#tlou commentary

[thatblackdress]

All the handwringing about morality of Joel choosing Ellie over the world and I’m like… okay but I just don’t care.

What I care about is being emotionally satisfied. We start the story with Joel completely shut off from Ellie, convinced she’s doomed to die, stubborn to her appeals for connection. We start the story with Ellie being passed over from various adults based on her utility, Ellie being defined by her experiences of abandonment. And then we end that story with these two characters completely emotionally entwined and Joel valuing Ellie—as an individual—and him becoming a father figure that would choose her first no matter what.

That relationship and character arc is DELICIOUS. The rest of humanity is just a backdrop to Joel and Ellie for me, like I can’t emphasise how much idgaf about it in this narrative lmfao.

#tlou #the last of us #tlou commentary #joel and ellie

[2x4plank]

Ooh, oh no... The hospital act of TLOU. I'm gonna be upfront: least favorite part of the game.

I really wanted to like it (of course I did; I paid $70 dollars for this game), but it never hit me as hard as all the other acts. With the acts that came before this one, I looked at all the little nuances in interactions between the characters, reading notes, looking at whatever's in Joel & Ellie's backpacks--just loving what this game fed to me.

But the hospital act felt rushed to me.

Let me start with my first, ongoing grievance: the Fireflies.

I get where they were going with this, the moral dilemma they were trying to set up: should Joel save his daughter at the cost of the world? But the Fireflies don't seem very smart. I won't even talk about the viability of them creating a vaccine (or cure, rather) with the fungus on Ellie's brain. For the purposes of this piece, the vaccine will 100% work. So where does that leave us now?

The Fireflies seem to have a streak of malpractice. At the University of Colorado, players will pick up recordings from a dead Firefly. Long story short, that Firefly released infected monkeys just...into the world. This same Firefly also talks about the long stretch of time (5 years) that passed between the last scientific breakthrough. This does not inspire confidence.

Fast forward to the hospital act. Two Fireflies encounter a man doing CPR on a child and they...knock him out with the butt of their guns? I'll clarify I have a personal vendetta against people that are particularly a part of an organization hitting people with the butt of their guns, but outside of that, this is stupid. Joel is clearly trying to resuscitate Ellie, so even if they "didn't know who [he] was", knocking him unconscious doesn't make sense.

And then Joel wakes up and Marlene drops the bomb that they're currently taking Ellie's brain out. Okay. That was very quick. I'm sure they had time to run several complete tests and cross their t's and dot their i's. It makes complete sense that in the time between Joel being brought to the hospital and regaining consciousness, they figured out that removing her brain was the best way to create that vaccine. I'm sure keeping Ellie alive would have absolutely no benefits and going straight to killing her is the best option.

Additionally, that one Firefly that eggs Joel on? What is with these guys and abusing their power? They can't compete with FEDRA on that front, but it's still bad.

Finally, I always wondered how they were going to distribute that cure to the greater public. They're quite ostracized by FEDRA, if I remember correctly, and creating a cure is only a part of a problem. It's not like the current government hasn't displayed a tendency to hog resources, so working with them seems like a no-go.

None of what we've seen of the Fireflies makes me think they're competent.

My second grievance is Marlene. I liked her at the start, but what we see in the last part soured me on her. She isn't very compassionate to Joel's situation, but he's grown and a murderer (of both baddies and innocents in his hunter days), so I don't have a problem with that. He's not the most compassionate either. It's moreover her claiming to have monopoly over caring about Ellie. Girl, what?

Of course, we saw little of Ellie and Marlene's relationship as a function of the game. It was about Joel and Ellie sticking together when their loved ones either died or, in the case of Bill, simply refused to come with them. Marlene passed her along, and we just kind of hear how Ellie cares about Marlene. We also receive letters and recordings about Anna and Marlene's relationship in the late game. I get why it is this way, as it sets up the player to care about Ellie just as Joel did, but I do wish we got to see some more of Marlene's relationship with Ellie.

My third grievance is this idea of choice. Ellie did not choose to die. We might have some idea of if she would (she's really happy to think of herself as the cure to all mankind), but she didn't and all throughout the game, there is this emphasis on continuing to survive. Finding a reason to keep going. I would not say that Joel took this choice away from her, because never was this dilemma presented to her. Joel woke up, found out they were going to murder Ellie, and intervened so that did not happen. You can't choose to do anything if you're dead.

And then Joel takes her to get some McDonald's...

The problem I see people take with Joel that I can actually understand is him lying to her. Him lying has the potential to completely blow up in his face, and this concerns not only the cure, but Marlene as well. I wholeheartedly agree with him saving her, but this is a bit more dubious.

But here's the thing: beyond his selfish reasons for doing so (such as absolving himself of guilt), Joel has some legitimate reasons to lie to her. First and firstmost, Ellie has been through a lot at an extremely young age. Seen a lot of loved one's die, carries some survivor's guilt along with that. She does not need or deserve to have "I could have saved the world, if only I died" hanging over her head. Ellie deserves a happy childhood--or a happy remainder of her childhood, because she lost quite a bit and had to deal with David, among other things. The damage this truth has the potential to do to her is reason enough to lie.

Second of all, she does not need to know that the same woman she probably came to see as a second mother was willing to put her to death on a doctor's word. I believe in science and medicine, but maybe get a second opinion on that?

So yeah... When it comes to Joel vs. the Fireflies, it's no contest to me.

I should add: I would've loved if at least one named POC character survived. Kind of crazy all of them died, and as a non-white player, it didn't escape my notice. It also made me sad when Henry wasn't mentioned among the people they lost. I mean, Henry did protect/look after Ellie during that short part in the sewer. I think he should've been mentioned.

#And also I'm not playing TLOU 2 #I just don't feel like it #tlou part 1 #tlou spoilers #tlou fireflies #tlou ellie #tlou joel #tlou marlene #2x4plank essay post #I'll probably have to edit this soon #I added something at the end #tlou critical #tlou hospital #tlou commentary

[amozon28]

#tlou commentary #tlou spoilers #tlou hbo #the last of us #the last of us hbo #the last of us spoilers #the last of us hbo spoilers #hbo #mine

[nabulsi]

these people are mourning fictional characters more than they’d ever mourn real people and that’s so utterly heartbreaking to me. Realising that people actually just… don’t care. It doesn’t matter how much Motaz, Bisan, Saleh, and all the journalists post videos of Palestinians dying and suffering, these people just don’t care. They’d rather die than boycott their Zionist shows, ofmd, stranger things, Percy Jackson, they’re really willing to rally around FICTIONAL PEOPLE rather than even hold a little sympathy in their hearts for real individuals. Crazy.

.

#also reblogging this sans commentary bc i 100% agree #paptalk #anonymous #palestine #stranger things #ofmd #pjo #tlou

[pocketgalaxies]

laura's presence in all the tlou bts content is such a breath of fresh air. everybody involved in that franchise takes themselves very seriously (understandable as it's a very serious franchise) but whenever laura pops up she's just a lil goofy and lil funny and it's wonderful

#i'm saying this having watched the tlou2 commentary and now watching grounded 2 #text #nova shh #tlou #laura bailey

[rowanellis]

The Last of Us and the Tragic Potential of Queer Zombies

“Although it might seem counter intuitive, within the world of The Last of Us, in many ways, these queer characters are able to thrive in a way that they might not have in the ‘real world’.”

#tlou #the last of us #itf #bill and frank #ellie and riley #tlou ep 3 #tlou ep 7 #video essay #zombie movies #tlou meta #the last of us meta #tluo commentary

[ellies-enrichment]

she goes for shock value she’s trying to get him to react

alt: it was gonna be a tommy & ellie post but i don’t think we’re getting the lookout patrol scene with them and good luck getting game scenes right

also insp because ellie would love tumblr

#incorrect tlou quotes #it was taken out because it felt more older ellie commentary but im not getting that scene i want #because i fully believe 16yo ellie half-listening to tommy's marriage issues would make the comment #unfortunately.... i do not see that happening #because joel is teaching her now so tommy doesnt have to #'tommy wasnt teaching ellie so the scene still might happen' tommy was teaching ME... my asss kept missing #if i ever were to lose queue

[senorabond]

@joeldidnothingwrong Thank you for the inspiration!!!

My Joel Apology Tour starts now.

Original TikTok link

Teensy TikTok Masterlist

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fandom #pascalispunk #tiktok #joel miller #pedro pascal brain rot awareness #the last of us #joel miller tlou #tlou #tlou hbo #senorabond rambles #my commentary #thank you for coming to my pedtalk

[i-hear-a-sound]

some poor sap needs to take the last jedi 2017 out back and put it down like a rabid dog before I have to hear it come out of youtuber #62719th’s mouth again

#Star Wars #the last jedi #free me. like. free me. i try and look up Star Wars shit and half of it is just #“WOKE SJW! LIBERAL! FORCE IS FEMALE! GO WOKE GO BROKE” i want to kill myself with a noose . #SAID AS A BITCH WHO ACKNOWLEDGES THIS FILM IS SHIT GARBAGE DESPITE KIND OF DIGGING IT. #god get me a person who’ll think of me as much as a commentary Channel #thinks about tlou part 2/tlj/i’m not starfire/ghostbusters 2016/captain marvel/she-ra/high guardian spice/steven universe/korra/brie larson

[thatblackdress]

Thinking about how Joel explicitly tells Ellie to leave him behind and let him die alone when he’s injured… but Ellie refuses his request because she sees through his self-sacrificial beliefs and she loves him and she refuses to give up on him. She’s willing to kill all those people from David’s camp to protect Joel because he can’t protect himself. And that’s presented as a good thing—her seeing his worth and her insisting that it’s worth them staying together more than him dying for her sake. It’s not presented as her destroying his agency.

Thinking about Ellie getting knocked out and drugged by the Fireflies so they can kill her… but Joel refuses, and even if Ellie had consented, he would still see through her self-sacrificial beliefs. He loves her and he refuses to give up on her and he’s going to fight for her life being worth something in its own right. But then that’s presented as a bad thing in tlou2 because “well what if she wanted to die actually” 💀

Nah I like them fighting for each other to stay alive 🤷‍♀️

#tlou #tlou commentary

[2x4plank]

Yay, I finished both my Grounded and Survivor permadeath runs! The more time I spend with TLOU, the increasingly vindicated I become that Joel was right for his final choice.

First and foremost, I believe child murder is wrong. Yes, even under the guise of medical science.

Second of all, Ellie has no expectation that she will die. In the university, I found a conversation previously unknown to me where Ellie asks if it will hurt. She's afraid of pain (like needles) and Joel reassures her that they'll just "draw blood".

Third of all, if Ellie had any expectation that she would die, and was eager to do so, it'd be reflective of her survivor's guilt and the trauma she endured over the course of the game. The Fireflies would take advantage of that. Ellie is extremely considerate of others and shows tendencies to put them before herself. For example, during the winter chapter, she is mainly thinking of taking care of Joel while he's sick, instead of the group of men who are trying to kill and eat her.

Ellie very much fights for her survival throughout the game. The catchphrase of Savage Starlight is literally "Endure and Survive", not "Die for the Cause".

The Fireflies were armed to the teeth and Joel, a grumpy father, put up a fair fight. They're incompetent. Marlene threw the first stone.

Also, don't you want to see a kid hang out with her father and her uncle? That's cute!

But anyway, the more I think about it, the more it makes me sick. I just didn't realize so many people thought this was an ethical dilemma instead of a Joel sweep. Yeah, let's just...kill a child. Or let's let this child whose consent is compromised by survivor's guilt, trauma from abuse and the apocalypse, exhaustion, and the fact that she's fourteen decide if she wants to die! The Fireflies were right all along, or neither side was right, because they both didn't let Ellie decide to...die. What? No... Joel was very right to intervene. He shouldn't have weighed the cure and a child's life, because a child's life should not be on the table. That's insane.

Sometimes people bite at the chance for "moral gray" and forsake good sense.

Finally, I love how the game ended. I like what it leaves to interpretation. I don't really care about who else they'd introduce in the sequel or a threequel. It's way more fun to answer the difficult questions with the information provided to us in Part One.

#tlou part 1 #tlou spoilers #tlou #tlou fireflies #tlou commentary #Yeah I'm complaining again #Can't help it #ellie is a child + fireflies were incompetent + joel was cool with it #2x4plank essay post #tlou ellie #tlou joel

[ratherbeinsunnydale]

*spoilers for tlou game sort of*

i am feeling so normal listening to podcasts and reactions from people who have not played the game and who are talking about the obvious progression of the story and joel coming back to life thanks to ellie who has the potential to bring life back to the world as well

and feeling so totally normal about the ending of the first game and that those two things are actually mutually exclusive and turning what we’ve wanted and expected this whole time against us.

#the last of us #cant wait for all the commentary and thinkpieces #i am going absolutely feral #the last of us game #tlou game #tlou game spoilers #tlou spoilers

[talaok]

“It wasn’t time that did it” ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

Fuck you Joel I DID NOT have to cry that hard

#i’m so late i know #this account has just become tlou commentary #the last of us #tlou #joel miller #pedro pascal

[pocketgalaxies]

the tlou2 director's commentary is Phenomenal but also they are wild for thinking i will literally re-buy the same game just for that and some other random shit. this should be DLC you absolute bullies

#thanks youtube user TLOU Explained for uploading the commentary <3 #although there are a lot of abby haters who bought the remaster even while actively hating abby which i find hilarious. #text #nova shh #tlou #i see now that you can just spend $10 if you have the ps4 version. HOWEVER i do not have a ps5 #so i'm still fucked and i still think it should be ps4 dlc but i guess that's not how the gaming industry works l m a o.

[emblazons]

Thinking about the fact that The Last of Us is indeed an influence for Stranger Things, and Joel's watch (an ongoing symbol of his relationship with his daughter Sarah... the same as Hopper's now lost daughter) is cracked when his daughter dies...and Vecna cracks clocks (& the world) when he kills people? Because.

I mean. I know we never talk about Hopper in terms of being Vecna'd but...he is now 1) alive again and 2) El's most important person after Max...and Eleven is his "found-family daughter" (exactly the same as Ellie for Joel, in the sense of giving a broken man some purpose).

We got those matchups in the final scene of Nancy, Mike and Hopper standing next to a Byers...and we already know Nancy has been a target of Vecna visions, with Mike highly suspected to be next. That, combined with the fact that we got all of those convos about Hopper feeling like a curse and a monster in S4, on time of the fact that The UD is frozen in a specific time...the same as Joel's watch is forever tied to the moment his daughter died?

...I mean. I'm not the most familiar with TLOU lore so someone can do whatever with this but. I'm feeling some frozen time because of a significant death + Vecna going after Hopper too vibes fr LMAO

#I literally have no true analysis I am just pointing it out because I'm back in TLOU hell over the hbo series LMAO #the last of us #stranger things #st commentary #el hopper #jim hopper #my st commentary #the me tag

[leadmeastraylittlefairy]

rotating ellie in my mind

#making myself ill #she should’ve died in the hospital and by the end of tlou2 im sure she wants to die….but then what she wastes her immunity #the same dissatisfaction or…lack of fulfillment as letting abby go #listening to ashley talk about ellie….yea #i finished the tlou2 commentary i have many thoughts #tlou #tlou2 #i’m bad at articulating my thoughts