Stuff like this is why I always assumed the Fireflies are full of shit at the end of The Last of Us and had no idea how to make a cure and were just going to murder a person for nothing. I assumed that was the intended reading, but maybe it's just a splash of bad writing in an otherwise brilliantly written game and show?
https://slate.com/culture/2023/03/last-us-finale-hbo-season-1-vaccine-ending.html
@othermaciej I found the final episode disappointing. One of the ongoing themes of The Last of Us is that there's good in the worst of us and bad in the best of us. And then the Fireflies are revealed as basically Nazis, with the soldiering incompetency of Star Wars stormtroopers.
@mitchw that’s how it reads to me but I don’t think that’s how it is intended! I think the writers, the Fireflies, and Joel all believe there is a sure shot at a cure that requires immediate murder. It’s seemingly intended to be a trolley problem scenario, not a depiction of utter depravity or lunatic recklessness. At least, that’s the impression I got from the second game and from the delta between the first game and the show.
@othermaciej I’m not familiar with the games, only the show.
@othermaciej @jwz I always read it as ‘Joel’s past trauma in regards to losing his daughter causes him to make a selfish decision.’
@sleepy @jwz think that’s the authorial intent (though perhaps the more nuanced: “he would sacrifice the world for the one he loves, and does”. I think it’s meant to be objectively true and specifically actually believed by Joel.
But it’s not very well supported by the actual cure scenario, which makes it seem more like he’s rescuing his loved one from deranged quacks.
@othermaciej @jwz I haven’t watched the show. It’s been years since I played the original. Never played the second. Kinda done with misery porn.
I don't understand why they didn't shave her head for brain surgery. Even if they're going to kill her, why contaminate the samples with hair?
@othermaciej I thought the exact same thing! "Let's cut this girls brain out and start from there"?
#TLOU finale spoilers
@othermaciej Seems like they made it as explicit as they could (without descending into self-parody) that the surviving non-infected humans are more like stereotypical zombies than the infected ones. Who really wants braaaaains?
I wish Marlene had been portrayed as a patsy, instead of committed to sacrificing Ellie for such dubious reasons.