The Last Of Us: Joel's season one kill-count worked out by viewers

If you want to survive in the world of The Last of Us, chances are, you’re probably going to have a pretty high kill-count seeing as violence is somewhat of a survival necessity.

In recent days, The Last of Us fans have been debating Joel’s actions in the season finale. Was he right to sacrifice all of those Fireflies - and humanity’s chance of finding a cure - to save one life? Ellie’s. The Fireflies didn’t give Ellie a choice so I guess you could argue that Joel was left with no choice either. It’s an interesting quandary but most fans are siding with the character. Co-showrunner Craig Mazin also referred to Joel as a hero, but not in the conventional sense. Either way, Joel’s kill-count certainly isn’t as high as it is in the game, despite all of those slaughtered Fireflies.

The Last of Us Part I launches on PC on 28 March. Check out the game in action below.

It’s no secret that HBO’s The Last of Us toned down the game’s violence. In fact, it’s a masterclass in bringing gameplay to life. The Last of Us Part I may be chock full of infected, hunter, and raider fights, but those fights aren’t completely necessary in a TV show. With that in mind, our game kill-count is likely to be in the hundreds. One fan has revealed though that TV Joel’s kill-count is 39.

As worked out by Reddit user No_Focus0, “Joel killed 28 people and 11 infected with a grand total of 39 kills in season one of The Last of Us.” It’s a strange number because in the context of real life, that’s an obscene amount. In the context of the world of The Last of Us though, it’s rather modest - compared to game at least.

User jcmonk remarked, “For a show that really leaned into the realism of a post-apocalyptic world, that’s a lot for one person. Most were glossed over in that final hospital murder montage though.” It’s true. This is likely to have a huge emotional toll on Joel. If you want a further breakdown, Joel reportedly killed 17 Fireflies and sniped seven infected during the horde scene. I dread to think what Ellie’s Part II kill-count will be.