Somehow, after weeks of navigating monsters, cannibals, and the constant threat of impending death from pretty much every angle, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) came out of the whole thing alive. So a happy ending to The Last of Us, right? Time to head on down to that sheep farm and kick back in Season 2?
Well, not so fast. Our dynamic duo may be alive and (mostly) in one piece at the close of Season 1, but an emotional wedge has been driven between them in the form of Joel’s lie.
So what exactly did Joel do and say, and — most importantly — does Ellie believe him? Let’s recap.
What happens with Joel and Ellie in the finale?
After finally reaching the Firefly hospital that’s been their goal all along, Joel and Ellie are suddenly ambushed. Joel wakes to find Marlene (Merle Dandridge) standing over him with news that Ellie has already gone into surgery, as their doctor believes cordyceps has been growing in her brain since birth. To create a cure for humanity, she’ll have to die.
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Having finally grown to love Ellie like a daughter, though, Joel isn’t about to let that happen. He shoots his way through the hospital to rescue her, killing everyone in his path and then lying to Ellie about what really happened by telling her that raiders attacked the hospital. There are others like her, Joel says, but the doctors were unable to find a cure.
The problem? As we know, Ellie is a sharp kid. She clearly detects that something about Joel’s story is off. So in the final scene of the season, she confronts him directly.
“Swear to me,” says Ellie. “Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.”
“I swear,” responds Joel.
And Ellie’s answer, which follows a very long stretch of silence and an incredibly hard-to-read facial expression?
“OK.”
Does Ellie know Joel is lying?
Ellie’s reaction to Joel’s story is hard to read. When he first tells her his version of events she’s lying in the backseat of his car, having just woken up. As he finishes the story she rolls over and turns her back on him, but it’s not clear if she’s doing that because she’s so upset by the news, or because she doesn’t believe him.
From this point on though she seems withdrawn, and the final scene makes it clear that she’s suspicious of what Joel’s told her. Her facial expression is inscrutable, but it’s certainly not one of uncomplicated acceptance — clearly there’s some kind of war going on in her head when Joel swears to her he’s telling the truth.
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Luckily, Bella Ramsey herself has shed some light on what Ellie’s thinking in that final scene. Speaking on HBO’s “Inside the Episode” video, she confirms that her character isn’t at all sold on Joel’s tale.
“She knows he’s not telling the truth,” Ramsey says. “But she can’t let herself believe it because it’s too painful and it’s too scary, the idea that her only purpose in life hasn’t been fulfilled — that that had been taken away from her by the person that she loves and trusts the most. It’s too overwhelming, so she forces herself to believe Joel.”
In this way, the answer to the question of whether Ellie knows he’s lying is both yes and no. Deep down, she clearly does. But she chooses to believe him in order to protect herself from further harm. Maybe we’ll find out more in Season 2.
The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max.
