‘The Last of Us’ Creator Has 5 Words for ‘Complicated’ Finale Ahead of Season 2 Premiere

With the highly anticipated The Last of Us Season 2 premiere less than two weeks away, many fans find themselves brushing up on Season 1 — which ended in dramatic fashion back on March 12, 2023.

Warning: This post contains Season 1 spoilers.

Fans of the show, which is based off of a video game with the same name, may recall that season 1 ended with Joel Miller — played by actor Pedro Pascal — choosing to save Ellie's (Bella Ramsay) life rather than allow her to undergo an operation that would provide a cure for the cordyceps infection but, in turn, would cost her life.

Once Joel realizes what will happen if the Fireflies go through with the surgery, he goes into the hospital and kills them. He then tells Ellie that the Fireflies didn't find a cure and that she couldn't have helped. 

In a new interview with IGN, show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann weighed in on the "complicated" finale, which has caused plenty of discussions among fans. The debate about whether or not Joel made the right decision is still a hot topic.

"I believe Joel was right," were Druckmann's five words on the question raised. "If I were in Joel's position, I hope I would be able to do what he did to save my daughter."

Meanwhile, Mazin pondered both sides.

"If I were in Joel's position, I probably would have done what he did,” Mazin said. “But I'd like to think that I wouldn't. That's the interesting push and pull of the morality of it. 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."

IGN notes that other members of the cast were more "non-commital" with their takes on the season 1 finale and the choice that Joel made.

Some fans took to Reddit to react to Druckmann and Mazin's takes.

"That’s why it’s such an enduring classic. It’s a complex story where black and white morality is useless," one person commented on a thread started on March 31.

"I just finished both games for the first time. My takeaway was that Joel made the only decision he was capable of making. Asking him to sacrifice Ellie is like asking him to cut off his own leg," someone else added.

The finale has also opened the door to what fans will see in Season 2.

"Just because he was right doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences. Ellie knows it too, she just wanted a say in all of it," another Redditor pointed out.

Season 2 of The Last of Us will premiere on April 13 on HBO.