THE LAST OF US- THE ENDING
The Last of Us was an unforgettable journey from start to finish, with countless unforgettable moments. But the one that really sticks with you is the ending. The game subverts all explicit and implicit audience interactions to reveal to you, the player, that you have in fact been playing as the villain all along- at least from the perspective of humanity at large. But what makes it as awesome as it is is the fact that The Last of Us never makes a big deal of it either. The bond between Joel and Ellie is the centerpiece of the story it tells, and the fact that Joel decides to save Ellie – while jeopardizing the future of the entire human race and heartlessly murdering scores of people in the process – makes perfect sense, in spite of how horrible it really is. It’s by no means a happy ending, it’s unconventional, and it makes the player uncomfortable about what Joel, a man we have been rooting for throughout the game, does and turns into. But that is exactly what makes it work.
