(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PARTS I & II)

Following the release of Part 1, the fandom had a myriad of reactions to Joel's final decision, where he slaughtered his way through the Fireflies to save Ellie, thus possibly resulting in robbing the human race of a vaccine for the Cordyceps infection. The years since the release of the game have seen discourse discussing whether or not Joel made the right call rage on.

Upon the release of Part II, the conversation regarding the morality of Joel's final decision was given a resurgence. However, after mulling through many Twitter and YT comment section arguments regarding this topic, it seemed evident to me that the two sides of the aisle (those who consider Joel an undisputed hero and those who consider him a selfish, evil monster) were going off of two completely different frames of reference.

And despite the plethora of discussions around this topic, I was surprised to find that I couldn't find a video that outlined and weighed the arguments of either side of the aisle. Thus, here we are.

If you feel there were other elements of either argument I missed or you'd like to add anything to the discussion, feel free to comment below!


[00:00] - Intro
[04:26] - The Case For...
[29:23] - The Case Against...
[45:31] - Conclusion


Patreon:   / macabrestorytelling  
Twitter:   / macabstory  


VIDEOS REFERENCED

Cosmonaut Variety Hour's review of The Last of Us Part 2:    • The Last of Us 2 Isn't That Bad - You...  

Just Write's review of The Last of Us Part 2:    • Why I Liked The Last Of Us Part II  

Patrick (H) Willems review of The Last Jedi (origin of "movie about space wizards" image):    • Patrick Explains STAR WARS: THE LAST ...  

Joseph Anderson's review of The Last of Us Part 1:    • Uncharted and The Last of Us - Great ...   (3:06:43 is where he talks about how the Fireflies are incompetent buffoons.)


MUSIC

All songs from The Last of Us (Original Soundtrack) by Gustavo Santaolalla


ARTICLES MENTIONED

Timetable for developing vaccines: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/con...

Vaccines for fungal infections: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Druckmann on Part 1 Ending: https://thelastofus.fandom.com/f/p/20... (for some reason the original article 404d?)