Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 1 of The Last of UsHBO’s The Last of Us has added so many little details to the story to make the world feel even more real and fleshed out than it was in its game counterpart. From creating new side characters like Kathleen (Melanie Lynksey) to expanding on existing ones like David (Scott Shepherd), the show is dedicated to showcasing as many dimensions of these characters as possible. And nowhere is this more apparent than with Joel (Pedro Pascal). Already a phenomenal character in the games, the show takes Joel to the next level by giving us a better look at his mental health. It was clear Joel had trauma in the game — having seen his daughter die before his eyes and struggling to live through the apocalypse without her would be near impossible for most people, but he does it. And The Last of Us doesn’t shy away from showing us just how much this has impacted Joel. Seeing these vulnerable aspects of him and unpacking his mental health not only makes Joel a stronger character, it also helps us unpack his ultimate decision at the end of Season 1.

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Did Joel Do the Right Thing in 'The Last of Us' Season 1 Finale?

Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, carrying Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, in her hospital gown in Episode 9 of The Last of Us
Image via HBO

There’s been years of debate around whether Joel did the “right thing” by saving Ellie (Bella Ramsey), but in many ways that line of questioning has always been unhelpful. Joel’s decision is ultimately a result of the life he’s lived and the morals he’s come to form. He now sees Ellie as his chance at redemption and truly as the thing that changed his life and gave him a reason to keep going. His actions in the finale should be viewed more through the lens of characterization than morality if we’re to understand what it truly means for Joel and Ellie.

For months, Joel was single-mindedly trying to get Ellie to the Fireflies and fulfill his final obligation to Tess (Anna Torv). But over those months he and Ellie grew to care for each other, and through all the mishaps and bodies left behind them, they came out the other side seeing each other as family. Ellie tells Joel she’ll follow him anywhere once they fulfill their task, and up until he discovers this will cost her life, he’s prepared to let her see it through. But for Joel it’s not so simple as weighing one life versus the world. For one, Joel’s never really been someone to care about the world much in the first place. Even beyond that, he has no reason to believe these people can actually make a cure. They say they can, but Joel’s not someone to easily trust people on words alone. It’s not to say he was right to kill the Fireflies, just that from his point of view, this situation was quite black and white. He had no right to make that decision for Ellie, but Marlene and the Fireflies never asked her opinion either, so Joel acted on what he believed was his only option. And unpacking the details of his mental health shown this season helps us see why.

Joel’s Mental State Throughout 'The Last of Us' Paints a Clear Picture

Pedro Pascal as Joel in the last of us episode 9
Image via HBO

What exactly Joel suffers from isn’t exactly something you can get a medical diagnosis for in the midst of the apocalypse, but we see hints of his struggle from the very first episode. After trying to get info on Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and failing, Joel drowns his sorrows in pills and alcohol before passing out, already showing strong signs that things are not okay — but as the season goes on, we see this struggle goes far beyond unhealthy coping mechanisms. He struggles with sleeping, either failing to fall asleep or sleeping too late, and in Episode 6, "Kin" he reveals this stems from the fact he’s been suffering from nightmares. He tells Tommy he’s having horrible dreams as a result of the guilt he feels about failing his daughter that’s now resurfaced as he feels he’s failing Ellie. His sense of responsibility weighs on him heavily, and it manifests in panic attacks that cause him to lose control and focus as his vision, hearing, and breathing all go out of whack. Joel is clearly a man who is not okay.

Joel's mental health troubles go even deeper with him revealing the source of the scar on his forehead in Episode 9. It was self-inflicted shortly after the outbreak. After losing Sara, his world was basically over, and he saw no reason to go on. So Joel attempted to take his own life. He said he was ready. But he flinched and, thankfully, failed, but it’s clear the feelings that drove him to it are still raging inside him. The guilt and anger and depression that drove him to such extremes will not go away easily.

Ellie Is Joel’s Family Now

Pedro Pascal as Joel hugging Ellie with Sarah's watch on in The Last of Us
Image via HBO

As much as Joel fears for his influence over Ellie, she’s also been an undeniable force of change for him. He had to start caring again, whether he wanted to or not. And before he knew it, he’d shifted back into dad mode. We see how much Ellie has positively affected him on their walk through Salt Lake City as he jokes and offers to teach her guitar. It’s the most lively we’ve seen him since before the apocalypse, and it’s because Ellie gave him a new purpose, a new family. But that’s all ripped away without any warning, and just like the first time Joel lost a daughter, he just kind of shuts down and acts. The whole sequence where he mows down the fireflies has a muffled soundscape, similar to when Joel had his panic attacks earlier in the season, and it shows that these actions he’s taking have a similar sort of detachment to them. He’s single-mindedly focused on saving Ellie like he couldn’t do for Sara. He’s found his first glimpse of happiness in years, and he’s spent months fighting off everything that dared to touch a hair on Ellie’s head, so he acts in the only way he knows how: fighting back to save her. It’s not right, and it might not even be good, but understanding Joel, his thought processes, and his traumas puts his actions in a much more understandable and nuanced perspective than whether saving Ellie was simply right or wrong.

Joel isn’t a hero, and The Last of Us never claims that he is. He really is just a deeply troubled and traumatized man grappling for purpose or meaning in a world seemingly devoid of it. Seeing his struggles throughout the season with the weight of his actions and what may come to pass, we understand that Ellie dying while he can do nothing to stop it has become his greatest fear. More than his supposed negative influence on her, more than the horrible things he’s done, Joel fears that he’ll fail to save his kid again. To him, the loftier moral dilemma is meaningless because his world will end the second Ellie’s life does. And he can’t lose everything again.

Exploring Joel’s mental health has been an effective way to flesh out his character more throughout this first season of The Last of Us. But it also plays a fundamental role in helping us understand Joel’s actions in the finale, even if we disagree with them. We’ve been told what happened to Joel when he lost a daughter the first time. It nearly drove him to suicide and left him in a 20-year depression. Losing Ellie would send him right back to rock bottom. Joel is a broken man in a broken world who’s clinging to the little bit of meaning he has left. Joel’s mental health is — understandably — a mess, and we can sympathize with him a lot more when we come to understand the world through his eyes.

All episodes of The Last of Us are currently available on HBO Max.

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