The world ended, after which Joel’s world ended. Twenty years later, it roared again to life within the type of a precocious younger teen named Ellie, improbably proof against the cordyceps fungus that had crushed civilization.
Nonetheless grieving the loss of life of his daughter Sarah 20 years earlier, Joel discovered new function in his position as Ellie’s custodian. He did all the pieces in his energy to get her safely throughout the nation and into the palms of scientists who imagine Ellie’s distinctive immunity may present a treatment. However the second the selection morphed into Joel both letting Ellie die to avoid wasting mankind, or letting her stay on the expense of his personal humanity, not to mention the remainder of humanity … nicely, it was by no means actually a alternative in any respect, was it?
Clocking in at a lean 44 minutes, The Final of Us season one ends the identical method because the online game it’s based mostly on. Joel murders many individuals, and condemns numerous hundreds of thousands of others, to avoid wasting not the few, however the one. Initially envisioned by the HBO present’s co-creator Neil Druckmann, The Final of Us’s barbaric closing act is as surprising now because it was within the supply materials. A pivotal distinction is that the participant pulled the set off within the sport, whereas the HBO viewers may solely helplessly watch Joel make his personal alternative.
However earlier than we attain the finale’s violent climax, let’s return to its violent starting. Co-written by Druckmann and sequence co-creator Craig Mazin, and directed by Ali Abbasi, “Search for the Gentle” opens with an excellent piece of fan service for the gaming crowd: Ashley Johnson as Anna, Ellie’s mom. Within the online game, Johnson supplied the voice and movement seize for Ellie. As of late, her palms are greater than full (with cube, at that), however not so full that she couldn’t return to her Final of Us roots. In an intense chilly open set a few years in the past, a pregnant Anna fights again a clicker simply as she’s getting into labor. She kills the creature, however not earlier than it takes an enormous chew out of her. Moments later, Ellie is born, presumably with immunities derived from her mom’s brush towards cordyceps.
Hours cross, and Anna’s an infection spreads, threatening not solely her life however child Ellie’s as nicely. (Keep in mind the late nice Tess’s knowledge: “You’re not immune from being ripped aside.”) Fortunately, a well-known face reveals up simply within the knick of time: Marlene (additionally performed by a Final of Us online game veteran, Merle Dandridge). Anna begs Marlene to take Ellie and convey her to security. She additionally begs for a swift, merciful loss of life. A long time of historical past exist between these two girls, making it all of the extra brutal when Marlene obliges Anna’s dying want, and much more so contemplating Marlene’s choice about Ellie later within the episode.
A few years later, Ellie is alive and nicely—thanks in no small half to Marlene watching over her from a really younger age, even when at a take away. However Ellie’s additionally alive due to two different individuals: Joel, and herself.
Following the savagery at Silver Lake, Joel and Ellie have resumed their quest to achieve Salt Lake Metropolis, the final identified whereabouts of the Fireflies. Nonetheless weakened from his current harm, Joel can’t fairly sustain with Ellie’s tempo as soon as they attain town limits. He limps alongside in pursuit of mankind’s greatest likelihood towards cordyceps, as she races by buildings and finds herself in entrance of a surreal sight: a giraffe, thriving within the overgrown metropolis. It’s Ellie’s first time seeing such a creature. Her evaluate: “You possibly can’t deny that view.”
As Joel and Ellie make it deeper into Salt Lake Metropolis, the elevated closeness between the pair turns into more and more obvious — or “a father or mother,” as No Pun Supposed writer Will Livingston may write. Joel tells Ellie about when his daughter Sarah died, confessing he tried and did not take his personal life. It’s essentially the most he’s spoken about Sarah’s loss of life in ages, not less than with this degree of acceptance in his voice. It mimics Joel’s present state: he can do nothing concerning the previous, however he can ensure Ellie has a future.
