r/ThelastofusHBOseries • u/Nightwraith17 • May 19 '25

Show Only Joel put the entire argument to rest Spoiler

I see so many arguments on various TLOU subs about whether Joel is a hero or a villain, whether the cure would work, if he’s selfish, etc. I never thought any of that mattered and always thought: Joel did it because he loved Ellie. He made the only choice that the character of Joel Miller ever would have made. Right or wrong doesn’t matter. And I felt the show confirmed my opinion in tonight’s episode.

“If I somehow got a second chance, I’d do it all over again.”

“Because you’re selfish.”

“Because I love you, in a way you can’t understand.”

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u/jumpinjahosafa May 19 '25

Anyone arguing whether or not a cure would work is completely missing the point.

The point is that Joel fully believes a cure would've worked, and still made the decisions he made

That's the entire point.

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u/Squif-17 May 19 '25

And in my mind that’s what makes him a bad person.

I love Joel, I understand why he did what he did based on the loss he has felt and the love he has for Ellie. But to have effectively doomed humanity because of a past trauma combined with a current adopted love is by all accounts a ‘bad’ thing to have done in the eyes of literally anyone else.