The Fireflies and Marlene - A Deconstruction of Villainy

the most interesting thing about the fireflies is that in any other story these would have been the heroes the fireflies are a rag tag Scrappy group of rebels resisting an evil tyrannical oppressive dystopian government they are the underdog they are outmatched outgunned overrun and yet they still fight on in spite of all their failure they never give up at least not in this first game they are determined dogged tenacious they fight against impossible odds because they believe in a better world the slogan of the fireflies is when you're lost in the darkness look for the light well the last of us is a very dark World all of these characters are lost in some kind of darkness and the fireflies are offering a light they are offering Hope on the surface they seem like a very archetypical band of Heroes they are intended to seem similar to other popular and heroic resistance groups across fiction and Cinema they are intentionally meant to remind us of groups like The Rebel Alliance in the Star Wars series or Gordon Freeman and Alex Vance who lead the human resistance in halflife 2o there are even some similarities to the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men we are naturally going to be sympathetic to a group like this audiences love an underdog we love a rebellion we love seeing a hero tear down the Grim symbols of an authoritarian regime the enemy of the fireflies is fedra the federal disaster response agency fedro is tasked with managing the United States government response to the corp's plague as the disaster worsened as more and more of the country collapsed into chaos fedra seized more and more power not out of greed but out of necessity to save whatever was left ultimately in the name of saving the country fedra suspended all other branches and agencies of the government suspended the Constitution and declared Perpetual martial law they govern with a militar istic Vice like iron grip ruling over every aspect of citizens lives casually killing any who oppos them the fireflies are fighting in part to bring back the courts the legislature the laws protecting citizens rights they want to restore the Constitution with Peace and Freedom and justice for all but in the twisted and morally gray world of The Last of Us even the heroes don't get to be heroes but then again it might not really be accurate to describe them as outright villains either these are the first antagonists I've had the opportunity to examine on this channel who are fighting for something that the audience can easily support they are fighting for something that seems right for Hope for peace for a more compassionate government for a cure to the corps plague there are many players who will walk away from The Last of Us fully supporting everything the fireflies tried to do who will believe that a cure would be worth almost anything that the potential salvation of the human human race is worth almost any choice no matter how Bloody and there are just as many players who will find the murder of an innocent child for the uncertain hope of a cure to be unforgivable unsupportable and unjustified and as I'm going to argue in this video the fireflies completely misunderstand what sort of cure Ellie is offering they dismiss who she is as a person and instead focus on what they can dig out of her brain it's actually their myopic and limited vision of the future of humanity that leads to their destruction from a literary analysis perspective the fireflies are deliciously complicated we can all talk ourselves in circles forever trying to decide whether the fireflies are the heroes or the villains of this story so what I want to do now is to follow the story of the fireflies in The Last of Us from beginning to end to scrutinize every single instance in which they are mentioned or appear on screen and with every appearance I want to ask two questions questions first how are the writers presenting the fireflies here and second what do the writers want us to think or feel about the fireflies at this point in the story all right let's begin at the beginning let's watch the first cut scene in the game where the fireflies first appear here it is you see what I need there you go what your business here got the day off visiting a friend all right move on through thanks [ __ ] get out of here don't close it up fireflies [ __ ] they're running okay so how are the writers presenting the fireflies in this first scene of course they don't actually physically appear on screen here at all we see an explosion we hear some gunshots we hear a soldier cry out fireflies but we never see them which is of course a deliberate Choice by the writers I don't think the writers want want the player to know how to think or feel about the fireflies yet we have no context for the events we're seeing on screen at this point we don't know the purpose of attacking this checkpoint what it could accomplish if it is a heroic or villainous act the writers want the player to feel lost and confused they want this world to feel dangerous and chaotic not just because of a global zombie fungus plague but also because this setting is torn apart by Warfare the survivors are battling over the ruins it's also worth noting how little reaction Joel and Tess have to this attack they are neither excited nor very surprised they are almost entirely ambivalent towards the fireflies actions at most they're a little annoyed that their way has been blocked their lack of reaction suggests that this attack is neither noteworthy nor exceptional just one more battle among many a long drawn out resistance effort that doesn't affect the lives of normal people Beyond creating an occasional nuisance notice how different this introduction is from any other fictional resistance group I've mentioned so far in this video like the Rebel Alliance and Star Wars who are first mentioned in hushed or excited tones with respect with reverence with a hint of danger there's none of that with the fireflies introduction and this is something we're going to continue to see as the story develops the writers are intentionally trying to strip the fireflies of that reverence and respect that is usually associated with these fictional resistance movements the fireflies are intended to be a bit dirtier a bit grungier a bit uglier and perhaps more realistic than the usual portrayal most people in this world are just trying to live their lives and the fireflies are at best getting in the way moving forward Joel and Tess's first goal in the game is to track down a man named Robert who has double crossed them and we're going to watch the scene where they finally catch up with him because it is the second time in the game where the fireflies are mentioned here it is look whatever it is you heard it ain't ain't true okay I just want to say the guns you want to tell us where the guns are yeah sure but it's complicated look all right just hear me out on this I got to [ __ ] stop stop stop quit you're squiring you were saying I sold him excuse me I didn't have much of a choice I owed someone you owed us I'd say you B on the wrong horse I just need more time just give me a week you know I might have done that if you hadn't tried to [ __ ] kill me come on it won't who has our guns I can't just give me a couple who has our gun it's the fireflies I oh the fireflies what look they're basically all dead we can just just go in there finish them off we get the guns what do you say come on [ __ ] those fireflies let go get them that is a stupid idea Robert is characterized as someone who is more than a bit skey driven by self-interest and greed willing to betray any ally or friend as soon as it becomes convenient for him in his very short time in the story we see him betray first Tess and then the fireflies the writers want us to think he is an untrustworthy piece of crap and he is the first character we meet who is directly associated with the fireflies he's not a firefly himself but he has clearly had significant dealings with them in the past and is Contin continuing to make deals with them in the present I think the writers want us to be a bit suspicious of them after this if they're willing to deal with someone like Robert what other unsavory figures might they be associated with how low are they willing to stoop in their supposedly righteous cause there are two other things worth noting in this scene first is Robert's unwillingness to reveal his deal with the fireflies even when his life is in danger it's not until Joel breaks his arm that he finally talks it's hard to tell what is motivating his sight Ence is he simply loyal to the fireflies that seems unlikely considering that he's willing to kill them all only two sentences later instead it seems much more likely that he is afraid of the fireflies afraid of what they might do to him if they learn that he revealed their secrets more afraid of them than he is of Joel and Tess secondly notice when Robert says look they're basically all dead we can just go in there and finish them off this is the first time that the player will learn that the fireflies are losing this war not only losing but on the brink of total Destruction and Annihilation soon after this scene Joel and Ellie will cross a street littered with the bodies of dead Firefly soldiers throughout the game the majority of the players interactions with the fireflies will be made up of picking dog tags off dead fireflies however this is not unusual for fictional resistance movements the first time we encounter the rebel alliance in Star Wars they're getting slaughtered by Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers resistance movements are supposed to be losers at least at first that's what makes them the underdog that's why it's so inspiring when they ultimately Prevail if the Last of Us was an ordinary story in spite of these defeats the fireflies would rally themselves Joel would probably join their cause and together they would win some great victory at the end of the game of course the last of us is anything but an ordinary story immediately after killing Robert Joel and Tess meet marleene the lead leer of the fireflies we're not going to watch this scene yet I'll discuss it more later in the video when I discuss Marlene's character in depth for now all we need to know is that she is the face of the fireflies in this story the only Firefly who gets any significant character development or screen time at all in this scene she is depicted as wounded and desperate because most of her comrades are already dead she has to persuade Joel intest to deliver Ellie to the drop off point outside the quarantine Zone she has to resort to handing over what she believes to be Humanity's last chance for a cure to a pair of random Smugglers who just happen to be in the right place at the right time who she doesn't even know if she can really trust this is a really really desperate decision only made because she feels she has no other choice it's also worth discussing how little respect Joel has for the fireflies in this scene his behavior is dismissive condescending and even outright hostile at times he is totally unimpressed by them and he lets everyone know it I think Joel's total lack of respect for the fireflies colors the audience's perception of them it seems to me like the writers don't want the player to respect the fireflies to believe in their cause and I actually think this is a mistake I think the writers were a little too successful in portraying the fireflies as losers and failures Unworthy of respect which creates problems for the narrative later on when we're supposed to believe the fireflies are actually capable and in competent enough to save the world but I'll discuss that more later let's move on to the third appearance of the fireflies in the game Joel and Tess deliver Ellie to the Boston state house where they are supposed to hand her over to a group of fireflies we're going to watch that scene together and as you watch I want you to pay attention to something I want you to watch Tessa's Behavior here we already know what Joel thinks of the fireflies but Tess has another perspective and hers is very different from Joel so here it is no no no no what happens now what are you doing Tess oh God maybe they uh maybe they had a map or uh something to tell us where they were going how far are we going to take this as far as it needs to go where was this lab of theirs she never said she only mentioned that it was someplace out West what are we doing here this is not us what do you know about us about me I know that you are smarter than this really guess what we're shitty people Joel it's been that way for a long time no we are survivors this is our chance it is over Tess now we tried give me your arm this was 3 weeks I Was Bitten an hour ago and it's already working this is [ __ ] real Joel you've got to get this girl to Tommy he used to run with this crew he'll know where to go no no no that was your Crusade I am not doing that yes you are look there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me so you get her to Tommy's the exit they're here damn it I can buy you some time but you have to run you want us to just leave you here yes there is no way I will not turn into one of those things all right so once again all of the fireflies are already dead once again the writers are depicting them as losers as failures as corpses once again their cause is apparently hopeless and yet within Tess's reaction for the first time in the game we get a hint of something else something more it becomes clear that Tess does believe in the firefight she believes that with Ellie the fireflies might actually make a difference might create a cure might Build a Better World this should be a shock to the player because up until now Tess has been portrayed as pragmatic cynical and self-interested it's actually her former cynicism that gives her belief in the fireflies a much greater weight and Tess believes so strongly that she wants to fight for it is willing to Die For It pleads with Joel to go on this whole homeric Epic Journey Across The Deadly Wasteland of America to reach it the Firefly's purpose in this story is to offer this thin Ray of Hope to the most desperate the most lost of characters to give them Something to Believe In to fight for and in this scene with Tess that hope is made real the player gets to experience it through her character this is one of the things that complicates the Firefly role as the final antagonist of the game they offer the player this almost trans transcendental sensation of hope within this otherwise hopeless world of the last of us and then at the end they seem to betray that hope by trying to murder a child but we'll discuss that more when we get to the Final Act of the game after the death of Tess the fireflies don't appear in the story again for a long while not until Joel and Ellie reach the city of Pittsburgh in The Last of Us Pittsburgh is an entire city that has been overrun by what the characters refer to as Hunters brutal human killers who prey on fellow survivors but Pittsburgh wasn't always like that once upon a time it was home to a quarantine Zone ruled over by fedra just like the one in Boston the people of Pittsburgh rose up against the oppressive government rule but then afterwards descended into a violent and depraved Lord of the Flies style brutal self-rule there's a lot of competition for the most horrific location in the last of us but the utterly repugnant and disgusting people here make Pittsburgh a strong Contender for that title and as it turns out it's all the fireflies fault at least sort of hidden in a forgotten basement in the city you can find the long desiccated corpse of a firefly and nearby is this text log it reads we don't need the fireflies sure they might have started the fight but we're the ones who have done all the work it's our blood in the streets I don't agree with them wanting to take the fight to other cities they need to earn their independence on their own and I definitely won't take orders from some Firefly leader all the way on the other side of the country before the fighting ends I suggest we rid ourselves of them this is our city our people I don't see why we can't rule ourselves this note reveals that it was the fireflies who began the resistance movement against fedra in Pittsburgh who led the attack on the government soldiers who are responsible for the independence of the city and so at least partially responsible for the horror that it has become after defeating fedra the hunters of Pittsburgh turned on their Firefly Leaders with what should have been one of the fireflies greatest victories became one of their worst mistakes Pittsburgh should have been the first foothold in the restoration of the United States of America instead it was just one more step on the country's descent into violence chaos and brutality with this backstory I think the writers want players to question the competence of the fireflies as an organization the fireflies were incapable of actually governing even a single City they lost control immediately their idealistic resistance movement respond an even more horrific and bloody ongoing disaster is this who we are going to trust with a cure is this who we are going to trust with restoring the American government but there's one more mention of the fireflies in Pittsburgh this one much more positive continuing to complicate their role within the story while trying to escape from the city Joel and Ellie stumble into another pair of survivors Henry and Sam and the four decide to work together during a rare quiet moment Henry Henry and Joel have a chance to discuss their plans and we're going to watch that scene together as you watch I want you to pay attention to Henry this time what is his perspective on all this what do the fireflies symbolize for him all right here it is so where were you heading heard the fireflies are based out west somewhere we're going to join up with them something funny just seems like there's a lot of people putting their stock on the fireflies these days yeah maybe there's a reason for that so you don't know where they are and you're just going to drag him across the country to find him I tell you what how about I worry about my brother you worry about your girl easy we're looking for the fireflies too once again Joel's behavior is a bit dismissive and condescending just look at his body language the way he scarfs and in contrast watch Henry's body language the way he leans forward how quickly he moves the way he bounces in his chair a little everything about his body language screams excitement Joel makes a really good point here you're going to drag your little brother through all of this through all this danger all this horror maybe hundreds of mind of it and you don't even know where they are you don't even really know where you're going or how far you'll have to go we will have already seen how much Henry cares about Sam how protective he is of his little brother this must be a pretty serious belief to be worth putting Sam's life in danger for just like Tess the fireflies offer Henry hope something to fight for something to search for something to be excited about and that is something special in this world this total nightmare where nothing good ever seems to happen of course Henry and Sam's search for the fireflies ends in tragic failure for these two the fireflies hope proves to be a false one foreshadowing the disappointment which Joel and Ellie's Journey will end into in the next section the story offers an alternative Choice something different from both the Grim military oppression of fedra and the fleeting false hope of the fireflies Revolution this third choice is represented by Jackson Wyoming a Survivor settlement which is independent of any other faction self-sustaining based on ideas of community and family working together to build something greater than any individual would be capable of alone this third way is made even more striking by the fact that one of its leaders is Tommy Joel's brother and more importantly a former Firefly I think that Jackson is the most damning evidence for the misguided nature of the fireflies Mission Tommy used to believe believe in the fireflies he fought for them he bled for them but in the end he turned his back on their Revolution with the fireflies he never really accomplished anything without the fireflies he helped to build this the safest most peaceful location in the entire game the closest these characters ever get to anything resembling a normal life if the writers really wanted us to believe in the competence and capabilities of the fireflies wanted us to believe that not only could they manufacture a cure but that they could use that cure to Build a Better World we would need to see the fireflies doing something like this building communities like this one but we never do but I'm getting ahead of myself again after departing from Jackson Joel and Ellie Journey to the University of Eastern Colorado a supposed research base run by the fireflies however by the time they arrive the fireflies are already gone according to audio logs left by a senior researcher now dead the the fireflies have made no progress in their search for a cure in years there's not much more to add to the story of the fireflies at this location the university is mostly a repeat of their previous portrayals once again the fireflies are on the retreat once again they have failed moving on to the Final Act of the game Joel and Ellie reached Salt Lake City home of the fireflies headquarters I want to watch two short cutcenes here in these cutcenes the fireflies will finally appear on screen finally interact with our main characters and pay really close attention to how the writers are choosing to portray them because I think there is something surprising here okay here it [Music] is come come on hands in the air she's not breathing hands in the [ __ ] air come [Music] on get up I said get up go on move I said move give me an excuse which way what the [ __ ] you doing keep walking I say keep walking throughout this story The fireflies represented hope something to fight for Joel and Ellie have spent the whole game trying to reach them believing that something good would happen when they did something that would make all this horror and suffering worthwhile the fireflies were supposed to offer salvation to a violent and ruined world the fireflies were supposed to be different than everyone else they were supposed to be better they were supposed to be the light in the darkness and now when they finally appear on screen it turns out they are just as contemptible as everyone else they are bullies they are vindictive they are cruel they behave like villains when they encounter a man performing CPR on a child their response is not to help not to ask questions but instead to immediately Club him in the back of the head in a text loget revealed that they wanted to kill Joel here for no apparent reason just for convenience sake the guy who fought across hundreds of miles to deliver their cure to them it was only Marlene's intervention that saved him and she not out of simple Mercy but a much more convoluted desire to preserve the life of someone who understands the decision she has to make afterwards this Soldier is needlessly antagonistic towards Joel making it hard to sympathize with him when he is later killed this choice of betrayal by the writers really confuses me if he wanted us to sympathize with the fireflies to feel compassion for them to want them to succeed why did you portray them as such asshle it seems to me that the reason why the writers portrayed them this way was specifically so that the player would not sympathize with them so that we wouldn't feel as bad for them so that the player would feel free to participate in their Slaughter without heavy guilt the writers wanted to portray a more realistic resistance movement a band of rebels who don't have hearts of gold who are not destined to win who fail to overthrow the evil empire who seem to fail at everything who don't seem particularly better than the evil empire they're trying to overthrow and so when the final Choice arrives where either Ellie has to die a character who we've all fallen in love with a character who represents the remaining goodness of the human race or the fireflies have to die a group of people who fail at everything and whose behavior is just as odious as everyone else that choice is an easy one when I first played The Last of Us I was on the side of the fireflies the C ation of humanity is definitely worth the life of one girl however The more I've played the more I dig into the story the less convinced I am that the fireflies are capable of achieving that salvation of crafting a cure of using that cure to Build a Better World the people who built an actual better world were Tommy and Maria back in Jackson Wyoming they built something worth fighting for they built something that not only inspires hope but actually fulfills that hope by contrast the fireflies have nothing to offer they have built nothing they are among the most intimidating enemies in the game organized well equipped and well armed wielding powerful weapons not seen anywhere else in the game but that's all they are a powerful final antagonist the last obstacle to be overcome before the credits roll for all their apparent moral complexity they end their story as a pretty typical action video game final boss but we cannot end our discussion of the fireflies until we have talked about their leader Marlene to understand how the writers developed her character we're going to rewind we're going to go all the way back to her introduction okay so let's watch that together now here it is well now what we go get our merchandise back how I don't know we explain it to them look let's just go find a firefly we won't have to look very far there you go Queen Firefly why are you here business you aren't looking so hot Where's Robert I needed him alive the guns he gave you they weren't his to sell I want them back doesn't work like that Tess the hell it doesn't I paid for those guns you want them back you're going to have to earn them how many cards are we talking about I don't give a damn about ration cards I need something smuggled out of the city you do that I'll give you your guns back then some how do I know you got him well I hear the military's been wiping you guys out you're right about that I'll show you the weapons search the area yes sir I got to move what's it going to be I want to see those guns follow me this is my least favorite cut scene in the game at the exact moment that Joel and Tess decide to go find a firefly the leader of the entire organization just pops around the corner how in incredibly convenient like where did she come from how long was she hiding back there but no story is perfect let's actually talk about marleene herself for her first appearance in the game marleene is not portrayed in a position of power she is weakened she is wounded she is bleeding she is alone she has no soldiers to command there is nothing in her appearance or demeanor that sets her significantly apart from any other NPC we encounter in the Boston quarantine Zone she even expresses fear nervousness she acknowledges that the fireflies are getting wiped out she has to run and hide from the soldiers she's not intimidating or imposing in any of the ways you would expect the leader of a revolution to look okay so what is she then what do the writers want us to think about her well in this first scene Marlene is above all else pragmatic she needs something done and she gets it done using the limited tools that are available to her she needs delivered safely out of the quarantine Zone but her soldiers are dead fled or otherwise preoccupied so she turns to Robert Robert's dead too whatever she sees the opportunity of making a deal with Joel and Tess who she knows are capable Smugglers and she seases on it immediately throughout this scene and the one with Ellie that follows you see hints here and there of her Authority she speaks decisively and with confidence she puts her foot down when she has to she has boundaries and she's sticks to them she is as much in control of the situation as someone in her weakened position possibly could be you can see those qualities which must make her an effective leader with all that said her role here at the start is a very simple one she is here to set Joel and Ellie off on their journey to supply our protagonists with their first objective as soon as she completes that role she disappears after Boston Marlene is absent from the story for hours and hours and till the very end until Joel and Ellie reach their final destination in Salt Lake City so let's watch that next cut scene to see her reintroduction to the story when her role in that story transforms here it is welcome to the fireflies sorry about that they didn't know who you were and Ellie she's all right they brought her back you came all this way how'd you do it it was her she fought like hell to get here maybe it was meant to [Music] be I lost most of my crew crossing the country I pretty much lost everything and then you show up and somehow we find you just in time to save her maybe it was meant to be take me to her you don't have to worry about her anymore we'll take care I worry just let me see her please you can't she's being pre for surgery the hell do you mean surgery the doctors tell me the CPS the growth inside her has somehow mutated it's why she's immune once they remove it they'll be able to reverse engineer a vaccine a vaccine but it grows all over the brain it does find someone else there is no one else listen you were going to show me where stop I get it but whatever it is you think you're going through right now is nothing to what I have been through I knew her since she was born I promised your mother I would look after her then why are you letting this happen because this isn't about me or even her there is no other choice here yeah you keep telling yourself that [Music] [ __ ] March him out of here he tries anything shoot him don't waste this gift [Music] Joel in this scene Marlene is something of a ghost like someone who has arisen from the dead Joel has been through so much since the last time we saw her so much has happened they have traveled so far that there's almost something shocking about seeing marleene again here this figure from the start of the journey now at its end apparently unchanged while everything else has changed around her the last time we saw her she was weak and wounded but not anymore now Marlene is very much in a position of authority she has soldiers to command she controls this situation early in her dialogue she she makes it clear that she has been on just as heroin and just as dramatic of a journey as Joel has she went through hell and came back out on the other side to be here there's this earlier scene between Joel and Ellie where Joel says hey we could just forget all this and go back to Jackson we could just go live in peace together and Ellie says no after all we've been through everything that I've done it can't be for nothing at that moment Ellie is thinking about all the people she's lost she's thinking about Riley she's thinking about Tess she's thinking about Henry and Sam all these people who have died their deaths had to be for something their lives can't have been meaningless and I think marleene is feeling something very similar here she has lost people too she has lost dozens of fireflies of friends of people she led all that suffering and loss and pain it cannot be for nothing except that it was for nothing at least at least at first when marleene first arrived at Salt Lake City she discovered that Ellie never made it and so she had lost Boston she had lost all those people she had lost the respect of those under her command she had lost the potential salvation of humankind and she had nothing to show for any of it imagine how devastating that would be how hard it would be to carry on until Joel appeared as if from nowhere and gave her this incredible gift this miracle by delivering Ellie to her he's not just offering her the potential cure to the plague what he's really offering her is meaning he's offering to make Marlene's Journey meaningful to make all those sacrifices all that death all that loss all that suffering make it all mean something and of course marleene seizes on it when she says that line maybe it was meant to be I think she's feeling something very spiritual something like destiny and fate like God's design like she is acting with the will of something much greater than herself if these circumstances had not been so drastic if she hadn't just completed such a terrible Journey if she had not lost so much if so many people had not died to make this moment possible I think marleene would have been much more hesitant to sacrifice Ellie's life but given this context what else could she have done I do think that marleene is a villain in this story a morally complic ated villain whose goals are largely Noble but still a villain she is going to murder a child and it is murder for what seems like a very uncertain possibility of a cure but Marlene is also an extremely sympathetic villain one of the most sympathetic villains I've ever seen anywhere in any story she is so sympathetic so confident in her own choices so certain that what she is doing is right that millions of players have agreed with her have come away from this game believing that she was the one in the right it's just fantastic writing I think the really villainous moment for marleene comes when she says that line whatever it is you think you're going through right now is nothing compared to what I have been through this is Marlene's great flaw this is what makes her a villain she seems to believe that there is something special about her own personal Journey but she is not capable of recognizing that same meaningfulness in Joel's Journey she is entirely ly dismissive of Joel's feelings whatever it is you think you're going through not the Deep pain that you are actually truly feeling with that line I think Marlene is revealing that she does not view other people as emotionally complete or complex as she views herself to her he's just a Smuggler he's just some guy he's just a character in her story and that is what Dooms her what SEALs her fate this arrogance this inability to recognize the humanity in another she could have approached this situation in a very different way this could have been a discussion Ellie could have been a part of that discussion that's another thing that makes me suspicious of Marlene's motives there's no urgency here no need to rush they can cut open Ellie's brain at any time why not wait for Ellie to wake up why not let the kid have some say in her own fate Marlene also claims that her personal connection to Ellie means that this sacrifice hurts her too too but I'm very skeptical of this connection as far as I can tell all Marlene ever did was dump Ellie in the Boston orphanage and then leave her to rck is that really what Ellie's mother meant when she asked Marlene to watch over her child has marleene ever done right by this child I think for Marlene it's always been about Marlene's Journey about Marlene's Destiny Marlene's ideals Ellie's feelings are just as much of an afterthought as Joel's when she says this isn't about me I don't believe her I think this is very much about making her own suffering and her own sacrifices matter she has a cloak of legitimacy since she can claim that this might benefit others not just herself but her previous decisions the way she dismisses the feelings of others the way she rushes to sacrifice Ellie's life without giving Ellie any choice the antagonism and cruelity of the soldiers under her command their long history of failure and incompetence all of these ter gaping holes in that legitimacy now to finish Marlene's story we need to watch her final scene where her character is complicated even further as you watch this scene I want you to think about a question why doesn't Marlene shoot why doesn't she fire her weapon she has the opportunity but chooses not to why not all right here it is you can't save her even if you get her out of here then what how long before she's Torn to Pieces by a pack of clickers that is if she hasn't been raped and murdered first it ain't for you to decide it's what she'd want and you know it look you can still do the right thing here she won't feel anything [Music] so I've just spent the last chunk of this video trying to convince you that marleene is the villain of the story that she is selfish that she cares more about her own emotional needs than the needs of others but the writers of The Last of Us just never let it be that simple Marlene can't just be the villain here at the very end she complicates her own role in the story by refusing to take that shot she could have killed Joel she has a gun pointed at his head he doesn't even notice her at first moreover she should shoot Joel is extremely dangerous he's proven that time and time again he is very willing to kill to get his way letting him live is frankly completely idiotic like fans of the series have spent a lot of time talking about how dumb it was for Joel to trust Abby in part two but marleene choosing to trust Joel here of all people is a million billion times Dumber all the people who are upset by Joel's behavior in part two you should have already been way more upset in this moment so why doesn't Marlene take the shot why does she do something so foolish so self-destructive well I think for all her selfishness for all her dismissiveness Marlene is a character who truly does want to do the right thing she truly wants to be a good person she may may be sacrificing Ellie to fulfill her own emotional needs but she's also doing it because she really does think it's the right thing to do she would not kill Ellie otherwise I think she wants Joel to be persuaded of the rightness and goodness of her decision it almost seems like she wants Joel to validate her decision to make her feel better about it Joel is the only other person around who shares a personal emotional connection with Ellie for all the rest of the fireflies Ellie might as well just be a lab of meat which once it's carved up may provide them with a cure for the plague at least that's what she is as long as she remains unconscious I think that's part of why they're rushing to perform the surgery as soon as possible because as soon as she wakes up as soon as she starts talking and interacting with them she will become a person again and these surgeons will have to Grapple with the fact that they are killing an actual living person a child someone who has just as much of a right to live as they themselves do marleene wants validation from the only other person here who already views Ellie as a person as more than just a means to an end she wants him to agree with her she wants Joel to say oh yeah you're right she would want this you are doing the right thing marleene don't worry about it her need for validation is her final mistake if she had truly believed in her own decision if she had stuck to her decision without trying to persuade Joel of her righteousness if she had killed him when she had the chance she would have survived this story Marlene's death is one of the ugliest in either games it is bloody and pathetic she dies on the ground pleading for a life she is shot like a dog she is not given any dignity or respect in death for all my criticisms I do think Marlene deserved better than this in many ways her manner of death very closely resembles the way Joel is murdered in part two and I do think with Joel's death the writers wanted the player to be on the other side of Marlene's death they wanted us to feel what it's like to see someone we care about killed in the same way but that's a discussion for another video I'll just say that in the same way that Joel's death in part two is as much a result of his own choices and mistakes as it is a result of aby's misguided quest for vengeance Marlene's is the same way her own choices led her to this moment to end this video I want to return to Jackson Wyoming because I really think that Jackson is the Achilles heel to Marlene's entire character Marlene is willing to kill a child for the chance of a cure but Jackson proves that Humanity doesn't need a cure to survive a cure for the plague will not be our Salvation her vaccine might cure the plague but it won't turn all those monstrous people Joel and Ellie encountered on their journey into Saints it won't cure all those people of their selfishness and violence and brutality instead what Humanity needs is for human humans to be better Humanity needs people who are willing to work together to forge communities to build families to build something bigger than themselves Humanity needs more people like Ellie who are compassionate and empathetic and strong those qualities of her character which make her a good person are the real cure for Humanity not her immunity to the corps and it was the Firefly's inability to recognize that their rush to kill her for the ephemeral chance of a cure that may not have made any difference anyway that ultimately marks them as villains in my next video I'm going to examine another villain from The Last of Us my next video we look at David a character who you probably think of as being much less morally complex than the fireflies but whose role in the story is actually really interesting and really important so please look forward to that [Music]

Channel: FatBrett

Views: 201,333

Keywords: The Last of Us, Last of Us, Story, Explained, Lore, Character, Analysis, Fireflies, Firefly, Marlene, Joel, Ellie, Tess, Henry, Sam

Id: ab86otq3Do8

Length: 48min 13sec (2893 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 04 2024