Why Joel Is A Terrible Person But A Great Character (The Last Of Us Video Essay)

I want Joel to watch over her whoa I don't know him throughout the vast array of video game characters and even characters and a zombie apocalypse it's hard to find one that stands out as much as Joel does to me while on first glance he's your typical deep voiced hardened broken shell of a man that seems all too common in stories like these and for a while that's exactly what I thought of Joel he's a fine character that's fun to play as but my mind always comes back to Joel and the more I think of him the more I realize just how special of a character he really is Joel Miller is a terrible person he chooses himself over the entire population of the world he's not entirely likable from most points of view and he's a stone cold bloodthirsty murderer it's all these reasons why Joel is such a phenomenal character in today's video I'm going to be going over Joel's entire Story from beginning to end my thoughts on why Joel is such a great character and how I think the show might deviate from video game counterpart [Music] [Applause] [Music] when we first meet Joel he's a tired working single father of one though he very clearly has a great relationship with his daughter Sarah and his brother Tommy they laugh and joke around on his birthday the night of the outbreak before he takes her upstairs to lay down but as Joel goes outside to relax he finds that something's wrong with the neighbors saying he thinks they're sick the neighbor breaks into their home and Joel has no choice but to pull the trigger he tries to calm Sarah down as Tommy arrives they get out of the house trying to evacuate immediately as they head into town they spot a family on the side of the road Tommy and Sarah want to stop and help them because they have a kid but Joel tells them to keep moving in the town they get into an accident and Sarah is wounded Joel carries her around and he and Tommy look for the safest place to go on foot they get out of town and head towards the bridge they run into a man in the military who gets orders to open fire on them he shoots but before he can take Joel out Tommy saves them by putting a bullet in the Soldier's head however one of the bullets did hit Sarah as well as Joel's watch and within moments she's dead 20 years later Joel lives as a Smuggler in Boston he has a good friendship slash relationship with a fellow Smuggler named Tess they're given a job to smuggle some cargo out of the city by Marlene the leader of a militia group known as the fireflies Joel and tests follow through with this assignment thinking that the shipment is a bunch of guns or something of that nature but they're surprised when the cargo is in fact a 14 year old girl Marlene refuses to tell them why she's so important but as it's a job they're getting paid for Joel and Tess accept the mission and go to smuggle her outside of Boston to the Capitol building where they'll meet up with a team of fireflies who will take Ellie from there when they're beyond the gates they're caught by some soldiers but Ellie gets the drop on them as they're scanning for her to see if she's infected or not Joel and tests worry when the scanner reads positive for Ellie so she's forced to tell them the real reason why she's such Precious Cargo her bite is three weeks old and she hasn't turned meaning she's immune to the virus Joel seems a bit skeptical of this but this gives Tess something more to go off of and it gives her hope Joel Ellie and Tess Traverse the city running into all types of infected until the sun rises and they get closer to the Capitol Building Joel talks to Ellie and he can't help but think of Sarah as he does so looking down at his watch she gave him 20 years earlier but as they arrive at the Capitol Building they find that the Firefly soldiers that they were supposed to meet have been killed and not only that but Tess has been bit and she's not going anywhere Joel says that their mission is over and that there's nothing more they can do but Tess convinces him that Ellie is Humanity's Last Hope and he has to continue the mission Joel accepts and reluctantly continues on Joel Still reeling from the loss of tests lays out a set of ground rules for Ellie to follow still upset that his life has been completely uprooted and now he has to travel across the country with this little girl he takes her to the town of an old friend of his hoping to get a car his friend bill is incredibly upset that Joel decided to come through the town and set off all of his traps it doesn't help that when Ellie meets Bill she tries to kill him and Joel thinks their chances of ever getting a car are slimming down to zero bill says that he needs parts from around town in order to get a car working Joel and Bill talk before they head out and Bill talks about how much of a handful Ellie is and how he should probably just take her back Joel just kind of nods but gets annoyed after Bill continues talking bad about Ellie they Traverse through the town looking for parts in an old school Ellie and Joel looking after one another as the clickers converge upon them they get out of the school and find a working car so they leave Bill behind and set out on the road in the car Joel and Ellie talk about stuff she stole from bills including a comic book cassette tape and even a nudie magazine Joel even tries to discipline Ellie by telling her that she shouldn't be looking at that because it's not for kids they continue driving into Pittsburgh where they find a man limping along the road asking for help Ellie suggests that they help him but Joel says he ain't even hurt and continues driving though they're ambushed by about a dozen more thugs they fight their way through Pittsburgh until Joel is trapped and getting drowned by one of the thugs most likely going to die until Ellie shoots the thug Joel scolds her for this saying that he's just happy he wasn't shot too and Ellie yells right back at him saying he should thank her for saving his life he realizes that she's probably right but he tells them to move on a little while later they run into another group of Bandits and Joel knows that he needs Ellie's help he teaches her how to use a rifle and tells her to make every shot count he also gives his best form of an apology saying that back there it was either the thug or him Ellie understands this to be an apology and says yeah you're welcome after helping him through the bandits Joel knows he can count on Ellie even deciding her to give her a gun a little more her size as they continue through the city they stumble upon two more people who they mistake for Bandits but as Joel and this man are carrying a child with them they realize that they are not in fact part of the group of thugs these two people are Henry and Sam they decide to help each other though Joel still has his doubts about trusting people until he sees Ellie get along with Sam so well they all decide to help each other get out of the city though it's much easier said than done when they get in a tough spot Henry and Sam decide to leave Joel and Ellie on their own leaving them to run away through the city from an armed car Ellie and Joel are cornered on a bridge and forced to jump in the water Joel gets knocked out by a rock as he's protecting Ellie but Henry comes to his rescue in a fit of rage Joel pushes Henry to the ground partly because he started trusting him but also because leaving them meant that Ellie was in more danger but they've escaped the city and together the four of them take camp for the night Henry and Joel talk about their Adventures before the apocalypse enjoying their shared love of motorcycles the next morning the group gets up for breakfast when Joel tells Ellie to go and wake up Sam Ellie screams and Joel sees that Sam has somehow been turned and is on top of Ellie he goes for his gun but Henry shoots to stop him Joel looks at the zombified Sam who's attacking Ellie and then at Henry deciding that even if he gets shot maybe there's a chance he can save Ellie though Henry's the one to put an end to Sam and Joel tries to unsuccessfully talk him off the ledge a few months later Joel and Ellie arrive in Jackson Wyoming at a gated Outpost they try to open it but are forced to surrender when people on top of the wall aim their guns at them though one of the men says they're all right to come in and we see that Tommy Joel's brother opens up for them Joel's happy to finally see his brother after all this time and surprised to hear that he's also Mary married to the woman who runs things in Jackson Joel goes with Tommy knowing that he has to explain Ellie's situation to him and Tommy also tries to hand a photo of him and Sarah to Joel but he denies it Tommy is surprised by this and says that he'll hold on to it for a little while Joel asked to talk to Tommy in private and he explains that Ellie's immune and that he should take Ellie the rest of the way to the fireflies but Tommy says that he's not a firefly anymore and he hasn't seen them in years Joel grows impatient with Tommy because he says he doesn't want to do it and their history comes back up front so Joel pushes Tommy against the wall at that moment they get attacked and everything has to wait until they can get reunited with Ellie and Maria along the way Tommy has a change of heart because of the attack and he tells Joel that he'll take Ellie to the fireflies Maria gets upset with Joel because if anything happens to Tommy then it's Joel's fall with it all settled Joel says that he needs to talk to Ellie first but she's just taken a horse and rode off Joel and Tommy go after Joel finding her in a house a little ways outside Jackson inside the house Joel relays the importance of Ellie's life to her and how she can't be running off like that Ellie's hurt because she knows Joel is trying to get rid of her but Joel says it's for the best that she goes with Tommy Ellie says that she's not his daughter and she can take care of himself this makes Joel angry and tells her to tread carefully Ellie says that everyone she's ever cared for has died or left her except for Joel Joel reacts by saying she's right she's not his daughter and he sure as hell ain't her dad they head back to Jackson Tommy ready to take Ellie the rest of the way but now it's Joel who's had the change of heart he tells Ellie to give the horse back to Tommy so that way they can be on their way Ellie doesn't argue and gets on Joel's horse with him Tommy tells them where to go to find the fireflies and tells them that there's always a place for them back at Jackson Joel and Ellie continue their Journey reaching the college campus and making their way to the medical building finding that the building has been abandoned Joel finds a tape recorder and listens to one of the Firefly's last testimonies before he died the recorder says that the rest of the fireflies have gone to Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City they talk about how far away it is when they're attacked during the attack Joel falls down a story and gets impaled by some rebar he makes his way to the exit with Ellie and they get on their horse riding out of the campus Ellie says that if they make it out of this alive Joel's definitely singing her a song and Joel agrees as they're leaving Joel falls off the horse unconscious Ellie somehow manages to get him to a nearby house while going out to get supplies and medicine for his wound Joel recovers slowly while Ellie has to go out and get rid of a group of hunters following them Joel awakes sometime later finding that Ellie's gone and he realizes something is very wrong he heads into town running into some Hunters along the way he takes a page out of his own history book and interrogates two of the thugs asking where Ellie is he goes to find Ellie catching her in a burning bill building hacking a guy into pieces he holds her calling her baby girl saying it's him and she's safe now he takes her out of the building and away from the area sometime later Joel and Ellie are making their way to Salt Lake City when they run into a stray pack of giraffes they take in the scenery and before they head on Joel says that they can turn back now and just be done with it all but Ellie wants to go on Joel continues with her but doesn't really want to follow through with this plan anymore they arrive at St Mary's hospital but the journey is treacherous and Ellie gets knocked out underwater when they get to the surface Ellie isn't breathing Joel tries to save her even when armed guards come in and tell him to put his hands in the air he refuses wanting to save Ellie first and he gets knocked out because of it when he wakes he's in the hospital next to Marlene he immediately asks how Ellie is and if she's okay and Marlene assures him she is Joel asks to see her and Marlene says that he can't because Ellie's being prepped for surgery Joel asks what sir surgery and Marlene says that they can reverse engineer a vaccine but they have to get to her brain so it'll kill her Joel can't believe what he's hearing and in that moment he decides he's not losing Ellie he's not losing another daughter he takes out the guard who's forcing him to leave forcing him to tell him where Ellie is Joel forces his way to the top floor taking out every person in his way until he arrives at the operating room he kills the surgeon taking his baby girl out of the hospital as he's chased by the fireflies he gets out of the elevator and Marlene stands in the way telling him this is what Ellie would want and he knows it Marlene says he can still do the right thing and she wouldn't feel anything Joel contemplates for a moment but shoots Marlene putting Ellie in the truck Marlene begs for her life but Joel says she'd just come after her in the truck Ellie wakes and Joel tells her that there were actually dozens of people who were immune and it still hasn't done any good so he's taking her back to Jackson just outside of Jackson Ellie is upset that her life meant nothing and Joel says that no matter what you have to keep finding something worth fighting for Ellie asks Joel if he's told her the truth about everything that happened and he says that he did a few days later Joel takes Tommy outside of Jackson and explains everything that happened Joel tries to explain his reasoning but even he is surprised by his actions Joel says he saved her life without going into much detail Tommy asks what Ellie knows and Joel tells him that he lied to her telling her that her immunity meant nothing Tommy and Joel head back into Jackson and Joel comes into Ellie's house which is really just Joel's garage and he plays a song for her on his guitar keeping his promise that he made to her if they made it out alive he'd sing her a song he gives her the guitar and says that he'll start teaching her how to play some time later Joel and Ellie are out for a trip for Ellie's birthday because Joel found something special for Ellie he takes her to a museum and they have a nice time together Joel finding a tape recording of a space launch and Gifts it to her as a present though they eventually get separated and Ellie finds a graffiti drawing of the Firefly logo with the word Liars under it Joel wants to move on trying not to talk about the fireflies a year later Joel Tommy and Ellie are out clearing the infected Joel trying his best to spend quality time with Ellie who's getting older and becoming a moody teenager they try to go to a music store and get some guitar strings but they have to cut through a hotel that's far more dangerous than they initially thought they fight their way through the infected to get out of the hotel when they stumble upon two bodies of people who used to live in Jackson these two people left a note saying that they left Jackson to try and do some good in the world but they didn't even make it an hour before they were both bit Joel feels sorry and Ellie says if only they were immune right and Joel once again tries to sidestep the conversation but Ellie won't drop it Ellie questions Joel's story saying that if there were dozens of people who were immune why haven't they met anybody else who's immune Joel diverts and says that they're probably just hiding it sticking to his story once again though he knows that Ellie isn't just gonna give up on pushing this topic a few months later Ellie disappears from Jackson and goes back to Saint Mary's looking for answers and Joel comes looking after her he's thankful he's founder but Ellie's already found a tape recording of Marlene saying what's happened Joel hugs her but Ellie pushes him away forcing him to tell her the truth or she'll leave and never be seen again Joel's forced to deal with his own actions struggling to find the words but he finds them telling Ellie the truth in as little words possible Ellie is heartbroken saying that she'll go back to Jackson but her and Joel whatever they had is over years later things still haven't gotten any smoother but Queen Joel and Ellie and one night at a town party Ellie and her friend Dina share a kiss and an old man named Seth says something to Ellie and Dina so Joel steps in but Ellie gets angry at Joel so he leaves to go back to his house and play guitar on the back porch Ellie approaches wanting to talk about everything she can't help but get angry at him saying that she had everything under control and Joel needs to stop harassing Jesse about her patrols Joel wanting to save himself from a fight accepts and then asks about Dina saying that she'd be lucky to have Ellie Ellie gets angry and wants to talk about what happened but Joel says that if he had a second chance at that moment he'd do it all over again Ellie says that she'll never be able to forgive him and Joel knows that but she'd like to try and Joel says that he'd like that clearly these are the words Joel has been wanting to hear for a long time the next day Joel and Tommy are out on patrol when a storm hits they find someone cornered by a fence about to get eaten so Joel saves her Joel Tommy and the this girl work together to survive the horde and the girl Abby suggests that they go back to her Camp that's not far Joel and Tommy recognize the place that they're talking about and decide it's the best idea they arrive safely and go inside Tommy says they should come back and restock before they head out and Joel introduces himself which silences the room he gets shot in the leg and Tommy gets his face bashed in Joel asks who Abby is but realizes the situation he's in and instead of begging for mercy he just tells her to get it over with but Abby says this isn't gonna be quick Joel receives beating after beating until Ellie comes in trying to save him Joel looks at Ellie one last time and the lights go out now before I delve into Joel's death which I know everyone will have something to say about I want to talk about Joel's Journey from the very beginning we see that Joel's a working man and a capable and loving father but even after a long day of work Joel jokes around with Sarah and you can see that he enjoys his life but as soon as the apocalypse starts you can also see that he's ready he doesn't hesitate to kill the infected and even Comfort Sarah when she's scared he doesn't stop to help other people because his top priority is his family and this obviously comes back into play later in Pittsburgh where he's already not a very trusting person but he's also looking out for the person next to him maybe not somebody he considers family just yet but you can tell by his reasoning that he was already starting to see Ellie as his daughter in Boston Joel's life while different is still partially the same he's a working man just living and doing what it takes to survive he's broken and not even a particularly likable person to be around if it weren't for our point of view with Joel when he first meet meet him he comes across as cold and depressed not exactly someone you'd want to hang around with but when he's given a job to do he follows through with it thinking of it entirely as a job that needs to be done it's Tess who convinces him that it's more than merely just a job and because Joel feels at least something for Tess he does it it's never explicitly said what Joel and Tess are but it certainly seems like they're capable Partners who have probably gotten together at some point Joel's upset with her death but it doesn't break him most likely because Joel refuses to let his guard down for anybody the same goes for Ellie for about half the story also I've never seen anybody bring this up before so I'm going to but Tess is the one that convinces Joel to continue along this journey because it's important and Joel reluctantly agrees but his actions towards the end of the game goes directly against what Tess would have wanted she would have probably been so disappointed in Joel and it might have been interesting to see a version of the game where Tess Never Dies and how different it would have been would Joel and Tess turn out to be parental figures to Ellie or would tests have kept with the mission and sacrificed her in the end I'm not sure I don't think we get a good enough reading of Tess in the beginning for us to know just something interesting to think about but alas Tess doesn't join the journey and we're left with the story we have along this journey we see flashes of Joel letting his guard down such as when he lets Ellie help clear out the goons in Pittsburgh and gives her her own gun but there are other times that Joel shuts any bit of connection down immediately for example their fight outside of Jackson Joel is actually a bit immature in this scene he wants to give Ellie off to Tommy because he can't comprehend his own feelings towards Ellie and starting to care for her is scarier than horde of clickers for Joel when they fight Joel says that she's not his daughter and he's not her dad delivering the lowest blow possible for Ellie to hear in that moment but no matter how hard he tries traveling across the country with Ellie takes a toll on him and over time his guard gets worn down after their fight in the house Joel does his best to make up for it realizing that he was being a bit harsh and immature and even knows that he doesn't want to let go of Ellie and even just to Tommy he wants to see this Mission through himself this realization only Cuts deeper when he gets hurt and Ellie has to take care of him he stops at nothing to get her back reverting back to his old ways of doing things when it was just him and Tommy this interrogation scene is Harsh even by Joel's standards by this time in the game we've killed dozens of people and cleared out probably a hundred different infected but we've never seen him torture people for information I think the fact that this is a cut scene and just allows us to see Joel making these decisions and not having the player do them shows us just how serious Joel is about getting Ellie back and whether or not that was an intentional choice I think it's very noticeable on a second playthrough that the interrogation is Joel at his absolute most brutal name nature but of course the Tipping Point for both players and Joel is when he finds Ellie after she kills David I made an entire video about how great this scene is and how it needs to be replicated exactly as it is in game for the TV show so you should check that out but the most important aspect about this scene is how he calls Ellie baby girl the same thing he used to call Sarah and it's this moment that Joel Foley accepts Ellie as his own daughter it's not that Joel is indebted to Ellie for saving his life but he was very close to losing his own life and that meant that he would lose Ellie too this whole near-death experience changes Joel enough for him to try and convince Ellie to just turn back and go to Jackson he doesn't want to deliver her to the fireflies but he wants a low down quiet life that he can spend with Tommy and Ellie and just live out his days but Ellie wants her life to mean something so they continue on against Joel's better wishes but what makes Joel a truly special character is his decision Vision in the end this is what separates the last of us from all other apocalypse type stories and this is what makes Joel a truly terrible person but a great character Joel chooses himself over not only all of humanity but over Ellie as well he knows that Ellie wants her life to mean something more but it's more important to him to have a daughter again than it is for Humanity to have a lasting effect this decision has astronomical consequences for Joel and obviously the rest of humanity but he makes this decision and lies to Ellie about it and hoping to have that quaint quiet life with Ellie that he always wanted and for a while that's exactly what Joel gets he lives in Jackson with Ellie and Tommy taking Ellie out on her birthday to do something special teaching her how to swim and play guitar Joel has the happy ending that he wanted but it also becomes apparent that Ellie isn't going to just let the conversation about the fireflies die down especially when everything they run across reminds her of how she could have helped Joel realizes that raising a teenage girl isn't all it's chalked up to be especially when he's lied to her for years on end Ellie Rebels and goes in search of answers for herself and Joel reluctantly has to tell her the truth but Joel isn't guilty or sorry for his actions he's sorry that he got caught in his lies he tells her the truth but he very easily could have went on the rest of his days and kept the secret to himself if Ellie hadn't been curious enough to search for answers then Joel probably never would have told her a single thing he was content with his quiet life his smuggling and dark days were over it was just him Tommy and Ellie living their lives in Jackson no more missions or run-ins with other thugs this was Joel's life and he was happy with it but even when Ellie wants nothing to do with Joel he still loves and cares for her he looks out for her in any way he can changing her patrols and sticking up for her in front of Seth while these are only two instances the change between when Ellie and Joel see each other at the hospital to the night of the party is at least a year or two so I'm sure there were plenty of other instances where stuff like this happened it just might have not as been as public as this was but when Ellie's ready to talk and try to get things back to how they were Joel accepts with open arms he also knows that he's got a long road to recovery but he'll take what he can get letting Ellie know that he's Unapologetic about saving her life and would still go back and do the same thing again was a big risk on his part but he also wasn't lying to her Joel knows that his lies cost him a year or more with his new daughter so he was done lying but just because Joel's done with his past life and actions doesn't mean they're done with him and we see that physical manifestation in Abby Joel does his best to save her life not thinking anything is wrong but very clearly when he says his name something is very wrong but even in Joel's final moments he doesn't scream or beg for mercy he knows that his past has caught up with him he doesn't care who Abby is or what her reasoning is he just tells her to get it over with though he wasn't anticipating his death being as long and painful as it was it also allowed him one last glance at Ellie before leaving to be reunited with Sarah whatever Joel's last thoughts were are open to interpretation and I really like that was he sorry for taking Ali did he know who these people were or why they were there did he regret anything at all if you're asking for my interpretation Joel didn't regret a single thing he knew that these people were from some group of people that he had wronged in the process of survival and living his quiet life wasn't gonna last forever he accepted his fate opened his eye to see Ellie one last time and moved on Joel's death has always been an incredibly sore spot for fans of The Last of Us I thought we were over that period of time where people hated this game but I saw a few comments the other day and realized that people still do hate The Last of Us Part 2 but I for one am not one of those people is Joel's death tragic and sad absolutely but was it necessary for the story absolutely the last of us too may not feature Joel in a large majority of its gameplay but the entire game is about Joel for both Ellie and Abby for this man's actions to inspire not one but two absolutely incredible stories he certainly made a lasting impact Joel will go down in history as one of the greatest video game characters to ever grace our screen he's complex immature bitter and loving in all the wrong ways I can't wait to see Pedro Pascal bring this character to life on screen in January and how closely he'll portray the character to Troy Baker's droll or how differently I think that Joel will be very similar in the show but I'm also looking forward to seeing the differences as well I think that test might be playing a bigger role which will in turn give Joel an entirely new aspect than we saw in the game let me know in the comments you thoughts on Joel as a character why you love him or maybe why you even hate him I would love to hear someone's take on that if you enjoyed this video and want to see a video on Ellie or maybe even Abby let me know that as well by leaving a like on this video And subscribe for more Last of Us content if you do then I'll see you in the next one

Channel: The Thrifty Typewriter

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Keywords: the last of us, the last of us part 2, the last of us remake, ps5, joel miller, joel miller death, the last of us hbo, the last of us video essay, joel tlou, joel tlou2, joel and ellie last scene, joel and ellie scenes, the last of us part 1, the last of us part 2 joel, the last of us joel character analysis, joel character analysis, the last of us trailer, joel miller tribute, joel miller character analysis, tlou joel, tlou joel and ellie, the last of us ps5

Id: Kl8Hzk9k3g4

Length: 27min 54sec (1674 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 12 2022