The Fireflies Were About to Kill an Unconscious Child. Why Is Joel the Villain?

I know I’m very late to this debate.

In fact, I originally wrote these thoughts after completing the PS5 remaster of The Last of Us, but I never got around to posting them. With the recent news surrounding Season 3 of the television series, I was reminded of the discussion and felt compelled to revisit it.

Like many others, I was completely mesmerized by the story. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the game, but it ultimately became my favourite video game of all time, with what I consider to be the greatest story ever told in gaming.

What has always fascinated me is how divided people remain over Joel’s actions at the end of the game. More specifically, I’ve never understood why so many people frame Joel as the sole villain of the final act.

Because there’s one crucial fact that often gets ignored:

The Fireflies were about to perform a fatal operation on an unconscious child who had never been given the opportunity to consent.

Before anyone accuses Joel of taking Ellie’s choice away, it’s worth acknowledging that Ellie didn’t have a choice to begin with.

Throughout the story, Ellie repeatedly speaks about the future. She talks about wanting Joel to teach her guitar. She talks about wanting to learn how to swim. These aren’t the comments of someone who believes they’re walking towards their own death. They’re the hopes and dreams of a teenager who fully expects to continue living once their journey is over.

In The Last of Us, Ellie tells Joel:

“After we’re done with this whole thing, I’m gonna teach you how to play guitar.”

Later, during their travels, she expresses excitement about finally learning to swim.

These moments matter because they reveal Ellie’s state of mind. At no point does she appear to believe that creating a cure will require her death. She clearly envisions a future beyond Salt Lake City.

Now, let’s address the most common counterargument.

Would Ellie have chosen to sacrifice herself if she had been fully informed and given the opportunity?

Maybe.

In fact, The Last of Us Part II strongly suggests that she would have.

But that isn’t the question.

The question is whether she was ever given the opportunity to make that decision herself.

The answer is no.

The Fireflies made that decision for her.

They didn’t wake her up.

They didn’t explain the procedure.

They didn’t tell her it would kill her.

They didn’t ask for consent.

They simply decided that her life was expendable in pursuit of a potential cure.

And that’s where I fundamentally disagree with people who argue that Joel robbed Ellie of her agency.

The Fireflies were the ones who removed Ellie’s agency first.

Joel’s actions were undoubtedly selfish. He couldn’t bear to lose another daughter. His decision was driven by love, trauma, fear, and attachment.

But what Joel actually did was preserve Ellie’s ability to make future choices.

The Fireflies were about to eliminate that possibility forever.

People often describe the ending as morally grey, and I agree to an extent. Joel lies to Ellie. He kills people. He potentially deprives humanity of a cure.

Those are serious consequences.

But I find it remarkable that so many discussions focus entirely on Joel’s moral failings while overlooking the fact that the Fireflies were preparing to kill an unconscious fourteen-year-old girl without her knowledge or consent.

Imagine removing Joel from the equation entirely.

Imagine waking Ellie up and telling her the truth:

“This operation will create a cure, but it will kill you.”

If she then says yes, that’s her choice.

It’s tragic, but it’s hers.

That scenario preserves her agency.

What the Fireflies planned to do does not.

The tragedy of The Last of Us isn’t that Joel took Ellie’s choice away.

It’s that Ellie never got one in the first place.

And that’s why I’ve never been able to view Joel as the villain of the story.

Flawed? Absolutely.

Selfish? Without question.

Human? Entirely.

But the idea that he is somehow worse than the people who were willing to kill an unconscious child without her consent has never made sense to me.

Not when Ellie herself was never given the dignity of choosing her own fate.