It's back for another 7 weeks of broadcasting. This April 14th marks the start of season 2 of The Last of Us on Max after a two-year wait. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are back on our screens to play Joel and Ellie, two survivors in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. We see them here years after the events of the first season, surprisingly on bad terms.
Indeed, viewers followed the relationship of the two characters, first as strangers, then forging bonds similar to those of a father and his daughter. Two years ago, we still saw them as very close, the man having saved the young teenager's life when she was about to be killed by an armed group. But there's trouble in the gas and this first episode doesn't explain the reasons. What's hiding under Ellie's anger?
Remember the rescue
As a reminder, Ellie is immune to the virus that infects the entire world and transforms the population into the living dead. After being bitten, she never showed the slightest symptom, making her the only known person to date with her condition. That's why the Fireflies, an armed group of survivalists, wanted to get their hands on her, examine her, and try to develop a cure or vaccine against the infection using her body. The only problem is that the young girl would have had to die to get there.
This fate was obviously hidden from her so as not to dissuade her from giving her life, but when Joel learned about it, he did everything in his power to save her, just as she had already done for him. This involved a good dose of fighting, and especially murders at shoveled into the hospital in Salt Lake City, the Fireflies' home. Once recovered, Ellie asked Joel why she was no longer with the group, to which her adoptive father replied that they had other immune volunteers to research a vaccine and that the Fireflies ultimately no longer needed her. Of course, it's all fake. It's this lie that will cost Joel, Ellie's sympathy.
The Price of Truth
We haven't seen it yet with the first episode, but in the 5 years between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, Ellie finally learns the truth about the day of her rescue. Joel hid from Ellie for years all the deaths he caused just by saving the teenager from the clutches of the Fireflies, but above all, he took away her ability to choose her destiny. Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, had herself hidden the truth from her about her forced sacrifice. This was a lie of omission that almost led Ellie to give her life without informed consent. Joel therefore believed he was acting in her best interest by protecting her.
However, Ellie is a kind person, willing to give meaning to her existence and her "unique in the world" immunity for the good of humanity. At least, that's what she claims. Would she have refused to help the Fireflies if she had known the consequences? Nothing could be less certain. The very reason for Joel's lie proves that he, too, knew she would have surely accepted her fate. What she blames Joel for is therefore having taken away this choice from her, even though the Fireflies would have made it in her place in any case.
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