Warning! Spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 finale!

The Last of Us season 2 focused on Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) quest for revenge against Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) following her murder of Joel (Pedro Pascal). A vote to follow Abby to Seattle is brought before the council, only for it to fail. Ellie goes against this and sets out to kill Abby with Dina (Isabela Merced). In the season 2 finale, Jesse reveals that he voted against Ellie's plan to protect the people of Jackson.

In a press conference attended by ScreenRant, Druckmann and Mazin were asked about Jesse's vote and how the character is seemingly always in opposition to Ellie in the show, compared to being more easygoing in the game. Druckmann denies that Jesse is different from his video game counterpart and believes that Jesse would vote to protect Jackson, something Joel would have likely done as well. Mazin believes Jesse to be a natural leader and notes that the show does lean more into Jesse being an Eagle Scout-type character. Check out their full response below:

Druckmann: I wouldn’t describe him that way in the game. I think in our conversations of how Jesse voted, we both under the same kind of notion, yeah, he would vote to protect Jackson, because Jesse is more about the larger community, at least the community he belongs to, not the community of mankind, than about the individual, or again, this pursuit of justice to just seem to the more practical characters, very impractical, like very unnecessary. There's some overlap there between Jesse and Joel, because I believe in similar circumstances, Joel would have voted the same way.

Mazin: I loved how much of an Eagle Scout Jesse was, and I loved how in the show, we make a bit more of a deal. I mean, put him on the council and all that, but we make a bigger deal that that Jesse is considered the heir apparent, he will be the Maria one day, he's going to run all of this. And that naturally makes us ire him. It makes us want to be like him. He feels like the ideal person, as opposed to Ellie, who's rolling around in the shabby material of her own fears and impulses.

But what I love about this last episode, and particularly that moment where Ellie and Jesse confront each other, when she finds out how he voted, she makes a point that I think is so solid that I start to think, oh, yeah, so there goes another hero, because she's right. It's not that what she's doing is right, but his belief that he is moral is so challengeable and it is so arbitrary that I am moral and upstanding and sacrificial to people as long as they're on the inside of this wooden fence, but if they're outside the wooden fence, I'll just let them die, even if they're a kid. And I love that, because no one in life really is an Eagle Scout, except for the actual Eagle Scout.

What This Means For The Last Of Us

The Show Is Filled With Moral Dilemmas

Following Joel's death in The Last of Us, it is easy for the viewer to be on Ellie's side. She's right to want revenge, and the council voting to not follow Abby is a gut punch. However, Jesse's reveal that he voted against pursuing Abby also makes sense. As Mazin points out, Jesse's morality only extends so far as "if they're outside the wooden fence, I'll just let them die."

The audience gets to align with whatever character they think has the right point of view, but both sides are clearly laid out.

A strength of The Last of Us allows the viewer to see and empathize with different sides of an argument. An earlier example came in season 2, episode 6, when Joel lies to Gail (Catherine O'Hara) about her husband's death, saying he took his own life after being bit, when in reality Joel shot him. Ellie is appalled and calls Joel out. The audience gets to align with whatever character they think has the right point of view, but both sides are clearly laid out. The same can be said for Jesse voting against pursuing Abby, despite Ellie's feelings about Joel.

Our Take On Jesse's Decision

Jesse Does What He Thinks Is Best

As Jesse is depicted more as an "Eagle Scout" than he is in the game, his choice to vote against Ellie is understandable. Ellie can be a very reactive character, having her emotions drive her decisions. However, as seen in The Last of Us season 2 finale, her actions can have dire consequences, as she accidentally kills a pregnant Mel (Ariela Barer). Beyond the parasitic fungal infection that led to a post-apocalyptic world, what makes The Last of Us engaging is the morality each character has to face.