Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 5, and The Last of Us Part II.
In gets the drop on Nora, and interrogates her for Abby’s location. The episode introduces spores in its cold open just to set up the circumstances for Ellie’s brutal interrogation. While Nora is dying from a spore infection, Ellie is taking deep breaths and feeling fine.
Just like in the game, Nora pleads with Ellie to consider what Joel did and understand that, from their perspective, he deserved retribution. She tells Ellie that Joel murdered everyone in the hospital and deprived humanity of a cure, but Ellie reveals that she already knows that. Throughout the season, whenever Ellie’s rift with Joel has come up, she’s coyly suggested that she doesn’t know how their relationship got so sour, or what he did to feel such remorse. But now, it turns out she knew all along. So, how did she find out?
Ellie Reveals To Nora That She Knows What Joel Did To The Fireflies In The Last Of Us Season 1
Nora Assumes Ellie Doesn't Know The Whole Story
What makes the story of The Last of Us Part II video game so compelling is that there are no heroes and villains; there is no strict delineation between right and wrong. Every character sees themselves as the hero. The Fireflies were going to kill Ellie without her consent to extract a cure, so Joel, in his own words, “saved her.” In doing so, he killed Abby’s dad, so she tracked down Joel and beat him to death to avenge her late father. Three months after that, Ellie set off to serve “justice” for Joel’s murder.
Not only does Ellie know Joel massacred the Fireflies and that’s why they wanted revenge; it doesn’t change anything for her.
When Ellie has Abby’s friend Nora cornered in the hospital basement, dying from a gruesome coughing fit as she breathes in spores, Nora tries to present her perspective. Since Ellie was unconscious during the Salt Lake City massacre, Nora assumes she doesn’t know the whole story — and, since the show hasn’t confirmed otherwise, we as an audience suspect she doesn’t know the whole story. But then, she blankly tells Nora, “I know,” and adds, “I don’t care.” Not only does Ellie know Joel massacred the Fireflies and that’s why they wanted revenge; it doesn’t change anything for her.
How Ellie Found Out About Joel Killing The Fireflies In The Last Of Us Part 2 Game
Ellie Went Back To The Fireflies' Hospital To Learn The Truth
In the video game, Ellie’s vengeful rampage through Seattle is broken up by a few crucial flashbacks to the last few years of Joel and Ellie’s relationship. The first flashback shows them happy together shortly after arriving in Jackson. The second one shows Ellie growing distant as her distrust of Joel slowly gnaws away at her. The third one reveals that, some time before the events of the story, she ran away from Jackson, went back to the hospital in Salt Lake City, and dug up enough evidence to learn the truth.
The Last of Us airs new episodes on HBO and Max every Sunday.
The player gets to explore what’s left at the hospital. The surviving Fireflies have long since abandoned their base, but they left behind some documents (and plenty of spilled blood). Ellie finds scans of her own brain, notes about the procedure that could extract a cure, and, most crucially, a voice recording from one of the other doctors. When Joel finds her there, Ellie forces him to tell her the whole story, after which she feels so betrayed that she vows to end their friendship and never speak to him again, finally contextualizing their mysterious rift.
How Long Has Ellie Known The Truth About Joel Saving Her Life?
The Flashback Takes Place Two Years Before The Main Story
In the game, this flashback takes place two years before the main story. But the game also has a four-year time jump, while the TV show has a five-year time jump. So, The Last of Us season 2 might change the flashback timeline.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
Joel Miller
Ellie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
- Franchise(s)
- The Last of Us
- Creator(s)
- Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Your comment has not been saved