The Last of Us creator finally answers if Joel was right to save Ellie

Was Joel right? It’s a question that still divides The Last of Us fans to this day, especially after HBO’s adaptation – but the game’s creator has already picked a side.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres in less than two weeks. For those who haven’t played the game, it’s one of the most exciting TV releases of 2025.

Those who have are right to be anxious: Part 2 is one of the best and intensely divisive games ever made.

Before the show reintroduces that discourse to the masses, one question still splits fans: was Joel right to save Ellie, or should he have let the Fireflies’ doctor kill her for the greater good?

Neil Druckmann says Joel was right in The Last of Us

HBO

In the Season 1 finale of The Last of Us (and the first game), it’s revealed that the operation to develop a vaccine from Ellie’s immunity will be fatal. Joel refuses to see the bigger picture, and with little hesitation, he carries out a floor-by-floor massacre.

He murders the doctor, kills Marlene – “You’d just come after her,” he says, coldly, before pulling the trigger – and lies to Ellie about the whole thing.

In an interview with IGN, Druckmann admitted, “I believe Joel was right. If I were in Joel’s position, I hope I would be able to do what he did to save my daughter.

“It’s a difference between, okay, if I had to kill a random person to save who knows how many lives, in the abstract, you would say, well, yeah, that makes sense, of course. But now, remove it from being a random person and it’s your kid. Now the answer is very different.”

Craig Mazin, the series’ co-showrunner, said: “That’s so interesting, because I think that if I were in Joel’s position, I probably would have done what he did.

“But I’d like to think that I wouldn’t. That’s the interesting push and pull of the morality of it. And that’s why the ending of the first game is so provocative and so wonderful. It just doesn’t let you off the hook as a player.

“People get to the end of The Last of Us and there is that question, what would you do? What should you do if faced with the opportunity to save the world, if you sacrifice your child. That goes back to Abraham and Isaac. It’s so profound. The notion of sacrifice to save the world.”

Before it premieres on April 13, find out why the title of Episode 1 could be a big spoiler, Season 2’s big change to Abby, and check out all of the biggest TV shows arriving in 2025.