This article contains spoilers for HBO’s The Last of Us.
The season 1 finale of HBO’s The Last of Us may have been climactic, but things didn’t necessarily end on a massive cliffhanger. After finding the Fireflies in Salt Lake City and discovering that Ellie (Bella Ramsey) would have to die for them to make a cure for Cordyceps, Joel takes matters into his own hands and forcefully stops the surgery that would have removed the Cordyceps from her brain. Leaving behind the bodies of Fireflies who would dare stand in his way, Joel takes Ellie and sets off for his brother’s settlement in Jackson, Wyoming.
When Ellie wakes up, she asks Joel what happened, and he lies saying the hospital was attacked and that the Fireflies had been able to conduct enough tests on other immune people that they had stopped looking for a cure. Once they reach Jackson, it’s clear that Ellie is having doubts and makes him swear that what he told her was the truth. Joel lies again and swears that it’s true, leaving Ellie, who still doesn’t seem to believe Joel, to decide how to move forward. She simply says “okay” and the two presumably continue on to Jackson together.
While this ending wraps up Joel and Ellie’s story well and doesn’t appear to leave too many loose ends, fans of the video game series that the show is based on know that Joel’s actions will have some nasty consequences. But whether you’re familiar with the plot of the second game that the series is planning to adapt or you’re a newcomer who has no idea how much emotional damage awaits them, fans are eager to see where the HBO series will take Joel and Ellie in season 2.
