A man’s desperate attempt to protect someone he loves comes at the cost of humanity’s future, sparking one of the most debated endings in video game history.
In “The Last of Us,” the critically acclaimed video game developed by Naughty Dog in 2011, players are forced into a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where a deadly fungal infection has decimated society, according to Naughty Dog’s website.
The ongoing HBO adaptation, now in its second season, remains true to the game’s emotional depth and storytelling, with game creator Neil Druckmann and writer Craig Mazin leading, according to the Max webpage.
Joel Miller, a hardened survivor of the apocalypse grieving the loss of his daughter Sarah, is tasked with escorting Ellie Williams, a 14 year old girl who happens to be immune to the infection, across the country to a revolutionary militia group called the Fireflies, who believe her immunity could lead to a cure.
From the beginning, Joel repeatedly chooses survival over sentiment, sacrificing others, sometimes brutally, to ensure his safety.
He lets innocent people die rather than risk being ambushed or tortured for information and avoids attachment through valuing control.
Over time, Joel’s relationship with Ellie evolved from one of reluctant duty to a deep parental bond, as he grappled with the growing attachment and impending choice that threatens their future.
When the Fireflies discover that Ellie’s immunity lies in the infected portion of her brain, they determine that developing a cure would require a fatal surgery, making her death the only path to saving humanity in their eyes.
Joel made the decision that, rather than lose another daughter figure and give the world a chance at salvation, he massacred the medical team and Fireflies’ soldiers, rescued Ellie while obliterating any hope of potentially saving the human race.
This is not a noble protector of his adoptive daughter, but a selfish choice driven by fear, trauma, and emotional dependence.
What made Joel’s final decision so jarring both in the game and in the HBO adaptation is how it directly contradicts that cold utilitarian logic he applies throughout the series.
In the game, Joel kills a group of hunters in Pittsburgh who ambush him and Ellie, showing his prioritization of survival over morality as he eliminates them without hesitation to protect himself and his companion.
Every choice Joel has made until they arrive at the hospital shows a man willing to weigh the lives of the few against the needs of the many.
However, when it comes time to weigh Ellie’s life against the entire world, Joel abandons that logic.
The moral dilemma at the heart of “The Last of Us” franchise closely mirrors the classic “Trolley Problem,” a thought experiment in ethics that asks whether one must choose to sacrifice one person to save five, according to a Apr. 24, 2025, Britannica article.
The idea tests our willingness to make utilitarian choices, especially when faced with life-or-death scenarios.
In Joel’s case, the dilemma is even more extreme when he chose to save one girl he came to love as a daughter at the cost of potentially saving all of humanity.
But unlike the “Trolley Problem,” in Joel’s inability to lose Ellie, he ended the life of the surgeon which dooms the world and lied about it.
Rather than wrestle with the consequences, Joel stripped Ellie of any agency and choice, responding with violence and forcing the player or viewer to become complicit in his actions.
What makes this betrayal more devastating is that Ellie was unconscious throughout the ordeal.
Joel not only robs her of the chance to choose but also fabricates a story claiming there were others like her that the Fireflies had stopped searching for a cure.
Ellie has lost countless friends and loved ones at this point, carrying the weight of her survivor’s guilt and Joel’s lie only deepens that burden by denying her the chance to give her own and their deaths meaning.
Joel’s pain may be human, but his action robbed Ellie of choice and the world of its last hope.
