The Last of Us’ Joel wins MTV ‘Best Hero’ award, which is, shall we, say… a little awkward to say the least.
When it was released on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic this year, The Last of Us live-action series proved once and for all, that video game adaptations can not only work when treated with respect, but they can also be brilliant. This is why The Last of Us became the most-watched debut series ever.
Now, before I proceed, please be advised that I will not only be going into spoilers for the season one finale but also the ending of The Last of Us Part I. So consider this to be your final spoiler warning.
Whether you consider Joel to be a hero is debatable and will differ depending from one person to the next. As a father, I totally get why Joel decided to save Ellie at the expense of the human race as well as those Fireflies that ran in front of his bullets during the St Mary’s Hospital massacre.
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That being, despite the Fireflies claiming that Ellie was the cure to the cordyceps virus, that might not be entirely true. Those that explored every nook and cranny in the original PS3 game, may have discovered written documents and audio files in the hospital that state Ellie was not the only one and several had died at the operating table.
Conveniently, those files were removed in The Last of Us 2022 remake. Which may have been done to help portray Joel as being a villain of the story. However, that’s just speculation on my part.
From my personal perspective, Joel saved the girl that he considered to be a daughter, plus, he has already suffered great losses over the years. Not to mention, that the Fireflies were total d***s to Joel at St. Mary’s hospital when they dropped the bombshell that Ellie was going to die, not to mention that the operation on Ellie was none-consensual.
So do you know what, some may see Joel as a villain and undeserving of the MTV ‘Best Hero’ award, but he’s my hero and he should be wearing a cape. What’s more, if the series showrunner says that Joel is a hero and Bella Ramsay says that he made the right call, who are we to argue? Plus, f*** the Firefies.
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Though I suppose on the plus side, at least Tess and the infected didn't win ‘Best Kiss’.
Topics: The Last Of Us, Naughty Dog