How does The Last of Us game end?

Naughty Dogs The last of us may be one of gaming’s biggest blockbusters, but it’s safe to say it’s HBO The last of us TV series introduced the celebrated, controversial story of the zombie epic to a whole new audience. And at least some of that audience is wondering, “How does this all end?”

If you were five meters from a video game in 2013, you might have a feeling this is the case The last of us tells a story whose ending has caused considerable debate. You might be curious as to where all this drama is coming from. Or maybe after watching the first episode you’re not sure if you want to sign up for something that might say Joel’s new surrogate die. Or maybe you just want to know what you’re getting into and gobble up spoilers as a matter of course.

So before we just tell you what happens in the end The last of us (2013), let’s talk about the reasons you might actually want to go out in the cold.

The case of not spoiling the ending of The Last of Us explained without spoilers

Joel and Elli stand on a staircase and look down on a corpse

The end of The last of us is clear in content, contains a crystal clear sequence of events and motivations – and at the same time leaves room for each player to form their own opinion about it. It requires reactions and discussions and “X was right” essays and “No, you psychopath, X was wrong” rebuttals.

Whether the end of The last of us Whether it is a real twist ending is questionable. But it’s an ending that firmly recontextualizes the kind of story there is The last of us is. Polygon staffers who’ve played the game can attest: Knowing the ending in advance definitely influences how you react to the show.

In case you don’t know the end of The last of us and don’t necessarily want to know what’s happening, we advise you not to look it up. Experience the story as it was intended and enjoy (responsibly) the rich open-ended questions it offers!

I just need to know if Ellie or Joel die!

Yes, that’s legit. Sometimes you just have to know what you’re getting into – the death of the parent figure and the death of the child, especially in such a violent story, are heavy emotions! and The last of us has many infant deaths to offer (and not just the horrific one in its first episode). Scroll past the image and we’ll let you know.

[Ed. note: The rest of this piece contains incrementally increasing spoilers for The Last of Us (2013).]

pedro pascal crouching, bella ramsey at his side

Neither Joel nor Ellie die in the end The last of us (2013).

Can you just tell me the tone of the ending?

Just want to know if it’s an uptrend or a downtrend? Scroll again.

Ellie and Tess crouch across from each other in the grass that has overgrown a derelict building as light falls from above in HBO's The Last of Us.

In all honesty, this is one of the most hotly debated elements of the ending of The last of us (2013). Your mileage may vary, but expect your feelings to be mixed.

OMG just tell me the ending of The Last of Us

You got it, boss.

Pedro Pascal as Joel holds up a flashlight in a moldy dark room on the HBO show The Last of Us

In the final act of The last of us (2013), Joel and an unconscious Ellie arrive in Salt Lake City after many brutal adventures, and Ellie is immediately admitted for treatment. Marlene, unaware that Joel might develop fatherly feelings for the child he was hired to smuggle, tells Joel that the only way to create a cure is to cut out part of Ellie’s brain, which will kill her . This will be the kickoff for The last of us‘ Final battle sequence.

Joel slaughters everyone in the Firefly lab and carries Ellie out of the building. While the player kills many characters throughout the game through Joel, the finale struggles to underscore it This Rampage as something afterlife. And to be clear, unlike other RPGs, Joel’s actions are not left to the player’s choice – the only way to continue the game is to control Joel as he executes doctors begging for their lives and Marlene shoots him in cold blood, and then lies to Ellie about it.

When Ellie finally wakes up and asks what happened and why they are traveling away from the Firefly base, Joel feeds her a complete fabrication and convinces her that the Firefly scientists had already discovered that individual immunity cannot cure, and such he had taken her away without incident. Joel and Ellie return to the Sanctuary together when the game ends, leaving the fate of humanity and the morality of Joel’s decision to the player’s imagination.

It’s an ending that reshapes Joel and Ellie’s game-long journey from a hopeful quest to save the world to something darker and more personal. It’s a twist in the sense that unexpected things are revealed (Ellie would have to die for a cure; the cure isn’t made), but the revelations weren’t what fueled the discussion. There are many different ways to think about the events at the end of The last of us – that Joel was wrong and his actions were reprehensible. That Joel’s actions were reprehensible, but he did it for love. That roping the player into his rampage was egregious or poor game design. Or just that everyone else overreacted to a pretty funny video game that had an exciting story about killing zombies and cultists and stuff.

But it is the execution of the end The last of us made sure that all these feelings were strongly felt. And where there are strong feelings, there are endless conversations and eventually people who want to google to see what everyone is talking about.