*MAJOR SPOILERS* Finished Last of Us, discuss story, ending and final thoughts

[arcelonious]

Aldro said:

He lies. Joel just outright lies to Ellie in order to protect her. He doesn't care about the world, about mankind. Ellie is his world, his reason to continue living. He lost his daughter once and he sure as hell aint going to let it happen again. I thought this was utterly brilliant and while it presents oppertunities to really debate if what he did was right or not, I sure felt completely satisfied. I suppose if you really think about it, what he did could be seen as rather selfish as I am sure if he would have told Ellie the truth, she would have returned. But in order for the decision Joel made to still feel right to the player, one has to truly make you care about the actual life and person in question. And it is without doubt that Naughty Dogs ability to write a good character is by far the best in the industry and hence why this works.

When Joel swears to her at the end and seeing Ellie's response, it sort of broke my heart, because it felt like a part of their relationship was destroyed in that moment, but at the same time, it made these characters feel much more real to me.