Does Ellie forgive Joel in The Last of Us?

Does Ellie forgive Joel in The Last of Us? In all its beauty and bloodshed, the first season of HBO’s adaptation ended on a tense note, leaving fans wondering: will Ellie forgive Joel?

In our review of the finale, we wrote: “Don’t expect an easy, heart-warming coda from The Last of Us finale, nor should you hold any venom for the story’s bleak turn: in a story all about love lost and found in a hopeless place, this was the only way.”

After rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies hospital, where she would have given her life in aid of a cure for Cordyceps, they return to Jackson. She makes him swear that everything he said is true, and he obliges. “Okay,” she tells him.

Joel may have his happy ending, but the violent events of the finale paved the way for the trauma of Part 2’s story in future seasons – so, will Ellie forgive Joel? Warning: we’re about to get into major spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2. If you haven’t played the games, this is your chance to get out now before it’s too late.

Does Ellie forgive Joel in The Last of Us?

Yes, Ellie forgives Joel – but it’s not as simple as her saying: “I forgive you.”

In the closing chapter of the first game, just like the show, Joel massacres nearly all of the Fireflies in the hospital when he learns Ellie will be killed in the operation to develop a vaccine. He also murders Marlene, fearing she’ll come after them.

Part 2 opens with Joel confessing what he did to Tommy, who offers him comfort. “I can’t say I’d have done different,” he tells him. Under pressure from Ellie, Joel eventually tells her the truth. Furious and feeling betrayed, she casts him aside and says: “We’re done.”

Years later, back at Jackson, Ellie visits Joel on his porch. “You’re such an asshole. I was supposed to die in that hospital. My life would’ve f*cking mattered. But you took that from me,” she says.

“If somehow the Lord gave me a second chance at that moment… I would do it all over again,” he responds.

“Yeah… I just… I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that. But I would like to try,” she says. The next day, while on patrol with Dina, she says she’s going to invite Joel over to watch one of his favorite movies: Curtis and Viper 2, her first effort to reconcile their relationship.

Hours later, she watches as Joel is brutally murdered by Abby, the daughter of the Firefly doctor he killed while saving Ellie. She vows to avenge him and kill her, but in their first face-off, Abby shows Ellie mercy. “Don’t ever let me see you again,” she says.

Ellie goes back to the farmhouse with Dina, but she can’t overcome the PTSD from Joel’s death, so she pursues Abby again. She finds her in Santa Barbara, captured by the Rattlers. She frees her, before fighting her. Just as she’s about to kill her, she can’t go through with it and decides to let her go.

Here’s the long and short of it: Joel was killed before Ellie could forgive him. Her guilt over failing to repair her relationship with the only father figure in her life fuelled her need for revenge, but by not killing Abby, she could forgive Joel through her. She waited too long to have him in her life again, but she could make amends by forgiving the person who took him from her.

The Last of Us Season 1 is available to stream in its entirety now. You can check out the rest of our coverage here.