The Last of Us boss responds to the divisive finale and Joel's decision
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The Last of Us spoilers.
The Last of Us TV series aired its season 1 finale over the weekend, and fans of the game got to see if it would adapt the shocking ending where Joel kills all the Fireflies in the hospital as they prepare to perform a likely fatal operation on Ellie in the hope they could create a cure.
The show did indeed follow the game in having Joel go on a rampage to save Ellie, and later lie to her about what happened.
There are a few differences though, further driving home that despite the fact that the operation may not necessarily lead to a cure, but people are just as divided about Joel's dark decision as they were in 2013.
Related: The Last of Us releases surprise extra season 1 episode
Explaining why it had to be this way (apart from the fact that they are adapting an existing story), showrunner Craig Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter: "When you love something unconditionally, logic goes out the window and you will do really horrible things to protect the ones you love.
"And there’s a lot of examples worldwide of this happening all the time. So for us it was just like, 'Here are all the different pieces that we have, the tools we have within this story. How can we, with each episode, thematically, touch on that in some way?' Both the beautiful joy that can come out of like a story like Bill and Frank, and a fate worse than death when a man has to kill his own brother because he’s turned."
Related: Why The Last of Us was right to miss out this finale scene
He continued: "[There’s] greater and greater sacrifices Joel has to make for Ellie, and likewise what she’s going through to protect him. I’m confused about it morally. I think it’s a difficult choice. I go back and forth. I think a lot of people will go back and forth on it."
A second season is officially happening, with Mazin teasing that they're really going to use television's ability to show us different perspectives to tell the story of the second game — which famously features multiple protagonists working for very different factions.
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
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