm conflicted with all of it. On the flip side, he saw her as a kid with the puns, the silliness and wanted to give her a "real life". And, in the end, maybe he didn't care about a cure. He's a wanderer. So save her, give her a life and let the smart people left figure something else out? I don't know, all that said....I do feel like he shouldn't have lied either though.

The Joel at the beginning of the story had never gotten over the trauma of losing his daughter. He essentially became heartless, unable to love, or really care about anything much beyond his own basic survival.

Ellie changed that. By the end of this story, he didn't see her as just as a kid who deserved a decent life - he saw her as another daughter. And he was determined to not let this one die. It was an utterly selfish decision because he didn't care any more than the Fireflies about what Ellie wanted. The Fireflies would have killed her even if she didn't want it, and Joel wouldn't have let her sacrifice herself even though she may have wanted it.

The wrinkle, of course, is that it's the kind of selfishness that a great many people have. A great many would not sacrifice their beloved child for the sake of a cure. Even if there was a very high (90%) chance of that sacrifice actually leading to the cure.