Analysis of the Hero’s Journey in ‘The Last of Us’

A non-traditional format analysis of the hero’s journey in ‘The Last of Us’ video game.

The Last of Us is a video game dealing with a world ravaged by a virus that turns people into mindless zombies known as Infected. One of the main themes of the game is how to survive during a crisis. The main character one plays as is Joel. He uses skills he acquired over twenty years of living during the outbreak of the virus to keep himself alive. Another overall theme is friendship and how working together in live-or-die situations bring people closer together. This game is also a coming of age story for Ellie, Joel’s closest ally. Ellie is important to the story because the dramatic question is: can Joel take Ellie to meet the Fireflies?

Joel does not last for very long in the ordinary world. The game begins in Austin, Texas right before the outbreak of the virus begins to spread in the US. It is Joel’s birthday and he is at home with his daughter Sarah. Joel is a single parent raising his teenage daughter, and often times he struggles with this. He also has younger brother named Tommy. We don’t see much of the ordinary world because Joel is pushed across the first threshold that very same night.

The outbreak of mutant Cordyceps fungus has spread throughout the world. It is called the Cordyceps Brain Infection and it works by the parasite taking over the host’s mind to alter its behavior. The two ways to contract it are breathing in spores and contact with body fluids of another person that is infected. Joel is thrown into the special world without a choice. He and Sarah make a quick exit from their house after being chased by their infected neighbors. They get in a car with Tommy. Joel says, “There is something bad going on. We’ve got to get out of here” because they do not yet know what is happening. Driving to get out, Tommy says, “We ain’t the only town” that is infected (The Last of Us).

Their first test comes as they enter a nearby town. Buildings are on fire, people are in the streets running from Infected, and vehicles are overturned. Their car gets hit on the side by another. With their car ruined and Sarah’s leg broken, Joel and Tommy have to fend off Infected trying to kill them. Joel has to carry Sarah, which slows them down. They almost make it to the highway when a soldier stops them. He is ordered to shoot them. Before Tommy can kill the soldier, the soldier shoots Sarah and she dies. This first test, getting everyone to safety, is failed. Losing his daughter changes Joel. This loss fills him with the will to survive in the years to come.

The game jumps to twenty years later to a world with its population cut in half. Cities are crumbling apart. There is debris everywhere along with overgrown areas and abandoned buildings and vehicles. Joel has been working as a smuggler with his partner Tess in the Boston, Massachusetts quarantine zone, a place that is heavily guarded by the military police to keep out Infected and maintain order among the survivors. Their next test is to hunt down Robert, a black market dealer, to recover a stolen weapons cache. They find him, and before Tess kills him, Robert reveals that he traded the goods to the Fireflies, a rebel group opposing the quarantine zone authorities. In order to get the weapons back, Joel and Tess are going to have to find a member of the Fireflies.

Right after Tess shoots Robert, a women shows up. She was supposed to kill Robert and she reveals that she is part of the Fireflies. Tess wants the weapons back, but the woman, Marlene, will not give them over for free. She wants to make a deal with Tess and Joel in exchange for the weapons. She takes them to a secluded area where she has hidden what she wants traded.

The call to adventure starts when Marlene tells them how they can get the weapons back. At the abandoned area is a fourteen year old girl named Ellie. Marlene needs Ellie smuggled out of the city as a trade. The refusal of the call is when there is doubt from Joel. He only has the weapons on his mind when he says, “How do we know you got them?” He wants to see the guns before taking on the job. Joel is also confused as to why Ellie is the trade. He says, “We’re smuggling her?” to which Marlene replies, “You hand her off, come back, the weapons are yours” because the weapons are back at the Fireflies’ camp. Tess says, “We aren’t smuggling shit until I see them” so Marlene agrees to let Tess see the weapons while Joel stays with Ellie (The Last of Us).

Joel and Ellie make it out and find the agreed on safe spot. Once there they wait for Tess to get back. She does and confirms the weapons. They take on the mission to smuggle Ellie to another group of Fireflies. To Ellie, Joel becomes a mentor. The Vogler text states that there are stories that focus on the mentor, and this is one of them. Joel is also a sort of “evolved hero” because he has been living twenty years during the outbreak (122). He will be Ellie’s guide as they go through many tests and run into different enemies and allies.

The first test they face together is to take Ellie to the drop off zone at the capitol building. Tess asks, “What is the deal with you? You some big-wig’s daughter or something?” and Ellie replies with, “Something like that” (The Last of Us). She is as much a mystery to us as she is to Joel and Tess. The desolate outside world creates a maze of collapsed buildings and overrun plants. Along the way they are stopped by two patrol officers who scan them for the virus and find out that Ellie is infected. Before they can kill Ellie, Tessa and Joel kill the officers.

Joel: Marlene set us up?

Ellie says: I’m not infected. It’s three weeks old.

Tess: No, everyone turns within two days.

Ellie: I’m not lying.

Tess: Let’s say that we deliver you to the Fireflies. What then?

Ellie: They have their own quarantine zone, where they are still trying to find a cure. And that whatever happened to me is the key to finding a vaccine… I didn’t ask for this.

Joel: Neither did I. (The Last of Us)

Joel and Ellie do not get along, despite Joel being Ellie’s protector. Joel does not want to be responsible for a teenage girl and Ellie does not trust Joel and Tess because she has never met them before. After fending off more soldiers, they stop for a moment and see the shining golden dome of the capitol building in the distance. Joel, caught in the moment, asks, “Is it everything you’ve hoped for?” and Ellie replies, “Jury’s still out. But man… you can’t deny that view” (The Last of Us). This last line before the scene change gives players some glimpse into how Joel and Ellie are going to change and how their relationship will evolve. Joel is now an almost fifty year old man who’s been struggling to survive. Ellie was born during the chaos of outbreak and has never known a peaceful or normal world. They are two very different people, but Joel wants to follow through with the mission and will fight with everything he has to get Ellie to the Fireflies.

They make it to the capitol building. Ellie shows her appreciation by saying, “I’m glad Marlene hired you guys. I know you guys are getting paid for this but – I’m trying to say thanks.” They approach the front of the building, enter, and find a member of the Fireflies dead. Ellie asks, “What happens now?” Tess searches the body for a map. She asks Ellie, “How far is this lab of theirs [where they are working on a vaccine]” and Ellie says, “Marlene never said, she only mentioned that it was someplace out west.” Joel feels defeated. They had just fought through Infected and soldiers to get Ellie where she needed to be. He has been through one too many close calls. He says, “It’s over, Tess. Now we tried. Let’s just go home.” Joel is a straightforward guy but Tess is desperate. Tess then reveals that she’s been infected, just an hour ago. She points at Ellie and says, “You’ve got to get this girl to Tommy’s. He used to run with this crew, he’ll know where to go” but Joel says, “No no no, that was your crusade. I am not doing that” (The Last of Us). Tess tells him that he is going to do it. A truck load of soldiers arrive and Tess sacrifices herself by holding them off while Joel and Ellie are able to escape.

After making it away, fending off more soldiers through the flooded subway system, they make it back outside and take a break. Ellie says, “Hey look, about Tess. I don’t even know…” Joel interrupts, “Here’s how this thing’s going to play out. You don’t bring up Tess, ever. Matter of fact, we just keep our histories to ourselves” (The Last of Us). Ellie agrees to do as Joel says. The tension between them is thick but they keep pushing forward. They head to a town north of where they are where Joel says a guy who owes him a favor could probably get them a car.

The tests continue as they take a shortcut through a forested area. Ellie can’t help sharing about herself as she says, “Never walked through the woods. It’s kind of cool.” Ellie has always been protected within the city, only able to be by herself at times when she manages to sneak out (it is how she got infected in the first place, by going to the off-limits mall and being bitten). Joel says, “I doubt I can get either one of us back to the city in one piece. Trust me. I wish there was some other option.” Ellie is relying on Joel to guide them back, but he himself does not trust his own skills, even though he has been through plenty of bad situations. They are able to make it into the town where Joel’s friend lives and Ellie says, “So let’s say we get a car from this buddy of yours. Then what?” Joel replies, “Well, then we go find Tommy” (The Last of Us). Tommy was an ex-Firefly and would know where to take Ellie. After they fight their way through the maze of the city while avoiding traps Joel’s acquaintance Bill has laid out for the Infected, they meet up with him after a close call. Bill says he does not have a car that works, but there are parts in the town and he could fix one up. But first they have to go to a weapon storage in the basement of the church. Once there Ellie says she wants a gun to defend herself. Joel tells her no. Ellie says that she can handle herself but Joel is very against her having a gun. He still feels like she is a child that needs protecting. While looking for car parts they manage to find a house with a working truck in the garage, so they take it and are able to make it to the edge of town, drop off Bill, and head towards Tommy’s.

The next test comes when they reach Pittsburg and run into a rogue gang. Joel ends up crashing the truck. Ellie and Joel are forced out and have to shoot the gang members before being killed. They continue on, running into multiple Infected as well as more gang members in the ruined city. After they make it out of a crumbling hotel, there is a large group of gang members they have to get through. There is an abandoned rifle at an old sniper post that Joel picks up. Ellie wants to help take them down. Joel finally gives in and hands her the gun.

     Joel: Now, you seem to know your way around a gun. You reckon you can handle that?

Ellie: Well, uh, I sort of shot a rifle before. But it was at rats.

Joel: Rats?

Ellie: With BBs.

Joel: Well it’s the same basic concept. (The Last of Us)

He tells her to be careful with it and she watches his back as he goes down to deal with the gang members, successfully taking down a few guys on her own. Afterwards, Joel takes a handgun from one of the dead men and gives it to Ellie but tells her that it is for emergencies only. They head towards the bridge that will take them out of the city.

When Joel and Ellie are making their way to the bridge, they cut through an old apartment complex where they are ambushed by two brothers, Henry and Sam. They stop their fight, realizing that they are not enemies. They decide to help each other and become allies. Henry and Sam have a base not too far away, so the four of them make their way to it. Once there, they discuss a way to get past the patrol guarding the bridge. Henry says that at night there are very few people so they will be able to sneak past. Joel asks where they are headed. Henry says, “Heard the Fireflies are based out west somewhere. We’re gonna join up with them.” Joel doesn’t like the idea of people putting too much faith in the Fireflies, but he admits that they are looking for them too. Henry shows a map of an abandoned military radio station right outside the city and says, “Any survivors of our group, they’re supposed to meet us there –tomorrow”. They sleep and very early the next morning take off. Joel says, “You’ve tried this before?” to which Henry unconvincingly replies, “Uh. Yeah.” Joel says, “That’s comforting. I just hope you know the way” (The Last of Us). Since meeting and joining up with Henry and Sam, Joel is slowly changing. H is learning how to trust others and work in a group to survive. Henry and Sam are true allies to Joel and Ellie.

They approach the check point in stealth, take out some of the guys guarding it, and are able to get past. There is a shipping container they need to get over, and Joel is temporarily abandoned after helping Henry and Sam up to it as more soldiers arrive as backup. Joel and Ellie have to find an alternative route. They make it to the bridge, dodging bullets, but the bridge is broken in the middle and there is an armored vehicle right behind them. They are trapped. Ellie says, “We jump” and Joel replies, “No, it’s too high and you can’t swim.” Ellie has faith in Joel and says, “You’ll keep me afloat. No time to argue” (The Last of Us). Ellie jumps from the bridge and into the water and Joel follows after her. The harsh current drags them both and Joel is pushed into a slab of concrete, knocking him out. When he comes to, he is on the shore, and Henry and Sam are there with Ellie. Henry plays it off like it was not a big deal leaving them, but Joel is upset. Joel pulls his gun on Henry, saying, “You left us to die out there.” Henry says, “No, you had a good chance of making it, and you did. But coming back for you meant putting him [Sam] at risk. If it was the other way around, would you’ve come back for us? I saved you.” Ellie agrees, “He saved me too. We would have drowned” (The Last of Us). Joel reluctantly lets it drop because he knows Henry is right. Joel is still quick to anger though, and at times his trust in others waivers.

They find a large sewage pipe that they believe will lead them to the other side and to the radio tower. Towards the end of the tunnel they think they find a way out, but it is too high up for anyone to be boosted. Joel opens a door to another part of the tunnel and it sets off a trap. A windowed gate comes down between Ellie and Henry, and Joel and Sam, mixing the pairs. Several Infected chase Ellie and Henry out of the area, leaving Joel and Sam alone. Joel and Sam make their way through more of the sewer, having to take out Infected on their way. Eventually they are able to meet up with Ellie and Henry, but they have to run from Infected. They are able to make it outside, closer to the tower, but there is a small abandoned town between them that they have to go through. Farther into town they come across a few hostile people using the town as their hideout. They kill these people, but afterwards a group of Infected hear the noise and come into town. The group makes a hasty retreat into the woods.

After some sleep in an old house, it is morning. Ellie goes to wake up Sam since Henry let him sleep in. But Sam had gotten bit the day before and he has turned into an Infected. He tries to attack Ellie and Joel is about to shoot Sam, but Henry shoots him first. It looks like Henry is about to take out Joel and Ellie, but he kills himself instead. Now Joel and Ellie have lost their allies and are once again alone on their journey to find the Fireflies.

The game time skips to the fall season. They are in Jackson County in Wyoming, close to where Joel’s brother Tommy is living. Along the way Ellie asks Joel about his brother, “How was it, the last time you saw him?” Joel says, “I believe his last words to me were, ‘I don’t ever want to see your god damned face again.’” Ellie asks, “But he’s going to help us?” to which Joel replies, “I suppose we’re going to find out” (The Last of Us). As they make their way through the woods, Ellie says she wants to talk about Sam and Henry’s death, but Joel tells her no, that “things happen and we move on”. Joel is still reluctant to talk about some things with Ellie, especially things that deal with loss. They come across a hydroelectric power plant and have to go through it. But when Joel tries to open the outer gate, several people appear on the other side and stop him, asking where they are going. One of the people turn out to be Tommy. With him is a woman named Maria, who is Tommy’s wife.

Tommy says they are at the plant trying to get it working again. They also have horses and a stable supply of food. Tommy want to take them on a tour of the plant but before they can get started Tommy is radioed in to help with the startup of the turbines. Joel goes with him, and Ellie goes with Maria to eat. They are able to get the power plant up and running. Joel and Tommy go to a private place to talk. Joel tells Tommy that Ellie is immune to the virus. He tries to get Tommy to take Ellie to the Fireflies but Tommy will not do it since he does not want to leave the group. He also has not spoken to the Fireflies in years. Joel tells him that Tommy owes him for all the years Joel took care of Tommy when they were young. They are about to get into a real fight when an alarm goes off. They are under attack by bandits. After fending them off, Tommy has a talk with his wife before he agrees to take Ellie to the Fireflies. Joel goes to talk to Ellie, but she has taken one of the horses and rode off.

Tommy and Joel ride out after her. They find an old ranch with the horse tied up outside. Joel and Tommy go into the house. Joel finds Ellie upstairs and talks with her. Ellie does not want to go back to Tommy’s.

     Joel: Do you even realize what your life means? Running off like that, putting yourself at risk. Pretty goddamn stupid.

Ellie: Well, I guess we’re both disappointed with each other then.

Joel: What do you want from me?

Ellie: Admit that you wanted to get rid of me the whole time.

Joel: Tommy knows the area better than I do. He’s more suited to take you.

Ellie: I’m not her, you know. Maria told me about Sarah.

Joel: You are treading on some mighty thin ice here.

Ellie: I’m sorry about your daughter Joel, but I have lost people too.

Joel: You have no idea what loss is.

Ellie: Everyone I have ever cared for has either died or left me. Everyone except for you. So don’t tell me that I would be safer with someone else, because the truth is I would just be more scared.

Joel: You’re right, you’re not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain’t your dad. And we are going our separate ways. (The Last of Us)

Joel may be looking after Ellie, but having lost his daughter has made him into a colder person. He knows that Ellie is relying on him and cares about him, but he does not want to show her much acceptance because at any moment she could be killed. Tommy comes into the room and says they are not alone. There are some bandits around the house. Tommy and Joel kill them before they can all head back to the power plant. Tommy tells them that the Fireflies’ lab is in Colorado at the university. Joel tells Ellie to give the horse back to Tommy and Ellie gets on with Joel. Joel has made up his mind to take Ellie to the Fireflies himself.

The tests have come to an end for now and the approach to the inmost cave finally arrives. The game time skips again to Joel and Ellie riding up to the outside of the overgrown University of Colorado. On the horse they explore the ruined campus, looking for the science building. When they make it to the middle of the campus, they are starting to worry since they have not seen a person around, not even any Firefly guards. Exploring further they make it to the science building and find a way in. They search around the building, not coming across anyone good or bad. They do find a long dead body and a tape recording saying that the Fireflies have all left and they have returned to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The supreme ordeal and crisis happen after they finish listening to the recording. Joel is almost shot through the window by a bandit. They try to make their way back to the horse, killing bandits as they go, but one catches Joel off guard and tries to strangle him. Joel is able to push the guy off, but they both fall over the edge of a balcony and Joel lands on a metal pipe that stabs right through his stomach. Ellie helps pull Joel up but he’s bleeding badly. Joel is able to make it to the exit but is on the verge of passing out. Ellie shoots a couple bandits that try to ambush them. They stagger to the horse and get on. But Joel succumbs to his wound and passes out.

The game switches to winter for more tests. It opens with Ellie shooting a rabbit with a bow and arrow. She sees a deer next, shoots it, but has to track it. She follows the blood trail to an abandoned mining area. She finds the dead deer, but two men named David and James appear. They want to trade Ellie for some of the deer meat. Ellie says she will trade the whole deer for medicine. While James goes to get the medicine, she takes David’s gun and holds him at gunpoint. They take shelter from the cold in one of the buildings with the deer. Infected arrive, swarming the place. Ellie has to work together with David to keep them off. They return to the deer afterwards. David talks about how the winter has been cruel and his group has had trouble finding food. David says, “I sent a group out and only a few came back. They said that the others had been slaughtered by a crazy man. And get this, he’s a crazy man travelling with a little girl” (The Last of Us). Ellie points her gun at David, but James appears in the doorway with his own gun pointed at Ellie. He wants to shoot her, but David makes James give over the medicine and let Ellie go. Ellie makes a quick exit, finds her horse, and makes her way back to Joel, who’s asleep in the basement of an abandoned house. She gives him the penicillin, but before she can rest there is noise outside the house.

The supreme ordeal rises again because David’s group has tracked Ellie to her hideout where she and Joel are. Her plan of action is to draw them away from Joel and then come back for him. One of the guy’s manages to shoot the horse Ellie is riding and kills it. She makes it to some lakeside cabins but David’s men are there as well. She kills some and avoids others as she weaves her way around the lake until she can find a path back. She does, but first stops at house to check for supplies. There, David ambushes her and knocks her out. When she wakes up she’s locked in a makeshift cell at David’s base where James is chopping up a dead human body. David comes in and tries to reason with Ellie that if she behaves then it will be easier convincing the rest of his group that she’s loyal and can stay with them. Ellie doesn’t want any part of it and when David touches her hand through the bars she breaks his fingers. David threatens to kill her and “chop her into little tiny pieces” (The Last of Us). David has become her enemy and Joel is left alone.

Back at their hideout, Joel wakes up and calls out for Ellie. She is not around, so he gathers his things and leaves the house. There are two of David’s men still lurking about, and Joel manages to take them on. He brings them back inside and ties them up. He interrogates them about Ellie and finds out where she is. He then kills them and goes out in search for her. He has no compassion for people who put Ellie in danger.

The game switches back to Ellie where David and James are about to kill her. Ellie bites David’s hand and tells them that she’s infected. While David sets down his knife and looks at her arm where her scar is, Ellie grabs the knife and stabs James in the neck. She is able to jump out the window. Outside there is the beginning of a snowstorm and David and his men hunt her down. She is almost in the clear when David knocks her to the ground. He is about to kill her but Ellie reaches an abandoned knife and is able to kill David instead. Joel arrives right after and comforts her. Joel knows that Ellie has had to fight to survive, just like he has, and he feels sympathy for her. She also has protected Joel when he was wounded and managed to help keep them alive during the winter months. Slowly Joel is opening up to Ellie and he almost trusts her completely. David had been the shadow who put Ellie in a life-threatening situation (Vogler, 66). By killing him, Ellie has survived because of her own actions without Joel’s help but at the cost of her losing anymore innocence that she might have had left.

The game time skips to spring. Ellie and Joel are at Salt Lake City. Joel notices that Ellie seems extra quiet and distracted, not like her usual self. They take a shortcut through an old mall and find a spot that has collapsed, allowing them to look outside. There is a small herd of grazing giraffes. The animals stand as a symbol for hope in the world –that despite all the deaths there is still life surviving. They are about to leave but Joel stops and says, “We don’t have to do this. You know that, right?” Ellie asks, “What’s the other option?” and Joel replies, “Go back to Tommy’s. Just be done with this whole damn thing.” Ellie says, “After all we’ve been through. After everything I’ve done… It can’t be for nothing” (The Last of Us). They decide to stick to the plan of going to the hospital, but Ellie expresses that once everything is done with they can return and do whatever they want. First they have to fight through some more Infected. In the flooded subway they run into trouble when Joel slips when crossing over a bus. The current takes the bus and he is trapped inside. Ellie is able to catch up and help get the door open, but she falls into the water. Joel gets to her and brings her to the surface but she is not breathing. He is about to do CPR on her but two men with guns tell him to put his hands up. He ignores them and tries to save Ellie, but one of the men knock him out.

When Joel wakes up he’s on a hospital bed and Marlene is next to him. She says, “Welcome to the Fireflies.” The dramatic question has been answered. Marlene apologizes for Joel being hit and says that Ellie is all right. The reward is them arriving at the hospital and Ellie finally being delivered after all the tests they have fought through. Joel wants to see Ellie because he is worried about her. Marlene says he can’t because she is being prepped for surgery. Joel is confused. Marlene explains that the growth of the virus inside Ellie has mutated and that is why she is immune. Once the doctors remove it they will be able to create a vaccine. Joel says that it grows all over the brain and Marlene confirms it. Joel says, “Find someone else” but Marlene replies, “There is no one else. There is no other choice here.” Marlene has him sent out and if he tries anything the guard has orders to shoot him. Joel is lead away but manages to grab the man’s gun and interrogate him into telling him where the operating room is before he kills him. Joel has to fight through the Fireflies to the top floor where Ellie is.

Joel makes it to the surgery room and kills the doctor and nurses. He carries the unconscious Ellie out of the room and maneuvers the hospital to an elevator and takes it to the lower parking. Marlene is waiting there with a gun. The resurrection and climax begins. As Vogler says, this is the “last and most dangerous meeting with death” (197). Marlene says, “You can’t save her. It’s what she’d want. And you know it. You can still do the right thing here. She won’t feel anything.” Joel does not waste any time and shoots Marlene in the stomach and puts Ellie in a car. He comes back to Marlene, who is alive and begging to be let go. Joel says, “You’d just come after her” before he shoots her in the head (The Last of Us). Joel may have changed towards Ellie, but he is still the same person he was before he met her. He will kill anyone who stands in the way of his own and the people he cares about survival.

Now Joel and Ellie can begin the road back. Vogler mentions that it can be to an ultimate destination (187). Joel takes Ellie in a car back to Tommy’s. On the way, Joel lies to Ellie that there are a bunch of other immune people, but no vaccine has been made from them so they have stopped looking for a cure. Joel says, “I’m taking us home. I’m sorry” (The Last of Us). They make it back to Jackson County and go through the woods until they are overlooking the power plant where Tommy is. They are about to go down but before they can Ellie stops him.

      Ellie: Back in Boston. Back when I was bitten. I wasn’t alone. My best friend was there. And she got bit too. We didn’t know what to do. She says, ‘Let’s just wait it out. We can be all poetic and just lose our minds together’. I’m still waiting for my turn.

Joel: Ellie…

Ellie: Her name was Riley and she was the first to die. And then it was Tess, and then it was Sam…

Joel: None of that is on you. I struggled a long time with surviving. No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. Now I know that’s not what you want to hear right now…

Ellie: Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you’ve said about the Fireflies is true.

Joel: I swear.

Ellie: Okay. (The Last of Us)

The final image of Ellie and Joel’s conversation completes the journey. What Joel ends up doing is not something a “hero” would do. It is something a human would do, because humans are selfish. Vogler talks about the hero having “interesting flaws [that] humanize a character” (33). Joel is sort of an anti-hero. Vogler says that, “Heroes show us how to deal with death. The most effective Heroes are those who experience sacrifice” (32). Both Joel and Ellie have gone through so much sacrifice and fighting to live that at the end of the game they are quite changed. Ellie has lost her innocence. Joel has accepted Ellie as a part of his family and someone who he will continue to fight for. The elixir for Joel is Ellie herself and the friendship he has made with her. He has successfully returned with that, but at the cost of potentially saving humanity. He chooses Ellie’s life over giving power to the Fireflies.

The structure of the story is not a perfect Hero’s Journey circle, but it has all the elements to make it a journey. The ending is in many ways “open-ended” because it leaves us wondering what is going to happen to the world without a vaccine (216). The “moral conclusion” is really up for the players to decide (218). We can either think that Ellie knows Joel is lying, or instead think that she genuinely believes him. Either way, it feels like she will continue to be by his side.

 

Works Cited

The Last of Us. Written by Neil Druckmann. Developed by Naughty Dog, Inc. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013. PlayStation 3.

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey, Third Edition. Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. Print.