'It's Complicated': The Last of Us Cast and Creators Debate Season 1's Controversial Finale

HBO's The Last of Us adapted the video game up to the Season 1 finale, leaving fans with the same mixed emotions in the aftermath. The creators and cast weighed on the one plot line that sparked enduring debate: did Joel make the right call in saving Ellie?

The Last of Us creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have opposing views on Season 1's ending. As co-director and writer of the video game the show is based on, Druckmann said Joel did the right thing, from a personal standpoint. "I believe Joel was right," he told IGN. "If I were in Joel's position, I hope I would be able to do what he did to save my daughter." Mazin was ambivalent, however. "That's so interesting, because I think that if I were in Joel's position, I probably would have done what he did," he responded. "But I'd like to think that I wouldn't."

The Last of Us cast was as divided as Druckmann and Mazin. Bella Ramsey (who plays Ellie), Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), and Isabela Merced (Dina) asserted it's impossible to judge the morality of that decision, and Merced hinted the consequences would play out in the upcoming season. Gabriel Luna (Tommy) defended Joel's position. "[My character is] his brother and I understand and you can't see the scope of the whole world," he explained. "You can only see your world, and Ellie is his world. And so I mean, I can't personally fault him as Tommy and maybe not even as Gabe, so I don't know."

'I Feel Like [Joel] Was On Autopilot'

Young Mazino (Jesse) said Joel just zoned out and went beast mode in the Season 1 finale; he only snapped out of it when he finally saw Ellie about to be operated on. "I feel like he was on autopilot," Mazino said, referring to Joel's bloody rampage in the hospital. "I think he was kind of just… he blacked out and it was just all hazy until he came to." Mazin said the opposing views only prove how the show's morality reflects the real world. "That's the interesting push and pull of the morality of it," he mused. "And that's why the ending of the first game is so provocative and so wonderful. It just doesn't let you off the hook as a player."

The Last of Us fans expected the Season 1 finale would end the way it did, and the show earned praise for its faithfulness to the game's story. That doesn't diminish the response to Joel's difficult decision to save Ellie; after realizing the Fireflies intend to sacrifice her to extract the cure, Joel goes all out and kills everyone involved in the operation. That's out of character for Joel, who showed no remorse leaving Tess in Episode 2; he didn't believe Ellie was really immune at that point, and he thought bringing her to the Fireflies was a futile mission.

Druckmann and Mazin said Season 2 would change the sequence from the sequel game's storyline, hinting Abby's backstory would be at the forefront. There's still hope the TV adaptation would delay (or even retcon) Joel's arc in The Last of Us Part II.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres April 13 on Max.