The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann has answered a key fan question behind the first game's memorable finale, and revealed information that has affected some fans' views of Joel's big moral choice — and left other saying they'd have prefered not knowing.
Warning! Spoilers for The Last of Us Part 1 follow.
Joel's decision to save Ellie, or rather, to murder a load of doctors who were planning to use Ellie's immunity to create a cure that could have saved mankind, has always been shrouded in a level of ambiguity.
Within the original game, as well as The Last of Us' HBO TV adaptation, it was never explicitly confirmed whether a cure could actually have been possible, and if so, whether it actually would have worked.
Because of this, Joel's actions can be seen through the lens of him saving someone he knows will die as part of the procedure — someone he now thinks of as his daughter, after his actual daughter died — for just the chance of a cure.
However, Druckmann has now revealed that the cure would have actually worked — upending years of fan debate over what Joel should have done.
"Could the Fireflies make a cure?" Druckmann said, speaking as part of the Sacred Symbols podcast. "Our intent was yes they could.
"Now, is our science a little shaky that now people are now questioning it? Sure. Our science is a little shaky and people are now questioning it. I can't say anything. I can say our intent was that they would have made a cure. That makes the most interesting philosophical question for what Joel does."
Reaction to Druckmann's revelation has been mixed, with some fans who already assumed this not seeming bothered by the reveal, while others who assumed the opposite suddenly having to reconcile their view of Joel's actions in a new light.
"Maaan Neil really needs to stop," one fan wrote in response via forum ResetEra. "Feels like he's stripping away what's left of the nuance with those latest comments on the story."
Some fans highlighted the fact that the game deliberately portrayed the cure process as shaky, with the lead doctor a veterinarian working in a run-down hospital with no real means to manufacture a cure shown on screen.
"Death of the author applies here, I don't really care what he has to say if it's not in the original game/text," another fan wrote. "It's clearly supposed to be ambiguous and it's staying that way for me."
In March, showrunner Craig Mazin and Druckmann answered the question of whether or not Joel was right to save Ellie, offering differing opinions to IGN. “I believe Joel was right,” Druckmann said. “If I were in Joel's position, I hope I would be able to do what he did to save my daughter.”
“That's so interesting, because I think that if I were in Joel's position, I probably would have done what he did,” Mazin said. “But I'd like to think that I wouldn't. That's the interesting push and pull of the morality of it. And that's why the ending of the first game is so provocative and so wonderful. It just doesn't let you off the hook as a player.”
In the Sacred Symbols interview, Druckmann reiterated that HBO's The Last of Us' TV adaptation currently has either one or two seasons left, depending on what is best to tell the franchise's remaining story.
As it stands, however, the TV adaptation will not continue the franchise's story beyond the events of The Last of Us Part 2.
Could there ever be a The Last of Us Part 3 game? On this, Druckmann largely repeated what he has said already on the topic — that it will rely on him having a good enough idea.
"It's important for me that everything is of high quality. I don't just want to make a lot of it," Druckmann said. "I just want to be very thoughtful of everything we make.
"If we were ever to come back to it, I want to make sure it's a story worthy of The Last of Us. I love that world, I love these characters. With the right oppurtunity, with the right idea, I would totally jump in."
For now, Druckmann is busy working on Naughty Dog's new sci-fi game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The developer also has a second project in production, on which Druckmann is taking a more hands-off role.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
