This is just going to be me talking about my opinion concerning the ending of The Last of Us video game by Naughty Dog and it DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS so if you haven’t finished the game don’t read this. My main focus is Joel’s decision to save Ellie and I’m going to say I agree with his decision. I know it may sound bad because Joel chose to save Ellie instead of humanity but you have to think beyond that. If Ellie died and the Fireflies got the vaccine there is still the threat of the infected. Sure, once you’re bitten you won’t turn into one of them but they can still rip you to shreds or get an infection from any wounds (who knows where their mouth has been, chewing on another human being maybe?) or die of blood loss, shock, etc.
Another thing you have to consider is the world in general. If you have the vaccine I doubt the world would be able to return to the same state it was before the outbreak. It’s been 20 long years since the world has been in chaos and basically out of business. Transportation is pretty much nonexistent unless you manage to steal gas from another car AND if the vehicle is still in working condition, no planes in the sky, no ships in the sea, no electricity (except for those lucky enough to get it running like Tommy’s group and the Fireflies), building and roads falling apart, and everything is unkempt with broken and rundown vehicles in the streets and foliage growing everywhere. Way of life has completely changed; humans killing humans for food, fighting the living and the infected. Trying to survive is the main focus of everyone’s lives and I don’t believe the world would ever be the same after this 20 year outbreak of infection.
Now on to the vaccine. Like I said, it would prevent people from turning into the infected but they can still get killed by them. You’d only be completely safe once you wipe out all the infected in the entire world which will probably take years. Speaking of the entire world, you’d have to deliver this vaccine to everyone around the world. How is that going to work when there are no planes and ships working? How are you going to deliver the vaccine to the people in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia? There aren’t enough resources to do this. Maybe eventually there would be but again that may take years to get everything up and running. And the Fireflies have their doctors (don’t know how many but I can’t imagine there being a lot) but will they be able to make enough of the vaccine to help all the people around the world, the ones that are still alive? I don’t think so. There resources and equipment are limited. If they make the vaccine there are still other threats like the bandits and cannibals. They could possibly find out about it, kill the Fireflies responsible, get ahold of the vaccine, and keep it for themselves. They are pretty nasty people so I wouldn’t put it past them.
Lastly there are other threats. As I mentioned before, humanity isn’t the same anymore. You have people killing other people for their supplies and even eating them due to the shortage of food. The world has changed people and their way of life. If you were immune to the infected due to the vaccine you’d still have to deal with groups of people such as the bandits and David’s group (cannibals).
I’m the type of person who loves a game with a great story and amazing characters and I grew attached to Joel and Ellie. They’re awesome characters with interesting personal stories. I would have been pretty sad if either one of them died in the end and I was happy that they didn’t. I was glad that Joel saved her from the Fireflies. Those two characters ended up forming a bond in the end, a father daughter type of bond. Joel lost his daughter in the beginning then Ellie comes into his life. Sure, they’re relationship didn’t start out that good in the beginning but it got better along the way. Ellie saved his life when a metal rod pierced through his stomach and now he was going to return the favor and save her life from the Fireflies. They have been through so much together. Plus, since he lost his daughter he really didn’t want to lose Ellie. He saw her as a daughter and practically adopted her into his life. He lost his daughter Sarah and he wasn’t going to lose Ellie, he wasn’t going to go through with that, not again.
The way I see it, Joel isn’t a bad guy by any means and I don’t think his decision was bad either. He acted on his emotions and his duty to protect his new found daughter, the duty of a parent. I know he lied to her in saying that there are other people like her that are immune and lying isn’t good but he’s lying to protect her. Who hasn’t done that before? He’s only human. And who knows, maybe there is somebody else out there who is immune. I mean it’s possible. Granted, Marlene said there wasn’t but how can she know for sure? Communication isn’t the same as what it used to be. And this thing has been going on for 20 years. People have learned to adapt and survive this long they can go on longer. There appears to be more people still living in their world then what you see in other apocalyptic worlds (one example being The Walking Dead).
That’s all I have to say on the matter and I hope it got other people thinking more about the ending, the bigger picture of it, and Joel’s decision. I absolutely loved this game and it’s one of my top favorites for this year. The story was great and everything about the characters was amazing (personality, voice acting, etc.) and that’s really what I care most about. I’m anxious to find out of if they are continuing with the game and making another one that follows the same characters. It did kinda end with a cliffhanger anyway.
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