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Sexpistolz t1_j6o8n5n wrote

Reply to comment by powertrip22 in The Empty Sentiment of The Last of Us by BuckedMallard

They needed to establish why Joel protects Ellie. In the game you aren’t given a choice. She’s a forced escort prop. In the TV show characters have choices. Joel’s motivation was a truck battery. Cool, he got that left from Bill. Now why? This ep. Establishes why.

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Ruzhy6 t1_j6oda4o wrote

Tess asked him to. That's why. It was her dying wish.

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hangryhyax t1_j6omwru wrote

That’s one piece, and a piece that this episode expanded upon by showing how long they had been working together/friends (over a decade).

Then there’s Bill’s note, which made the loss of Tess even heavier, but reenforced the idea that he shouldn’t be helping Ellie just because of a potential cure, but because people like them (Bill and Joel) are their to protect others, something he will feel even more compelled to do given his “failure” protecting Tess.

All of that from one beautifully crafted episode. I haven’t played the game(s), and I think they’re doing a great job of building Joel’s character and allowing the viewer to not just see him change, but also why he’s changing.

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