After eight episodes steeped in praise from fans and critics alike, HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us came to an end with its ninth outing, “Look For The Light,” on Sunday, March 12. In the finale, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) reach the Fireflies’ Salt Lake City outpost, and Ellie is firm in her choice: she doesn’t want to turn back when her immunity might be the only way to find a cure for the 20-year long Cordyceps pandemic.

For a show that’s taken things slow (and to great effect), The Last of Us packs a lot of would-be standout moments into Episode 9. There’s Ellie’s mesmerizing giraffe encounter; Joel’s willingness to share more about his post-Sarah’s murder depression; and, of course, Joel’s reaction to Ellie’s forthcoming operation. “Look For The Light,” for better or worse, is the episode that feels most directly lifted from the source material. In the end, everything culminates in Joel’s final, rather divisive, choice — and, while that may work well in a video game, it’s a lot to unpack when it plays out in a more passive medium.

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What Happened In The Last Of Us Finale?

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The Last of Us finale features a cold open that brings viewers back a decade and a half to the night of Ellie’s birth. Her late mother, Anna, is played by Ashley Johnson, the voice of Ellie in the game series. It’s more than a great cameo, though. The sequence attempts to explain Ellie’s immunity; Anna, who’s fully in labor, runs from an Infected, hiding in the upstairs bedroom of an abandoned farmhouse. Although Anna manages to kill the Infected with her knife — the one Ellie later totes around — she’s bitten near her femoral artery in the process.

Moments after the stabbed Infected collapses, Anna’s holding a newborn Ellie in her arms. Anna cuts the umbilical cord as quickly as possible, and, later, assures her longtime friend Marlene (Merle Dandridge), the leader of the Fireflies, that the Infected bit her after she gave birth to Ellie. Whether Marlene buys the story or not (though probably not), she agrees to protect Ellie and take the infant to the Boston QZ. Although she rather not comply, Marlene also agrees to Anna’s final wish, and shoots Anna before she turns.

Back in the present, Ellie and Joel arrive in Salt Lake City. Post-Episode 8, Ellie is understandably quiet and subdued. Not only is she contending with the trauma of last week’s cannibalistic pedophile-led religious cult, the teenager is also staring down her ultimate fate — to give herself over to the Firefly doctors. Even though viewers aren’t clued in to the particulars of Ellie’s looming procedure, it feels a bit like a death march. Joel asks her if she’s certain, and even offers up alternatives, like heading back to Jackson.

The duo also stop quite a bit on their walk to the Firefly hospital. At first, there’s a moment of wonder: Ellie spots a giraffe grazing in an abandoned section of the city and races toward it. Joel, who’s uncharacteristically warm (earlier, he even scavenges an old Boggle game, insisting they play), helps Ellie feed the giraffe. It’s an incredibly unusual, unexpected sight. Ellie’s unmitigated joy and wonder, which briefly cracks her hardened exterior, underscores just how young she is — just how like Sarah (Nico Parker) she is, at least to Joel. He even tells her that although they have their differences, Sarah and Ellie would’ve liked one another and bonded over their shared sense of humor.

But the episode isn’t all joke book puns and giraffes. Joel opens up about Sarah’s murder, and the depressive episode that followed. He shares that he tried to die by suicide — was so certain and ready — but botched it. At the time, Joel wasn’t sure why he failed. More recently, he’s had to navigate Tess’ death and a difficult reunion with Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Joel has decided it’s best not to love, to get too close. But his brush with death, and Ellie’s nursing him back to health, has changed the smuggler’s mind. Joel all but admits that Ellie’s like a daughter to him, and that the only way to keep going in a world like that of The Last of Us is to have a purpose — someone to fight for.

Firefly soldiers ambush Ellie and Joel, knocking them unconscious. When Joel comes to, he’s detained in a guarded hospital room — alone. Marlene tells Joel she’s impressed that he made it all the way to Salt Lake City with Ellie; she doesn’t want to owe him, but he’s held up his end of the bargain. When Joel asks to see Ellie, Marlene shares that the immune teen is being prepped for surgery. Joel’s insistent. And Marlene reveals that she won’t allow it.

The Last Of Us Ending, Explained: What Joel’s Decision Means

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According to the Firefly leader, the Cordyceps in Ellie have grown with her since birth. Despite Anna’s attempts to sever the umbilical cord, just enough of the fungus was passed to Ellie. In order to create a cure, the doctor — the alleged only doctor who can perform the procedure — will have to operate on Ellie’s brain. It’s not just a biopsy though; the procedure will kill Ellie. Joel’s anger flares. He can’t understand why Marlene would allow it. She explains that it’s hard, that she promised Anna she’d protect Ellie, but that it’s the only way to save humanity.

Joel couldn’t care less about the greater good — not when his baby girl is at stake. While being escorted out of the hospital by two Fireflies, Joel turns on them in a stairwell, killing them and taking their weapons. Determined to save Ellie, he mows down any Fireflies who stand in his path. When he reaches the operating room, he shoots the doctor without hesitation, and carries an unconscious Ellie in his arms. In the parking garage, Marlene cuts Joel off, trying to reason with him — at first for him to see that Ellie’s sacrifice is the only way to save everyone, and then she pleads for her life. Joel shoots Marlene, feeling that if he didn’t the rebel leader wouldn’t stop pursuing Ellie.

Later, Ellie comes to in the back of a car Joel stole from the Fireflies. Hands clenched on the steering wheel, he tells Ellie that things went south at the hospital. Joel, of course, skirts around the real issue — that Ellie would’ve died had she stayed — and even lies about there being other immune folks. He says the cure is a lost cause, and that the Firefly hospital was attacked, though he leaves himself out of the story.

At the end of the episode, Ellie and Joel are mid-hike to Jackson, the commune led by Tommy and his wife. Ellie asks Joel if what he told her is true, giving him a moment to take back his lie and explain what actually happened. But Joel decides to protect Ellie from that truth (or so he thinks), and swears he told her what actually happened. To that, Ellie simply says, “Okay.”

Maybe the means to Joel’s end are wrong, but his desire to save Ellie is understandable, even if the viewer (or player) would come down on the other side of the issue. One could argue that Ellie wasn’t able to fully consent to the procedure or her death. Marlene claims that Ellie would want to sacrifice herself, to do something that mattered and that could save lives. But, at the same time, Marlene didn’t have enough faith in that line of thought to actually give Ellie that choice or ask for her consent.

But Joel’s choice, and the rightness or wrongness of it, snowballs as the episode continues. He lies to Ellie about why they fled the hospital, and leaves out his mass killing of the Fireflies. At the very end, Ellie gives Joel a chance to be honest, but he digs his heels in, insisting he’s told her the truth. Although Joel might say he did all of this to save Ellie, and to protect her from having to make that impossible choice herself, he also did it for himself. There’s a selfish edge to it all, in a way. Joel didn’t want to lose Ellie — to lose another Sarah. He needs a purpose, someone to fight for, after all. In that sense, Joel took from Ellie the same thing Marlene took: Ellie’s right to choose.

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