The Last of Us season finale is finally here and has everything the rumors promised, from Anna’s backstory to Ellie and Joel meeting the Fireflies. The episode took us on a ride of emotions and left us in a moral dilemma of choosing between our loved ones or humanity during a post-apocalyptic setting.

In the season finale, Joel Miller eliminated all the Fireflies to protect Ellie, but it prevented the discovery of a cure against Cordyceps. This season finale divided everyone since some may think Joel did the right thing. Meanwhile, there will be many who disagree with Joel’s decision.

Ellie’s actress Bella Ramsey predicted earlier that the season finale will massively divide the audience. But the show’s co-creator Neil Druckmann and Joel’s actor Pedro Pascal justified Joel’s actions in the season finale.

Why saving Ellie in The Last of Us season finale was the ‘easiest decision’ for Joel?

Ellie would have died from the surgery to discover the long-desired cure for humanity. So, Joel goes on a rampage in the Fireflies Hospital to save his new ‘baby girl’. It was undeniably the best sequence of the season’s finale. But Joel could have left her to die, as we saw Joel kill many people throughout the series.

Pedro Pascal’s character might have done so if he was Joel from Episode 1, as he only saw Ellie as a task to complete. But over time, he started caring for her and seeing her as a second daughter that life gave him. So protecting Ellie over humanity is not a major dilemma for Joel.

READ MORE: “It Was Bittersweet”–‘The Last of Us’ Star Bella Ramsey Reflects on Ellie’s Key Moment in the Season Finale

Even Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the HBO adaptation and the game’s creator, agreed with it. He explained, “We’ve seen Joel kill. We’ve seen him lose loved ones. So, how do you take that any further? What if it’s between saving all of humanity or this one girl? The easiest choice he’s ever made in his life.”

Even Pedro Pascal, who was Joel on the HBO adaption, shared a similar answer to Druckmann. “What would make one choose one thing over the survival of humanity, essentially?” Pascal on Joel’s reasoning to protect Ellie, “Which is something that he does, because he finds himself incapable of losing again.”

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Did you watch the TLOU season finale? What was your thought on the decision Joel took? Let us know in the comments below.