The Last of Us Ending Explained

I'm going to touch on a few things leading up to the end of the game, the final scene itself, and Joel's decision to save Ellie.  These are just my thoughts  and theories about how the story played out and what I took away from it.

Warning!  Don't read any further if you want to avoid spoilers, granted you shouldn't even be here unless you've finished the game already.

Breaking Down Ellie's Changed Demeanor

So come spring time we notice Ellie just isn't the same, she lags behind a bit, isn't paying attention to anything Joel is saying, and at times appears to be lost in thought.  What's happened?  Well, quite frankly she's been through a lot and their journey has taken a toll on her, the things they've seen and the things they've had to do to endure.

Their winter was rough.  Joel nearly died, and the whole experience with the creepy cannibal guy that captured Ellie has had an effect on her.  Up until then they've managed to luck out and scrape by, but the winter experience brought her back down to Earth, she no longer sees them as infallible or indestructible.  She realizes their goal of finding the Fireflies could come crashing down at any moment.  It's why her conversation with Joel about her dream with the plane crash is so important, it represents her uncertainty and lack of confidence about ever making it.


It's hard not to get that looming feeling of dread as they close in on the hospital.  Whenever they think they've finally made it to the Fireflies, the Fireflies are never there and something always goes awry.  Why should the hospital be any different?  She starts to think that maybe the whole time they've been chasing an unattainable goal, a pipe dream.

But they have to keep going, they've come all this way.  It's why when Joel tells her at the giraffe scene outside the hospital that they don't have to keep going, that they can go stay at Tommy's she turns down the offer and wants to continue on.  Even with the doubts she now has she has to push on, she goes on to say that everything they've done "it can't be for nothing".

The Final Scene

What the final scene meant.

What can you gather from it and does Ellie know that Joel is lying?

Oddly enough we get to play as Ellie in the very brief but final chapter, but before we get control of her we see her pull up her sleeve and look at her bite.  She then jumps out of the car and walks with Joel through the woods to Tommy's place, all the while Joel is talking about his daughter for once.  He goes on to say that they would have been good friends and that Ellie would have liked that.  Ellie responds in a quiet and somber tone "I'm sure I would have", and you get the feeling right away that something is off.

They continue on until Tommy's place comes into view, they're about to keep going when Ellie inevitably holds Joel up.  She goes into the story of how her best friend was bitten with her and that they decided to wait it out and lose their minds together.  She then says "I'm still waiting for my turn" and proceeds to mention that first it was her best friend, then Tess, and then Sam.

I get the impression that from having the people around her get bitten and turn while she stays immune has had an effect on her.  That it's something she doesn't want to see happen again, and something that she doesn't want anyone else to experience, and that she could have helped make it that way.  I think she's trying to convey this to Joel but he doesn't pick up on it, he tells her that "none of that is on you" and she even says "No, you don't understand" but Joel cuts her off.

While clutching his broken watch he tells her that to survive, "no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for".  I think at this point Ellie has given up on the point of telling her story to Joel and cuts to the chase, she's had her doubts about what happened so she asks Joel straight out to swear to her that what he said happened with the Fireflies is true.

And he does, and at this point I think she knows he is lying but she accepts it.  All they have left is each other and Joel will protect her from anything no matter what.  They've come a long way from Joel wanting nothing to do with her, to Ellie seeking Joel's approval, and finally to them completely bonding and caring for one another.  She knows he is lying but she doesn't exactly know the truth either and if it's something he'd lie about to protect her, that's good enough.

EDIT
There is a letter to Ellie from her mother in Ellie's backpack at the end of the game that helps show why Ellie accepts Joel's lie.

Ellie,
I'm going to share a secret with you.  I'm not a big an of kids and I hate babies.  And yet...I'm staring at you and I'm awestruck. 

You're not even a day old, and holding you is the most incredible thing I've done in my life - a life that is about to get cut a little short. 

Marlene will look after you.  There's no one in this world I trust more than her.  When the time comes she'll tell you all about me.  Don't give her too much of a hard time..  Try not to be as stubborn as me. 

I'm not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world.  It won't be easy.  the thing you always have to remember is that, lie is worth living!  Find your purpose and fight for it. 

I see so much strength in you.  I know you'll turn out to be the woman you're meant to be. 

Forever... Your loving mother. 

Anna 

Make me proud, Ellie!

Just another layer of depth for a story that was masterfully written and executed.  But that aside it further goes to show what Ellie told Joel earlier that everyone she's ever cared about has either died or left her, everyone except for Joel.  Joel is the only person in her life who hasn't abandoned her, handed her off, or died on her.  And she knows he never will, so even though he basically lies to her face about what happened it's more than just a lie to Ellie, it solidifies the fact that Joel is the only person who won't leave her and will always do whatever it takes to protect her.

Why I think Ellie knew he was lying.

This is one part gut feeling and one part Savage Starlight.  Based on Ellie's expressions and tones in the final scene I just get the feeling she knows.  And honestly she has to know things must have been sketchy by the way she woke up in the car and the story he told her considering how special Marlene likely made out her immunity to be before sending her off with Joel and Tess.  Just the fact that she doubts it at all and has to ask him to swear it to her is very telling in my opinion.

What kind of seals it for me is the Savage Starlight comics, one entry in particular but I'll get to that in a moment.  If you paid any attention to the comic books you come across in game that Ellie has taken a fancy to, you would have noticed that the characters and plot in the comics go hand in hand with what's going on in the game.  In it's own way it sort of emulates what is happening to Ellie but as the character Daniela as she travels through space.  Ellie even goes on to say at the university that she would want to be an astronaut witch convinces me even more of the parallel between the game's story and the comics.

Now with that said, the one issue that sold it for me was the last issue which goes as follows.

Savage Starlight 14: Singularity

The travelers have been crippled... for now.  Daniela’s daring plan, and her seemingly miraculous escape back home, have made her a galvanizing figurehead to the last watch. Captain Ryan’s sacrifice, has made him a martyr, an illusiion Daniela won’t dispel. But how long can she keep what really happened a secret?

"An illusion Daniela won't dispel." refers to the doubts she has about Joel's story and the fact that she can't dismiss them or shake them from her mind.  "But how long can she keep what really happened a secret?", to me this could mean one of two things.  Either she knew something was up on the trip back to Tommy's and finally gave in and confronted Joel about it, or, that she knows that he lied about what happened when he swore to her and how long will she be able to accept and live with that lie.

Either way I can't see any way she knows what went down or how it went down, but she knows Joel isn't being honest about it.

Why we control Ellie in the last chapter.

Did anyone else think it was a bit odd to be controlling Ellie during the last chapter?  I mean sure we've controlled her before but there was a more tangible reason for doing so then.  But now?

For one, I think it means that she does know that Joel is lying.  Two, I think she is sort of in the driver's seat now.  She's matured and really come into her own over the course of the game.  While Joel will always be there to protect her, she is much more capable of taking care of herself and Joel.  Three, perspective.  The way in which the final chapter plays out with Joel talking about his daughter and then the final cutscene I think it's important that we get to see the way in which Ellie is taking it, because for Joel, the whole ordeal seems to be something he wants to put behind him and move on from, while for Ellie it's something she can't shake from her head.

Four, while Naughty Dog has said if there is a sequel it's doubtful that it will include Joel or Ellie and that their story ended with the game.  The way in which it ended with you controlling Ellie is the perfect setup for controlling Ellie in a would be sequel.  That aside, I'm torn on the idea of a sequel.  On one side I believe The Last of Us to be an amazing standalone game/story that I wouldn't want ruined with a sequel that doesn't live up to the first game or somehow cheapens it.  On the other side, I've become so attached to the game and even more so the characters, I desperately want more.

Joel's Decision

I've seen a lot of people saying that Joel's decision was selfish and/or screwed over mankind.  I find both of these statements a bit irritating.  Sure one could say that it should have been Ellie's choice, which I don't disagree with. But it's clear to me that Ellie never had a say in the matter anyway regardless of what her choice would have been, and by the time she could have things were already too far gone.  So on to Joel's decision to shoot up the hospital and save Ellie from fatal surgery.

Well let's pretend for a minute that you just woke up and found that the one person in life that you cared about was about to die from an elective surgery.  Also consider that you were never told that person elected to have the surgery and that you couldn't see or talk to that person.  Then imagine being beaten by a guard and then threatened to be killed if you try.  Now imagine being escorted out of the building and being told not to come back.  What would you do again?  What would you think was happening?

To me it seems as though Joel's protective instinct kicked in more than anything.  The whole situation is a lot to take in right away and feels a bit fishy to say the least.  If he wanted to save Ellie let alone just see and talk to her he really wasn't left with a peaceful option.  Would you have just said "ok" and went about your life? Things didn't sit right with him and he was gonna do something about it and fuck whoever gets in his way.  Was it the right choice?  I don't know, but it's the choice I would have made.

As far as screwing over mankind, I find that laughable.  Mankind was screwed over in the first place and a vaccine wasn't going to change any of that.  I'll share a quote with you from Rafael Sabatini's "Captain Blood".

“It came to Mr. Blood, as he trudged forward under the laden apple-trees on that fragrant, delicious July morning, that man—as he had long suspected—was the vilest work of God, and that only a fool would set himself up as a healer of a species that was best exterminated.”

From everything we've seen in The Last of Us, does this quote not accurately apply to the majority of mankind that we find left in the game?  Are they really worth saving?  Vaccine or not, the oppressive military will continue to oppress and withhold rations while the gangs of hunters, murderers, and looters will continue to hunt, murder, and loot those weaker than them.  So it seems to me that you have just as good a chance of becoming infected as you do being killed by mankind itself.  There really isn't any reason to put your stock or faith in humanity at this point.  And who's to say they would have successfully made a vaccine?

So I'll take the one person I care about and go back to the one safe, friendly haven I know of and make some sort of life for ourselves in this fucked up world before letting that person die for basically the worst of mankind.  One could argue that the Fireflies botched the whole thing, one sit down with Joel and Ellie to discuss the surgery could have ended in Ellie electing to go through with the surgery and telling Joel it was what she wanted to do.  He would no doubt try and talk her out of it, but I don't think Joel could stop her at that point, it isn't his call to make.  But the fact that there wasn't a sign that anyone made a call outside of Marlene is what spelled disaster for a potential cure.

Ellie's Surgery

I have to touch on this because there are a few things bothering me about the whole situation.  Most of all that Ellie didn't have a say in the surgery and quite frankly didn't know about it at all.  It's quite irksome to me that they would go ahead and just start the surgery without consulting Ellie.  It actually helps justify Joel's decision in my opinion.

1) Teach me how to swim!

This just sets up the premise that Ellie sacrificing her life for a cure was never considered by Joel or Ellie.  Shortly before getting to the hospital both Joel and Ellie mention things they could do once it's all over.  Joel says he'll teach her to play guitar and Ellie says he can teach her to swim.  This leads one to believe they both expected her to survive whatever the Fireflies were going to do with her.

2) Ellie rushed into surgery for no explainable reason.

So why is Ellie being prepped for surgery already?  Is one day going to stop the Fireflies from creating a vaccine?  Why not wait to do the surgery until Joel woke up for one last goodbye?  If the Fireflies would have waited we may have had an entirely different ending.

3) Joel wakes up with a guard posted on him.

This spells trouble right off the bat.  You know things aren't good if there is an armed guard waiting for you to wake up.  You would think Marlene being there would be enough.  Once again, not having Ellie around makes the whole ordeal seem fishy at best, between that, the guard, and not being allowed to see her you can't really fault Joel for being pissed off and worried.

4)"There is no other choice".

After finding out about the surgery, Joel tells Marlene to "find someone else" and asks her "why are you letting this happen", Marlene responds quite vehemently that "there is no other choice".

How do we take this?  No other choice for whom exactly?  And obviously there are other choices, choices of course that may not result in a vaccine, but choices nonetheless.  But do we imply with that statement that it's solely Marlene's decision and that she will go through with the surgery regardless of whether or not Ellie or anyone else agrees to it?  That is how I took it anyway.

5) "It's what she'd want".

Before Joel shoots Marlene in the parking garage, while referring to the surgery she tells Joel "it's what she'd (Ellie) want".  Again, how do we take this?  Regardless of whether or not you think Ellie would go through with the surgery or not, Marlene didn't say "it's what she wants" or "it's what she wanted".  Which leads me to believe that Ellie wasn't aware of the surgery whatsoever let alone the finality of it.  And why would that be if Marlene thinks it's what she would have wanted?

6) Ellie's lack of memory of anything that transpired at the hospital.

When Ellie wakes up in the backseat of the car she asks "What the hell am I wearing?" referring to the hospital gown and then asks Joel "what happened?"

She doesn't recognize the gown because she wasn't aware of the surgery in the first place.  They revived her when they picked up Joel and Ellie and immediately drugged her and started running tests.  So the surgery nor the potential cure with her sacrificing herself was ever discussed and she was unconscious during her entire stay at the hospital.  This really wouldn't surprise me because I get the feeling that even though Marlene has known Ellie since she was born, she seems to treat Ellie less as a person and more like a vital lab specimen.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, it was a bit long and a bit sloppy but that's why I don't get paid to write, thanks for reading!