♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ The thought experiment
for the whole story is the unconditional love
a parent feels for their child. <i> And how far
can you take this story</i> <i>to demonstrate what that means?</i> It is not just about
the beautiful parts of love, <i>it's also about the dark side.</i> <i> It's about how
everything wonderful</i> <i> and everything bad
ultimately can start with love.</i> ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ ALI ABBASI:
Set and action! (GRUNTS) (PANTING) It's me! CRAIG MAZIN:<i>
Here we are at the end,</i> <i> and we go all the way</i> <i>to the very, very beginning
of Ellie.</i> <i>Which is her mother, Anna,
played by Ashley Johnson,</i> <i>who is the true beginning
of Ellie,</i> <i>because Ashley played Ellie
in the game.</i> <i>And Ashley is spectacular.</i> -(CLICKER GROWLING)
-(ANNA SCREAMING) (GRUNTING) ASHLEY JOHNSON:<i> It sort of
brings the story around.</i> <i> to meeting Ellie
for the first time,</i> and how she was first brought
into this world. <i> And there was
a special level of it</i> <i> for me to play
the mother of this character</i> <i>that I care so deeply about.</i> (GROANS, SCREAMS) JOHNSON:<i> It was the first time
I've ever had to do</i> <i> a giving birth scene.</i> <i>And it was an incredible day.</i> <i> We were dealing
with real babies,</i> <i>which, that is usually hard,
but they connected so well.</i> And it shows
how strong Ellie is, of where she came from,
and what she had to go through. <i> And that even her mother
had such a fight to live.</i> MAZIN:<i> By this point,
watching the series,</i> <i>if you've played the game,</i> <i> you have a new Ellie
in your mind.</i> <i> And I need to understand
why she is immune,</i> but I also need to understand
how much she was loved. <i> And there's
this genetic connecting</i> <i> between the two Ellies
that we know.</i> <i> And this moment
connects them together.</i> JOHNSON:<i> Anna and Marlene
have gone through</i> this whole journey
of this pandemic together. <i> And finally realize
that connection</i> <i> when Marlene
walks into the room,</i> <i>and sees Anna in the state
that she's in.</i> MERLE DANDRIDGE:<i>
I don't know if I can talk
about this scene without crying.</i> They're fictional characters,
but I-- I do think that a wonderful gift
of the series <i> is seeing
these two best friends'</i> <i>final words to each other</i> <i> in those last moments
of Anna's last breaths.</i> (BABY COOING) Her name is Ellie. DANDRIDGE:<i>
We know what that is</i> <i> when we cannot save
the people that we love.</i> To feel powerless. <i>And Marlene certainly does
in that moment</i> <i>because Ellie is the child</i> <i> of her best friend
since childhood...</i> <i> who she had to execute.</i> (BABY CRYING) MAZIN:<i> It's something that Neil
told me about early on,</i> and it made my jaw drop,
and I said, "You must do that." And that's how we begin
our final episode. <i> There is this moment,</i> and we really just follow
the game here very closely, because it's so beautiful, <i>where they encounter a giraffe.</i> BELLA RAMSEY:<i>
It's a joyful moment for Ellie,</i> <i> and for Joel,
seeing Ellie finally be</i> <i>a glimmer of who she used to be</i> <i> after the trauma
that she faced in 109.</i> Everything that she experienced
hasn't just gone away. <i> It's just this moment
of beauty.</i> <i>So precious, it's almost sad.</i> <i> But then,
through speaking to Craig,</i> <i> I realized it was just
living the truth of it.</i> <i>Which was, it was bittersweet,
but still so, so beautiful.</i> ELLIE WILLIAMS:<i> So fucking cool.</i> MAZIN:<i>
There's just a moment of awe
and wonder in this world still.</i> <i>And the beauty of it is such
that we understand</i> <i>why the ice melts between them.</i> <i> He's still trying
to keep her with him.</i> And saying,
"We don't have to keep going. Let me just take you back
with me." And she's saying, "No,
we have to go out and finish it. We finish what we started. I get emotional
just thinking about it, because it's their
closest moment <i> where Joel finally
tells her the true story</i> <i>about how he got his scar.</i> And it was not 'cause
some guy shot at him. It's because he tried
to kill himself. And he missed. <i> But he's glad he did.</i> <i>And she thinks she understands
the lesson here, which is,</i> <i> "You'll get over this."</i> <i> He lost a daughter.
He was crushed.</i> <i>He wanted to end his own life.
He didn't.</i> So, time heals all wounds,
I guess. It wasn't time that did it. DANDRIDGE:<i> In the hospital,
Marlene quickly realizes</i> <i>this is not the Joel she knew,</i> <i>because he has an emotional
connection to Ellie.</i> You take me to her right now! (GRUNTS) It's about the way
we treasure the people that we love more
than everyone else. <i>How love leads to emotions
that can rage out of control.</i> NEIL DRUCKMANN:<i>
We've seen Joel kill.</i> <i>We've seen him lose loved ones.</i> So, how do you
take that any further? <i> What if it's between
saving all of humanity,</i> <i> or this one girl.</i> <i> The easiest choice
he's ever made in his life.</i> (GRUNTS) -(GUNSHOT)
-(GROANS) What would make one
choose one thing over the survival of humanity,
essentially. <i>Which is something that he does,</i> <i> because he finds himself
incapable of losing again.</i> (GUNSHOT) SURGEON:
I won't let you take her. -(GUNSHOT)
-(NURSES SCREAMING) Unhook her. Move! Turn around. MARLENE:
You can't keep her safe forever. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many people
you kill. DANDRIDGE:<i> The parking garage
is the last shot.</i> <i>It's the last opportunity</i> <i> to save what Ellie
can gift the world.</i> Joel, he is wrestling
with his grief, and he can't see past it. (GUNSHOT) PEDRO PASCAL:<i>
There's no limit to how much
we could try to understand that,</i> <i>how much we could defend it,
or judge it.</i> <i>And it's this beautiful shadow</i> <i> that one can explore
and question,</i> find the horror
and the humanity of. DRUCKMANN:<i> This whole journey,
we've been working towards</i> <i>this trust that is forming
between these two characters,</i> and how honest they are
with each other, and how much they learn
to rely on each other. And then, Joel puts
all of that on the line. <i> Like a parent,
you feel like you need to lie</i> <i> to your children
to protect them.</i> <i>And that's what Joel does
at the very end.</i> RAMSEY:<i> She knows deep down
that he's not telling the truth.</i> But she can't
let herself believe it, because it's too painful,
and it's too scary, <i>the idea that her only purpose
in life hasn't been fulfilled.</i> <i> That that had been
taken away from her</i> <i>by the person that she loves
and trusts the most</i> <i> is too overwhelming.</i> So she forces herself
to believe Joel. Swear to me that
everything you said about the Fireflies is true. I swear. Time doesn't really
heal anything. It just makes it fade. <i> But people heal things.</i> <i> And in that moment,
you understand the depth</i> <i>of what she means to him.</i> <i> And the horror of it all</i> <i>is that that's why the ending
has to be the way it is.</i> <i>The ending is something that
people have been arguing about</i> <i> for over a decade.</i> <i> Should Joel have done
what he did?</i> <i>And a lot of people will say no,</i> <i> and a lot of people
will say yes.</i> In the end, the only thing
we can be sure of is that we understand
why he did it, <i>and we understand that Ellie</i> <i> would not have
wanted him to do it.</i> <i> That complexity is why</i>
The Last of Us, <i> as a narrative,
is so gorgeous.</i> <i> It's why it's the most
beautiful story told</i> <i> in the entire genre
of video games.</i> <i>It's why Neil is a genius,</i> and it's why I wanted to make
this show in the first place. ♪ ("THE LAST OF US"
THEME PLAYS) ♪
