#marlene the last of us

[csg-iii]

Well, Marlene, maybe you would know what Ellie would have decided if you hadn’t decided not to tell her, not to cause her any fear, not to give Ellie time to really think about the idea of dying for a potential vaccine that would have to be somehow mass-produced and distributed by a group with scarce resources who couldn’t even manage to get Ellie to that hospital by themselves to a world full of, in Marlene’s own words, infected who would still torn people apart and murderous raiders.

If Marlene had given Joel the chance to talk to Ellie at the hospital, and if after thinking about it Ellie still decided to go through with the surgery anyway, then Joel’s hands would have been tied. But Marlene and the Fireflies dug their own grave when they took away Ellie’s choice first.

#the last of us #the last of us spoilers #joel miller #marlene the last of us #ellie williams #look for the light #tlou #tlou 1x09

[unalteredgraces]

thinking of how marlene promised anna to take care of her newborn child because they were best friends and had known each other their entire lives, and then marlene dumped ellie in an orphanage, never reached out to her in her 14 years of living in the same city, chained her to a radiator for three weeks after she just lost her best friend and took her future from her whether she wanted to live it or not, tossed her to joel and tess who cared as little about her as marlene did, and then when she reunited with ellie again on the other side of the country after both of them had been through a horribly grueling journey, she didn't even really hesitate before agreeing to let her die without certainty that it would actually lead to a cure

#like. if ur not team joel thats fine but then dont tell me u side with the fireflies #lol #the last of us #tlou #tlou hbo #the last of us hbo #joel miller #ellie williams #bella ramsey #pedro pascal #marlene the last of us #marlene tlou #anna williams #fireflies

[hallwyeoo]

Ellie’s memory of the golfing scene and what it tells us about her.

🚨spoilers for tlou2🚨

I think Ellie’s flashback to Joel’s death is very telling of how she internalized the event and the meaning she applied to his death. It’s also a good demonstration of her relationship to autonomy. Let’s break down the elements that were inconsistent with the actual event:

The stairs/hallway are much longer than they were. This suggests a sense of helplessness, an inability to get there fast enough. Joel is constantly out of reach.

There is blood on the floor outside of the door. Not entirely certain on this one but my hunch is that she blames herself for not seeing more obvious signs of violence/not knowing something was wrong sooner.

The door is locked, another roadblock in her path to Joel. She can’t access him, she can’t help, he needs her and she isn’t there.

Most importantly. Joel yells “Ellie, help me” (which he didn’t in the actual scene, he just screams. He doesn’t say a word in the actual scene)

Ellie hearing Joel scream for her help, calling for her while being horribly beaten, and her being repeatedly impeded on her way to him suggests that what she took away from his death is that she wasn’t enough. They always helped each other, always had each others backs, always got up. Ellie views his death as a failure. She was too slow, too weak, not smart enough to save him. She failed him when he needed her most. She is absolutely helpless to save him, just like she was helpless to save Riley, Tess, Sam, and Jessie (and Marlene, and humanity, and and and-).

Once again, Ellie makes a decision (staying with Riley, going to the fireflies, staying with Joel, being the cure, trying to forgive Joel) and once again her autonomy and ability to find closure is ripped from her.

This is the inciting incident of tlou pt2, this is the moment where Ellie’s whole world shatters the same way Joel’s did at the start of pt1. Ellie enters into the same cycle (which I like to call the “Joel cycle” because… yeah.) that he did, and throughout pt2 she stays in the “20 years later” phase of the cycle. She is changed, she has lost her light, lost what she fought for. She lost her chance to genuinely forgive Joel and rebuild their relationship. She is stuck in a gruelling and violent world that she has no anchor in, at least not anymore. His death is so sudden and so incredibly violent that it practically gave her (and me as well, tbh) whiplash. She’s in a state of total shock.

On another devastating note, this is one of the three times in tlou that we see Ellie beg (that I remember). The first is begging Joel to get up at the university of Eastern Colorado, the second is begging him to get up and for Abby to stop, and the third is begging Abby to not kill Dina because she’s pregnant. (Two times she begs Joel to get up, one time he doesn’t. Two times she begs Abby to spare her family and one time she does. What a beautifully haunting contrast)

To wrap up, every person creates an internal narrative, a story of their life that is crafted from their context and lived experiences. The meaning we derive from those experiences doesn’t always reflect the truth, and that can sometimes bite us in the ass majorly when we experience a traumatic event. We tend to want to find someone or something to assign blame to, some reason or rationale to why it happened. We tell stories. We write them in our minds about ourselves and what happens to us and what that says about us.

But Ellie is wrong. Joel’s death happened in response to a conscious and willing choice he made. It is in no way her fault, and there was absolutely no way for her to know or to stop what was happening. I think Ellie knows that much on an intellectual level, It just doesn’t change how devastated she is over the whole event. It can’t change the fact that she FEELS as though this was all her fault, that Joel did what he did to save her, that she could have saved him. That she should have.

#this isn’t a new thought #like I’m p much just stating what happened in the game #this is not some super deep meta analysis of tlou #it’s just. #Ellie’s relationship to autonomy is so so so good #ellie the last of us #joel the last of us #ellie williams #joel miller #tlou series #tlou show #tlou1 #tlou spoilers #tlou analysis #I have SO MANY drafts that are like. walls of text #we’re talking Great Wall of China long #tlou2 #marlene the last of us #marlene tlou #basically what I said in previous posts about how ellie picked up Joel’s stoic attitude and emotional constipation. #ellie’s screams lolol. my heart breaking in real time. #joel goes golfing HD!!! #the way her voice breaks as she begs… OWIE #Neil druckmann needs to pay for my therapy fr!! #I edited this because it had some… really bad grammatical errors #syntax??? what’s that???? #anyway normally I don’t put much thought or effort into my actual wording of Tumblr posts #because like maybe 10 people will see it. who cares. #but this one is one I actually care a bit about and this whole thing could be written about in so much more depth. #so I went in and tried to clean it up a bit and added some thoughts.

[the-geeky-fangirl]

liking marlene and not hating joel for killing her are things that can and should coexist actually

#tlou #marlene the last of us #marlene tlou #joel the last of us #joel miller #joel tlou #the last of us hbo #the last of us #tlou spoilers #tlou ep 8 #tlou finale #pedro pascal #merle dandridge

[aquitainequeen]

All right, now that the finale of The Last Of Us is here, I can say it;

I'm with Joel on not allowing Ellie to be killed for a potential cure, for the pure and simple fact that the Fireflies plan to get said potential cure by cutting up Ellie's brain.

FFS, Marlene and crew. You immediately start off with brain dissection, as opposed to other sorts of tests and experiments? Your first solution is to kill the only immune person you've ever encountered? Have you never heard of a biopsy? Or at least the moral of the goose that laid the golden egg?

#Tlou spoilers #The last of us spoilers #Joel miller #Ellie williams #marlene tlou #Marlene the last of us #The last of us #People will rightly discuss the ethics of this #I immediately hone in on the bad medical practise

[multiversed-daydreamer]

Do y’all think the fireflies went through Joel’s backpack after they knocked him out? Cause I would give anything to see the look on Marlene’s face when she sees the dude most known in Boston QZ as the “do not fuck with me” dude had Chef Boyardee and Boggle in his travel pack.

#tlou #joel miller #the last of us #marlene the last of us #dad Joel ftw

[lynsstrange]

damn but marlene was kinda stupid lowkey lowkey. she really thought having like two guys with guns try to escort Joel out calmly after telling him that they were going to kill his daughter would stop this fucking powerhouse??? L

#tlou episode 9 spoilers #the last of us spoilers #tlou spoilers #the last of us #tlou #tlou hbo #tlou episode 9 #tlou 1x09 #the last of us episode 9 #joel miller #ellie williams #marlene the last of us

[rumi-luna]

The Last of Us HBO season 1 poster concept by me :)

I usually draw in black and white so this was new to me. Hope I did them justice

#a little poster done by me :) #not my best work but I spent too long on it not to post it #the last of us #ellie williams #tlou #joel miller #tommy miller #maria miller #pedro pascal #bella ramsey #bill and frank #sam and henry #david tlou #kathleen tlou #the last of us hbo #tess servopoulos #marlene the last of us #Sarah miller #riley abel #art #digital artist #digital art #tlou fanart #fanart

[hotdogthightattoo]

The Last Of Us | S01 E01 - S01 E09

#hdttedit🌭 #usermoonsharky #ellie williams #joel miller #joel and ellie #sarah miller #nico parker #bella ramsey #pedro pascal #the last of us #hbo max #angst #:( #parallels #he was able to save one of his daughters #tlou #i apologise for the terrible quality i use my phone #marlene the last of us

[al-andrice]

tlou gamers will know what I'm talking about

I think, for the shits and giggles, that the hbo series should recreate the alternate ending to the first game

I know pedro is not up for that, but I know bella and merle certainly are. if he can be convinced (0% chance) then I'd love to see it on tv 😂

rewatching tlou: one night live

#JUST FOR THE JOKES #the last of us #tlou #tlou game #the last of us game #troy baker #ashley johnson #merle dandridge #marlene the last of us #marlene tlou #joel miller #ellie williams #bella ramsey #pedro pascal #al andrice's 💭

[earthravenclaw]

Maybe someone has already pointed this out, but I think it’s pretty interesting that both Ellie and Marlene had to shoot their childhood best friends, because they were infected.

#tlou #tlou hbo #tlou spoilers #tlou show #ellie williams #marlene #marlene tlou #marlene the last of us #anna williams #riley abel #the last of us

[things4your]

The Last of Us Headers

@PERCYPHNE on twitter

Please like or reblog if you save

#The Last of Us Headers #The Last of Us Header #The Last of Us #TLOU #TLOU serie #tess the last of us #Tess TLOU #Tess #Marlene TLOU #Marlene the last of us #Marlene #Ellie Williams header #Ellie Williams #Joel Miller header #Joel Miller #header #headers

[rainydaywritesstuff]

The finale of TLOU killed me because I was so stressed about them being separated, and hearing them say each other’s names right before being knocked out was so painful. And when I realized it was Marlene, it gave me hope that it wouldn’t have to happen. I was like “oh cool she wouldn’t separate them it’s okay”.

And boy was I wrong. The false hope that episode gives you is amazing, because you can tell that Joel had it too. Joel thought Marlene wouldn’t hurt Ellie, and when he realized she would it’s like a switch went off in him.

And you could see him the whole time as the guards were leading him out trying to decide how to get away from them. There was never a doubt in his mind that he should save Ellie, and basically damn everyone else.

But the thing is, he did what he had to do. He’s just a dad caring for his daughter, and making sure that he’s safe. And he’s probably having Sarah flashbacks that whole time, and his one thought is just Ellie.

You can tell that all he’s thinking about as he’s killing all those people is Ellie. And the scene where he picks her up and pauses for a moment just solidifies that (at least in my mind) because he made it to his goal in that moment. He did it. He got Ellie.

And then in the scene with Marlene, he’s cradling Ellie so gently, while also being so violent with Marlene. It’s symbolizing the duality of Joel and how he would kill anyone, and hurt anyone, except for his daughter. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who even thinks about touching Ellie.

And Ellie knows this. While it’s not the most healthy thing in the world, sure, you can tell that she’s grateful for it. She knows that Joel would do absolutely anything for her, and you can see that earlier when they’re talking about where they want to go when this is all over.

He finally has a hope for a future, after so many years of just surviving. He even told Ellie this in episode 6, saying something along the lines of “I was just doing my job” while talking about pre-apocalypse life. He hasn’t stopped doing his job since, and his focus clearly shifted from Sarah to his work. Now it’s on Ellie, and he won’t let that go for anything.

I could write a whole damn book about this show. It’s beautiful, and life changing.

#tlou #joel and ellie #joel & ellie #joel miller #ellie williams #tlou spoilers #the last of us episode 9 #the last of us #hbo the last of us #ellie tlou #joel tlou #marlene tlou #marlene the last of us #joel the last of us #ellie the last of us #probably nobody will care about this post but whatever #i needed to say it #Also joel feeling like he owes the world nothing because of everything he’s lost #sort of like #the world can burn with you in it or without you in it #either way the world’s burning but at least one way Ellie has a chance at a happy life

[gorgeousgreymatter-x]

also when marlene was like i understand better than anybody!!

okay so like u understand that if ellie’s mom were still alive and saw what you were doing she would grab that knife out of your hand and stab you with it????

#tlou hbo #tlou spoilers #the last of us #marlene the last of us

[geekverse08]

“Save who you can can save”. #TheLastOfUs

#pedro pascal #bella ramsey #nico parker #merle dandridge #anna torv #lamar johnson #keivonn woodard #the last of us #tlou #hbo #hbo max #joel miller #ellie williams #sarah miller #marlene the last of us #tess servopoulos #henry and sam

[b1tches-br0es-nonbinaryh0es]

Did Marlene really say that Joel is robbing Ellie of her choice to die or not when she didn’t even tell her that she will die?

The hypocrisy is crazy

#last of us #tlou spoilers #season finale #Joel miller #ellie the last of us #marlene the last of us #Ellie Miller