Last of Us: Why Joel Lied To Ellie

The Last of Us was a big departure for developer Naughty Dog, who previously worked on the more lighthearted series of Jak & Daxter and Uncharted. It’s gone down as one of the most ambitious games out there, and now The Last of Us Part 2 follows up on that vision.

Of course, the first game had plenty of lingering questions and story beats left up in the air, and fans might want to know the specifics before jumping into the sequel. One of the most memorable scenes in The Last of Us is the very last shot of the game, and it’s a major story beat that leaves the relationship between Joel and Ellie up in the air.

The end of The Last of Us sees Joel lie to Ellie in a big way, and it’s an ambiguous ending. Keep in mind that the ending is very much up to speculation, and The Last of Us doesn’t spell things out. However, there are a couple of likely reasons for why Joel lied to Ellie.

Joel Couldn’t Stand to Lose Ellie

The Last of Us is a story about loss and longing, and Joel as a character has been through uncountable tragedies. At the beginning of the outbreak Joel loses his daughter Sarah, and like everyone else is forced to live in a drastically changed world where survival isn’t guaranteed every single day. He’s continuously been through trauma, and early on in the game, once again, loses the most important person to him, Tess. In Ellie, Joel has found a reason to live again and something to fight for.

At the end of the game, Joel finds out that Ellie is likely the only person in the world that’s immune to the Cordyceps virus, and the Fireflies need her to create a cure. The problem, of course, is that by removing the infected portion of Ellie’s brain, the Fireflies will kill her. In the end, this is exactly why Joel lies to Ellie because he can’t stand to, once again, lose the only thing in the world that matters to him.

When Joel sees the Fireflies operating on Ellie he loses it and flies into violence in order to save her. At the same time, Ellie also cares for Joel the same way and makes it clear in The Last of Us by saying, “Everyone I have cared about has either died or left me. Everyone — fucking except for you! So don’t tell me I would be safer with somebody else, because the truth is I would just be more scared.” To this end, Joel thinks the best place Ellie can be is with him; it’s the most likely way for her to survive, and be happy. This leads to another reason for Joel lying.

Ellie’s Conscience Would Have Led Her Back to the Fireflies

By the end of The Last of Us Joel knows how dedicated Ellie is to her mission, despite feeling conflicted. It’s likely that he thinks Ellie would go right back to the Fireflies if he told her the truth; that she actually is the only one that can create a cure. This is why he tells Ellie that they found others that are immune and even then couldn’t create a cure, so she doesn’t feel guilty over “failing” her mission.

The big question is if Ellie believes Joel’s lies or not, but they’re almost entirely self-serving to Joel, practically making him a villain. His primary reason for lying is because he can’t stand the idea of Ellie sacrificing herself,  not because it’s what Ellie would want. The ending of The Last of Us adds an extra wrinkle to the two protagonist’s relationship and creates an interesting setup for The Last of Us Part 2.

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