Thomas Mooney !

Grade 11

The Last of Us
Independent Study: Video game reflection !

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Thomas Mooney

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ENG3UA!
Ms. Langevin!
17th December 2014 !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 1!

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This segment of the game is the beginning and sets the scene for all that is to come, it
is therefore set prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. The setting is the world of today
with all the modem amenities, additionally it is also the main character, Joels birthday. I
believe his birthday is used as a tool to help emphsise a heightened emotional trauma
stemming from the forthcoming events, with the outbreak of a global pandemic. ! !
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Throughout the segment The Outbreak, you play as Joel's daughter Sarah

as she works her way through the initial stages of the outbreak. It starts with her waking
up in the middle of the night unable to find her father in the house. As she goes through
the house searching for her father she stumbles upon evidence of the outbreak, for
instance her father's TV is left on with the new report talking about a new fungal virus
that has infected a inner city hospital. In the news report you see police losing
containment and you witness an explosion which cuts off the newsfeed, this coincides
with an explosion which can be seen out of the window and in the city centre. This
breaks the separation which we have between the almost fictional nature of the news
and the reality of our everyday lives. This is a very effective device which adds to the
feeling of foreboding that this section promotes. Several minutes later Sarah does find
her father when he comes in from the garden with an overall agitated and fearful
demeanour. It is at this point we encounter a measure of character versus character
conflict as Sarah very much wants to know what is happening to the city but Joel is
scared to tell her. !
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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

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The setting now changes from the secure, comfortable world of home into

a far more savage place. You see this when Joel declares that, "There is something
wrong with the neighbours! One of the infected neighbours attempts to enter the
house; Joel pleads with him to leave, but when he does not Joel is forced to shoot him.
I believe this was used to demonstrate the transition within the setting into a place
where neighbour turns on neighbour. This tragic turn of events was seen in Europe in
the 90s, with the break up Yugoslavia, with neighbour turning on neighbour with
grotesque consequences. This also has the double effect of changing the conflict to
character versus society. !
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As a result of this attack and the belief that the home is no longer safe,

Joel, Sarah and Joel's brother, Tommy, are forced to venture out into the world of the
outbreak. This now paints the scene for the breakdown of society, which culminates in
a desperate Joel and Sarah, now separated from Tommy, reaching the bounds of the
quarantine zone. A soldier comes upon them and is ordered by his superiors to take no
chances of infection and to kill them both. Whilst attempting to escape Joel throws both
himself and Sarah down the side of a hill. He attempts to protect Sarah by throwing
himself on top of her, prepared to sacrifice himself if necessary. To Joe's utter horror he
discovers that, although he is only superficially wounded, Sarah has received a gun
shot wound to the chest and is bleeding to death. I believe this to be one of the most
pinnacle points in the story as it radically affects the main protagonist, Joel.!

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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 2!

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We find Joel, twenty years later, a much changed man. He is living in a quarantine
zone in what remains of Boston. This character is a far cry from the loving father figure
we previously encountered. We now meet the character Tess, a member of Joels
generation, who has teamed up with him, and they now work together as smugglers.
There is a clear relationship between these two characters brought about through
hardship and the experience of losing everything. The transition in the personality of
Joels character is further demonstrated when these two characters mercilessly track
down a former associate who betrayed them and stole a shipment of weapons. !
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As Joel and Tess move throughout the quarantine zone, we discover the

military dictatorship that they are living under and the apparent currency which is now
ration cards, similar to Britain during the Second World War. This creates a very
prevalent character versus society conflict, which is maintained throughout the whole
story from this point. This was foreshadowed by the killing of Joels daughter, when the
government ordered a soldier to kill both Joel and his daughter at the beginning of the
story. !
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Once Joel and Tess track down their former associate, who stole the

shipment of arms, we witness most cardinal change in Joels character, when he

tortures the associate for information. This shows the violent and inhumane world these
characters now inhabit. They eventually track their shipment to a terrorist organization
which fights for the reinstatement of all government departments and services, to !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

replace martial law, this organizations is known as the Fireflies, they are portrayed as
the loveable underdogs. !
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Here we are introduced to two more characters, Ellie and Marlene.

Marlene is the leader of the Fireflies and an occasional customer of Joel and Tess.
Marlene then introduces Ellie, a mysterious fourteen year old girl who, from this point
forwards, becomes central to the plot. Marlene informs Joel and Tess that if they
smuggle Ellie to the former Capitol Building of Boston, she will return the shipment that
was stolen. Due to Ellies youthful independence and reluctance to accompany Joel
and Tess, this creates a long lasting character on character conflict which is maintained
throughout the story. By the time Tess and Joel, along with Ellie, have reached the
rendez vous point they have discovered the true reason they were asked to transport
Ellie; she is immune to the fungal virus that has infected the world. !
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Discovering that the Fireflies have been wiped out and there is now no

one to meet them creates a complete shift in the motivation of Tess, who confesses she
has been infected by the virus and, as a dying request, asks Joel to continue the
journey with Ellie. Ellie inform Joel that the Fireflies were going to transport her to a
hidden Firefly quarantine zone on the west coast where they have doctors trying to
develop a cure. He reluctantly agrees to Tess dying request and sets off with Ellie.

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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 3!

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We now enter a section of the story where the differences in Joel and Ellie become very
apparent. This section takes place in a small rural town where Joel knows of a old
friend who may help them in their journey across the country. The setting of a small
town in the middle of a forest is essential to underline the differences between Joel who
has lived before the pandemic, and Ellie who has lived only after the pandemic. This is
evidenced by such things as Ellie's fascination with the forest, having never seen trees
in such quantities before, and her asking questions of about what probably happened to
the people who lived in the town. !
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When Joel meets his friend, the friend advises him to abandon Ellie and

return to the quarantine zone. This is again another abrupt reminder of the cut throat
reality of the world in which they now live. At the conclusion of this section of the game
Joel has disregarded his friends advice, Ellie has proven herself to be have a helpful
and positive contribution to the relationship and the journey. To this end they recovered
a working vehicle. The vehicle is a symbol of the humanity that remains within society.
It was repaired by the boyfriend of the friend Joel meets. It is at this point that we
recognize that his friend is gay. When his boyfriend was infected he traveled through
the infected part of the town, an area inhabited by those who had the virus, in order to
scavenge the necessary parts to repair the truck.
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As this section progresses you learn new skills that enhance both you and

the characters. The section is used as a very effective medium to relay more backstory
and knowledge about the characters and the collapse of society. This is excellently !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

aided by the extreme detail that has gone into this game. One example of this
invaluable detail is, when you are scavenging for supplies in the houses you come
across possible items from the last inhabitants such as, suicide notes, messages for
family members and personal diaries. One of these was the harrowing diary of a child
as he recounts his experiences of the first weeks of the pandemic. These very
domestic elements are an example of imagery, creating a clear picture of life and
drawing out emotions in the audience that might not otherwise be felt. This builds
empathy for the characters and insight into how Joel has transformed from a loving
father to a cold-blooded killer. This poses the question that is one of the pillars of this
story, can the loving father be redeemed?!

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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 4!

As our protagonists continue their journey across the country, a bond of friendship
begins to take hold, brought about through the hardships and conflict that arose in
previous chapters. It is at this point that we start to see the character conflicts begin
to resolve. With the truck that Ellie and Joel acquired in the previous section, they
intended to travel across a large section of the country to meet up with Joels brother
Tommy, a former Firefly, who hopefully can lead them to the quarantine zone. Their
plan however goes awry while travelling through the downtown section of an
abandoned city; a wounded man stumbles out in front of their vehicle asking for their
help. Ellie attempts to exit the vehicle with the purpose of helping the man but she
is taken by surprise when Joel accelerates the vehicle and attempts to run the man
down proclaiming, That man isnt injured! It is at this point that the injured man
draws a weapon and starts shooting at the vehicle and gunmen appear on all sides in
an attempt to ambush them. It is this attempted ambush that flings Joel and Ellie
into a game of cat and mouse throughout this abandoned city. This creates an all
new, and far more lethal, character versus society conflict one that is a theme of this
story, resulting in very little trust between strangers.
I believe the ambush and resulting hunt is a attempt to display the
absence of humanity that appears to plague this post-pandemic world. This is
emphasized by the pleasantries exchanged by the hunters. There is clear paradox in
showing them not as the violent criminals they would be considered today, where
killing is generally abhorred, but as more average people, talking about such things as

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

tonights poker game and lightheartedly mocking of a friend for being afraid of being
infected and even showing empathy for the people they are hunting. However, this
does not stop them from mercilessly killing anyone they come across. This is all done
in contrast to the initial acts of compassion performed by Ellie, when she first
attempts to help the man and Joels comment after the ambush was over informing
Ellie that he has been on both sides of that kind of ambush, further painting a picture
of both Joel and the world around them.
As this section progresses Joel and Ellie are able to escape the city with
the help of another pair of travellers, a pair of brothers, one of whom intends to join
the Fireflies. This, I believe, is done to bring an element of balance back to this
world, demonstrating that there are still people out there who are willing to help.
However this does reinforce the character versus society conflict, as when these two
groups initially meet, believing each other to be a threat, they try to kill one another.
This section comes to a very nasty conclusion however, which is a very stark reminder
that the world is no longer a safe place. This occurs when the younger of the two
brothers gets infected and the others are forced to kill him. In a fit of grief and anger
his older brother commits suicide, once again leaving Joel and Ellie alone.

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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 5!

We now meet our protagonists several months later in the fall. We again get a sense
of visual character progression as Joel and Ellie have changed clothing. They are now
approaching the outskirts of a town where Joels brother is supposed to live. They
come across a hydro-dam and attempt to seek shelter inside, when they find it is
already inhabited by a group of people, one of whom is Joels brother. This segment
and the meeting of Joels brother, I believe is used to resolve some underlying
character versus character conflicts and the preverbal elephant in the room, namely
the emotional attachment Joel is developing for Ellie as a daughter substitute, and
Ellie increasingly seeing Joel as the parent she never had having been orphaned at a
young age.
When they reach the hydro-dam they are greeted down the barrel of a
gun, which has come to replace the handshake in this future society. They discover
that Tommy, Joels brother, is part of a team trying to restore the hydro-dam to
working order. This demonstrates to the audience that, although the world has
become a far more dangerous place, there is still the attempted march of progress.
However while on a tour of the facility they are attacked by bandits intent on raiding
the plant for supplies. The concern that Joel shows in that battle for the safety of
Ellie demonstrates the intense bond that has developed. This is however
overshadowed by Ellie's discovering that Joel intends to hand her over to his brother
Tommy and allow him to take her the rest of the way. This predictably produces

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

feedings of abandonment in Ellie and rekindles many character versus character

conflicts.
Overwhelmed by these feeling Ellie runs away, Joel inevitably goes after
her. When he finally catches up to her, Ellie confronts Joel about the real reason he is
trying to have Tommy take her the rest of the way, revealing that she knows about
Joels daughter Sarah. Ellie believes that Joel is getting rid of her because she
reminds him too much of his daughter Sarah, Joel informs Ellie that, "You are on some
mighty thin ice. I believe this is used as a way of conveying how strongly Joe does
not wish to confront his past. Ellie reminds him, "I am not Sarah, and says that Joel
should not abandon her out of the fear of losing somebody in the same way he lost his
daughter. This conversation apparently goes unanswered as, at this moment, they
come under attack from bandits and are forced to flee. Eventually they return to the
hydro-plant where the relationship between Ellie and Joel appears to be at an end.
This is the point when it appears to bring an unwanted closure to many of the
character versus character conflicts.
By the time Tommy takes them to his village and is preparing to leave
with Ellie, Joel has apparently reflected upon the consequences of his decisions and
come to a new state of mind and announces that he will taking Ellie forwards, all the
way to the quarantine zone. In Ellies eyes this redeems all the sins of Joel which
builds a new found trust between them. This is the first step that we see in Joels
character towards reconciling himself again as the earlier loving father.

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 6!

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At this point we are now half way through the game. It may seems slightly unbalanced
to have 5 reflections covering the first half of the game and only two for the second half.
This is due to the development of the team that is Joel and Ellie, fractious and unstable
at some points, it is now an established functional relationship, with the acceptance of
feelings of well being and caring on the side of both characters. This is displayed and
reaffirmed by the subtle change in the dialogue as they now start to refer to their
potential lives after reaching the quarantine zone, for example Joel tells Ellie how he will
teach her to play guitar.!
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In this section they reach the long-awaited quarantine zone, only to find it

deserted. They desperately search the facility for a clue as to where the people have
gone. They find just that, a dictaphone containing the personal reflections of a doctor
working at the facility, who became infected when one of the contaminated monkeys bit
him. This is another example of those fine details that are added into this story to add
an extra emotional connection to the characters in the sub-plot and helps to increase
the relationship both the characters and the player have with the setting.!
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It is apparent at this point that the people from the facility have moved to a

secondary quarantine hospital further north. While Ellie and Joel are making their way
out of the building they are once more set upon by a party of violent scavengers, intent
on raiding the quarantine zone for supplies. During the conflict that follows Joel is
grievously wounded and is unable to defend Ellie who must now fight for both of them. !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

This is a clear change in both the dynamic and the character perspective within the
story.!
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We now shift into winter, it is around two weeks after Joel was wounded

and we are experiencing the daily struggles of Ellie as she hunts for food. I believe this
section really represent the desperation of their situation, with Ellie resorting to very
basic human survival behaviours, just like those of the early hunter gatherers. This
section proves to be a very formative section for the character of Ellie, as she must
learn to not only survive by herself, but also to fend off those who would do them harm
now that their reputation has started to precede them. At this point she moves from the
position of dependant to provider and protector within the dynamic of her relationship
with Joel.

Whilst out hunting she encounters two people from a larger group, also

hunting. She negotiates to trade a deer she has shot for some antibiotics that she
needs for Joel. Both parties being suspicious, they start their encounter with guns
drawn, however when they are attacked by the infected they must work together to
survive, forming a pseudo-relationship. One man leaves to collect the antibiotic leaving
Ellie alone with the other character. Once the battle is over the remaining man,
impressed by Ellies fighting prowess, tells how he is the leader of a group who once
sent a scavenging party to a former quarantine facility. All but one of the party failed to
return having encountered a father and daughter who were ferocious fighters. I believe
this is an excellent device to instantly change the mood from congratulatory to tense !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

and dangerous as Ellie realizes that he now knows who she is. The deal still takes
place and they go their separate ways, Ellie returns to administer the antibiotics to Joel.!
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The fact that this section takes place during winter is a clear symbolic

device representative of the barren, cold, heartless world Ellie is now having to fight her
way through alone. Although she was hardened by her early life in the quarantine
zones military academy, she is woefully unprepared for the realities of the world. This
gives her an insight into the mind of Joels character and a deeper understanding of why
he is who he is. !

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Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

The Last of Us Reflection 7!

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This is the final segment of are story. It begins soon after Ellie has returned to Joel and
administered the medication. This scene is highly symbolic; Ally lies down on the
ground next to Joel's bed. I believe this is used as a visual symbol of the closeness and
intensity of their relationship. This is further underlined when Ellie, on hearing
approaching search parties sent to capture them both by the man she had traded with,
instead of hiding, heads out to lead them away from Joel. I believe this entire section is
devoted to demonstrating the dedication this pair of characters has to each other. In
attempting of lead the search parties away, Ellie is captured and is taken back to the
town which was home to the scavengers that Ellie and Joel killed. This creates a
character versus society conflict; these kinds of character versus society conflicts have
become almost a sub-theme throughout this story. !
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Once at the settlement Ellie discovers that the inhabitants are cannibals

and intend to eat her, this adds to the pre-existing conflicts of character versus society.
Fortunately Ellie is able to make her escape and moves out throughout the town. She
discovers that these scavengers are not necessarily bad people, again we overhear
people talking of things such as an election, sharing that these cannibals live within a
democracy. I believe this was done to be contradictory to all described images of a
cannibalistic society. !
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Despite her attempts at evasion, her trackers trap her in a building and

she is hunted by the leader of the town, the man she traded the deer with in the forest.
This kind of one-on-one battle I believe was used to mature Ellie's character, this is !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

evidenced by the moments of happy child like dialogue which occurred prior to Joel's
injury, these moments however rarely happen past point. This is further reinforced at its
conclusion which is where Ellie brutally kills him with a machete. However I believe this
moment more emotionally scars Ellie's character rather then maturing it. !
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While this is happening Joel awakens from his sleep, thanks to the

antibiotics, and is concerned as to where Ellie is. Realizing what has happened he
goes out in search of her, again demonstrating the strength of the relationship between
these two characters. Joel is able to capture two of the enemy search party. Again he
tortures them for information, however there is a subtle difference in the torture, unlike
in previous chapters where when Joel had tortured people it had been a very clinical
process, now it was obviously a very personal and almost desperate ordeal. This
explains the search partys belief that Joel and Ellie are father and daughter. Again I
believe this to be a deliberate act on the part of the writers to underline and emphasize
the strength of this evolving and ever growing relationship. Joel succeeds and arrives
just in time to witness Ellie's killing of the town leader. This is a device used to provoke
an element of empathy within the character of Joel towards Ellie as Joel has killed many
times before and knows the emotional toll that comes with it.!
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Once again we see a progression of time as we are now in late spring and

are approaching the quarantine zone. While traveling through the surrounding city
however, they come under attack from the infected and barely make it to the quarantine
zone alive. I believe this is used to add a certain element of suspense to the final
segment of this story. In the attack Joel is knocked unconscious moments before they !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

are rescued by the Fireflies, in what seems to be a perfect happy ending. But when he
comes to, he is inside the quarantine zone and is greeted by Marlene. She explains
how she was not killed with the rest of the Boston division of the Fireflies and had
beaten Joel and Ellie to the quarantine zone by months. Joel is immediately concerned
for the fate of Ellie, Marlene tells him Ellie is fine. Marlene goes on to tell Joel that she
will require a small medical operation to synthesize the vaccine. Despite this
reassurance Joel pushes her for details on the medical operation. His questioning
alters the mood in the room from originally peaceful and grateful, to tense and
suspicious. Finally Marlene admits the operation is a lobotomy, and that it is required to
synthesize a vaccine. Joel immediately attempts to leave the room but is stopped by
two Firefly soldiers. I feel one side-effect of receiving this story in such a interactive
medium as a video game is that I, as both the audience and the participant, was feeling
very emotionally attached to this character. I believe this to be the purpose of this plot
twist as it forces the player to reveal to themselves their emotional investment in this
story. !
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Marlene justifies the use of Ellie to create the vaccine to Joel using the

age old axiom of the end justifies the means. Joel however is past reasoning, and it is
at this point he discovers the full extent of his relationship with Ellie. This invokes the
character versus society conflict that all parents feel towards society, the conflict that
they would do anything, despite what society would allow, to keep their children safe.
This is what I believe is Joel's motivation as he overpowers the two guards and sets out
in search of Ellie. !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11
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As Joel fights his way through the building we see a far more frantic side

of his character. I believe this to be the low point in Joel's desperate attempt to redeem
himself for the death of Sarah, by saving Ellie in the way that he failed to save Sarah.
Joel arrives in time to prevent the surgery from happening. In what I believe to be
another deliberate sign of Joel's dedication and fatherly love for Ellie, Joel shoots one of
the doctors in the knee cap when he refuses to step aside. I believe this is done is an
attempt to reinforce the gravity of the ethical decision Joel is making choosing Ellie, the
girl he has protected and cared for throughout the last year, as opposed to a vaccine
against the fungal infection which the doctor says, "Can put our species back on track.
Deaf to this, Joel picks up Ellie and carries her out of the building. Before he can steal a
car however, he is confronted by Marlene holding a gun, warning if he takes one more
step she will shoot both Joel and Ellie. This is clearly an image for all of the
transformations we've seen to Joel, both physically and mentally, as he has now been
presented with this situation twice, a soldier threatening that if he took one more step
that they would shoot both him and Sarah, the child in his arms. Now however, through
all these conflicts with characters and societies, Joel has changed and is able to protect
Ellie in ways he was never able to protect Sarah in this, his second chance. Marlene
then challenges him saying, "This is what she would want and you know it. Joel, acting
upon what I believe is the parental character versus society conflict, shoots Marlene
claiming his second chance and in some way subconsciously redeeming himself for his
failure to protect Sarah. Before he drives off however, he realizes Marlene is still alive, !

Thomas Mooney !
Grade 11

approaching her she begs for life, to which Joel, replying, "You'd only come after her,
kills Marlene. I believe this is to show his intent to continue protecting Ellie.!
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The last time we see our characters is as we finish the story, Joel has a far

lighter persona and is talking freely the Ellie about his daughter Sarah, as they head
towards a town. The setting of this town I believe is important to the feeling of closure
and conclusion to the story, the town is set in a beautiful forest with mountains in the
background. The town appears well looked after and has a large defensive wall, this is
designed to provoke feelings of security, well-being and that the journey is at an end.
Ellie however is concerned and withdrawn, Joel having informed her that the Fireflies
had realized she was not necessary to produce a vaccine and that her immunity was
surprisingly common. This is a slight reemergence of a character versus character
conflict. This culminates in Ellie confronting Joel and asking him to swear that
everything he told her about the Fireflies is true, to which Joel replies, Yes,"
demonstrating Joels will for keeping his promise to protect Ellie, even from the truth.
We leave them heading towards their new lives, Ellie happy to be a normal teenaged
girl, despite not knowing her true importance, and Joel, content at the lifting of 20 years
of guilt and ready to make a new start. !