The Last of Us HBO Creators Answer Whether Or Not Joel Was Right to Save Ellie

This interrogation contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1 connected HBO (and the games, of course).

The “was Joel right?” statement has been ongoing since the archetypal crippled debuted each the mode backmost successful 2013. Did helium bash the close happening erstwhile helium saved Ellie’s life, adjacent if that enactment meant a cure for the cordyceps corruption that had devastated humanity mightiness ne'er beryllium found? The question was past aboriginal rekindled aft the finale of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 1, fueled further by the differences successful Joel’s quality successful the bid and the displacement from spores to tendrils.

That was 2 years ago, and inactive the statement among fans rages on. So with Season 2 debuting connected April 13, we took it upon ourselves to spell consecutive to the source. I sat down with creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, arsenic good arsenic bid stars Bella Ramsey (Ellie), Gabriel Luna (Tommy), Kaitlin Dever (Abby), Isabela Merced (Dina), and Young Mazino (Jesse) to get their instrumentality connected whether oregon not Joel made the close determination successful the infirmary connected that fateful day.

Because, you know, what amended mode to commencement your time than a statement astir a life-saving murder-spree? (Our interrogation was astatine 9 successful the morning.)

“We person antithetic opinions astir this,” Druckmann instantly offers, followed by a jovial laughter and a “we do, we do,” from Mazin.

But upon further discussion, it turns retired that the pair’s opinions aren’t terribly acold from each different aft all.

“I judge Joel was right,” Druckmann admits. “If I were successful Joel's position, I anticipation I would beryllium capable to bash what helium did to prevention my daughter.”

“That's truthful interesting, due to the fact that I deliberation that if I were successful Joel's position, I astir apt would person done what helium did,” Mazin adds. “But I'd similar to deliberation that I wouldn't. That's the absorbing propulsion and propulsion of the morality of it. And that's wherefore the ending of the archetypal crippled is truthful provocative and truthful wonderful. It conscionable doesn't fto you disconnected the hook arsenic a player.”

Most of the cast, however, are much non-commital connected the subject. After a moment, Ramsey, Merced and Dever each chime successful with antithetic versions of “it’s complicated.” Merced, however, takes it a measurement further, mentioning that she thinks “this play explores that.” The connection “that” of people is doing a batch of dense lifting, considering conscionable however analyzable this speech is.

Luna stands with his proverbial member Pedro successful the aforesaid mode Tommy stood with Joel. “I’m biased,” helium says. “I'm his member and I recognize and you can't spot the scope of the full world. You tin lone spot your world, and Ellie is his world. And truthful I mean, I can't personally responsibility him arsenic Tommy and possibly not adjacent arsenic Gabe, truthful I don't know.”

The musings betwixt the formed were beauteous consistent, with everyone agreeing that determination is nary elemental reply to the question. Mazino, who plays Jesse, did dive successful a spot further though.

“I consciousness similar helium was connected autopilot,” Mazino says of Joel’s slaughtering the radical successful the infirmary portion redeeming Ellie. “I deliberation helium was benignant of just… helium blacked retired and it was conscionable each hazy until helium came to.”

Mazino’s reply present is astir apt the fairest shingle of them all. Can you say, definitively, that if a loved 1 was going to dice and the champion reply you were provided successful the infinitesimal was that it lone might save the world, your loved 1 wasn’t fixed the accidental for consent and the country was happening immediately, that you wouldn’t person done the same? I can’t. And it’s that backmost and distant of what you anticipation you would bash versus what you would astir apt bash that makes the communicative of Joel and Ellie compelling.

“People get to the extremity of The Last of Us [the game] and determination is that question, what would you do? What should you bash if faced with the accidental to prevention the world, if you sacrifice your child. That goes backmost to Abraham and Isaac. It's truthful profound. The conception of sacrifice to prevention the world,” Mazin says.

The familiarity lone makes it harder. “It's a quality between, OK, if I had to termination a random idiosyncratic to prevention who knows however galore lives, successful the abstract, you would say, well, yeah, that makes sense, of course,” Druckmann adds. “But now, region it from being a random idiosyncratic and it's your kid. Now the reply is precise different.”

That differentiation takes the speech from the accepted Trolley Problem — should you sacrifice 1 idiosyncratic to prevention a radical of radical — and makes it a deeper, adjacent much analyzable ethical question.

“It's similar decease begets decease begets decease and I deliberation that's conscionable a cleanable example. And yeah, it's his world. Who cares astir the satellite if your satellite isn't there?” Mazino asks.

“Yeah, helium saved his world, conscionable not the world,” finishes Ramsey.

Now that you’ve had clip to beryllium with the question successful the clip betwixt the Season 1 finale and now, what bash you think? Was Joel right?