HBO’sThe Last of Usclosed out a fantastic first season with afittingly action-packed finale. After Ellie’s encounter with the cannibals, we see that something within her has changed, impacting her relationship with Joel. From there, we are unsure how the pair will proceed, but not too far into the finale, we see them stumble upon their destination, where the Fireflies are eagerly waiting for Ellie in hopes that her immunity could provide a vaccine.
We also see Ellie’s origin story and how she may have developed this immunity; her mother was bitten almost immediately after giving birth to Ellie, and she had not yet severed the umbilical cord, meaning that Ellie’s immunity to cordyceps was likely present since birth. With so much uncovered in this finale, there is just as much left wide open for the showrunners to explore in season two.
Loose Ends Left by the Finale
Once captured by the Fireflies, Joel wakes up in a hospital bed by himself. He is greeted by Marlene, the woman who had entrusted Ellie to him in the first place, and she tells him that the doctors believe that the cordyceps living in Ellie’s brain could provide a cure for the disease, thus saving all of humanity. Joel, however, wasn’t given a chance to say goodbye to her, and this procedure was likely to result in Ellie’s death. By now, Joel has accepted the fact that he cares about Ellie like a daughter, and he is not ready to lose his daughter for the second time. What follows is a rageful, merciless killing spree that takes Joel all around the hospital until he finds Ellie in the operating room. Joel ends upkilling the doctorwhen he won’t unhook Ellie from the anesthesia and ultimately kills Marlene as well when she tries to stop him from leaving with Ellie.
The episode and season close out with Joel driving Ellie away from the Fireflies outpost and the two taking a hike. Over the course of their drive and walk, Ellie asks Joel what happened; she was on drugs for the surgery and thus had no memory of the day. Knowing Ellie would, at the very least, struggle with the guilt of Joel saving her over the rest of the world, he fabricates a story that she is among dozens of others with similar immunity. However, he tells her nothing can be done, which is why they left. When Ellie asks him if anyone is hurt, he tells her no. And when she asks him if Marlene is alright, he tells her she is.
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When the two of them reach the overlook to which they are hiking, Ellie tells Joel to promise her he is telling the truth and to promise that everything happened at the hospital exactly how he said it did. Joel promises her, to which she simply replies, “Okay,” and the episode ends. It is unclear whetherEllie fully believeshim, and there is also a subtle tinge of guilt that we can see when Joel answers him. With season two coming, it is highly likely that this will be a point of contention at some point down the line. Will Ellie find out that Joel lied to her? And if she does, which parts of the lie will she figure out? And how will she respond, knowing that he is now,reallyall she has left?
Moving Forward
The question stands, as well, where are Joel and Ellie going to go? Ellie told Joel that she would follow him anywhere after they finished what they started: reaching the Fireflies and hopefully providing some assistance for a cure. It was alluded to earlier in the season that the pair may return to Jackson, where Joel’s brother Tommy has made a life for himself, along with his wife and a baby on the way. When Joel and Ellie left, Tommy made it clear that they were always welcome back. It seems the most logical next step, as Jackson is a functioning city where they have electricity, food, among other things, to improve their overall quality of life.
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With Joel’s lie, however, there is now a ticking clock on his relationship with Ellie, as she could find out at any moment that he chose to save her over potentially saving all of humanity. If the pair does return to Jackson, will Joel be able to live with the guilt of having lied to the closest thing he’s had to a daughtersince this pandemic started? There is a distinct possibility that he could confide in Tommy to hopefully assuage his guilt, which could then open a whole can of worms, potentially leading to Ellie finding out.
These are some central conflicts that we can hope to see either resolved or at least expanded upon come season two. But as we’ve seen with season one, there is never a shortage of surprises when it comes toThe Last of Us. We can certainly expect to see Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramseycome back and pick upright where they left off, in the absolute thick of the action in a post-cordyceps world.
