Joel's choice in The Last of Us is the climax of the series and a pivotal point that has repercussions throughout both games. It has profound consequences on many characters in the story years after the fact, including Ellie, who grapples with the morality and impact Joel's choice had on the direction on the human race, the change it had on their relationship, and the lie that Joel told her. With the ending of The Last of Us 2, Ellie's way forward is uncertain, but with a lot of potential paths ahead of her the potential for a sequel is clear.
What is clear is that Ellie finds it difficult to stay out of conflicts that she cares about; when given the choice to go after Abby or remain behind with Dina to build a peaceful life, Ellie chooses the former. What would be an interesting way to push Ellie would be to put her in the same position as Joel all those years ago, giving her the opportunity to see which choice she would make, if she would lie, and how she would deal with the consequences of her choice moving forward.
Joel's Choice Reached Far Beyond The Last of Us
The end of The Last of Us brought with it a moment where Joel discovered the Fireflies intended to kill Ellie to dissect her body and discover the source of her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus that had caused the epidemic. He decided to betray the Fireflies, killed many of the Fireflies including the doctor who was to perform the procedure, and escaped with Ellie. He then lied to Ellie about the Fireflies' intentions with her, instead saying that they had many immune to the infection and weren't interested in finding a cure for humanity.
Years later, Ellie discovers the truth behind Joel's lies to her, and it causes a fundamental break in their relationship. It's clear even years after it's resolved that it's a point of tension between them, and after Joel dies, it's something Ellie grapples with internally. None of her other relationships compare to the one she's had with Joel, and it's one of the reasons she behaves so irrationally in The Last of Us 2, to the point where she chooses to go after Abby instead of just letting go of her anger and hatred.
The Last of Us Needs Ellie to Move On
Ellie needs to move on from her anger and complicated feelings about Joel, which are mainly centered around his decision to put her life over that of humanity's. One way to do that would be to put her in the shoes of Joel, where she finds herself in the role as a caretaker of another immune child and where she has to choose between the life of the child and the future of humanity. Ellie's relationship with the child could parallel her own journey with Joel in The Last of Us, with a similar decision facing Ellie at the end, and Ellie possibly giving them the child the choice she was robbed of.
Ellie and Joel are characters who are fundamentally shaped by their experiences, and Ellie's own experiences of being lied to and having her decisions taken away from her would inform how she would react if she were placed in Joel's position. While most players would recognize that she would probably have made the same decision as Joel to save the child she had formed a connection with, the key difference is she wouldn't lie to them in the aftermath. Either way, a relationship with someone like her that mirrors her own relationship with Joel would be perfect for Ellie to finally confront her past, allowing her to let go of her anger and give way to healing.
The Last of Us Part 2 is available now for PS4.
