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The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann has just settled a major debate.
The problem is that I have a feeling that this may only cause more ruckus.
You see, the main ‘controversy’ in The Last of Us Part I concerns Joel’s actions; was he right to kill the fireflies in order to save Ellie?
As we’re all well aware, the fireflies wanted to create a cure and doing so using Ellie would have killed her.
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As such, Joel eliminated them all, lying about it to Ellie in the process.
For the most part, I’d say that fans support Joel’s actions as Ellie is essentially a daughter to him at this stage in the story; he’s hardly going to let her die.
There are those though who find his act of sacrificing a cure a little too extreme to look past.
The thing is though that neither The Last of Us Part I nor Part II ever really made it clear whether the fireflies would have succeeded.
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Yes, they had knowledge of what they thought might work. But would it work in practice? Could they mass produce and distribute the cure?
Those are all questions left unanswered and personally, I quite like it that way.
It keeps you wondering whether Joel did make a huge sacrifice or whether Ellie’s potential death really would have been all for nothing.
Druckmann has set the record straight though.
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In an interview with Last Stand Media (via TheLastofUsNews), Druckmann had this to say, “All I can say is our intent was that they would have made a cure - that makes the most interesting philosophical question for what Joel does.”
Fans aren’t too sure how to feel about it.
“I feel like them confirming it actually makes it way less of a philosophical question and way easier to see Joel in the wrong,” wrote Twitter user iambobbyfoster.
“The game clearly showed a 50/50 chance of a cure being made, but it was certain Ellie wouldn't survive,” argued RealmOfMadrid.
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“Of course they could've made a cure. There were no guarantees, but Joel's selfish choice (and yes, it was selfish) eliminated any chance of trying,” said AdamInHTownTX.
Honestly, this doesn’t change all that much for me. As much as I preferred the debate being left vague, I did always lean towards assuming a cure would have been made.
Still, I do think this is a reminder that less can be more.
Topics: The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony, PlayStation 4