Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 9.The Last of Us episode 9 contains many shocking moments, with the majority of them centering on the character of Joel. As The Last of Us episode 9 opens, Joel and Ellie have finally made it to Salt Lake City months after their encounter with David. As a result of those experiences, Bella Ramsey's Ellie is much quieter than usual, with both her and Joel's end goals growing ever closer.
After finding the Fireflies, The Last of Us episode 9 delivers its first major twist. Marlene explains that the lead surgeon of the Fireflies thinks he can synthesize a cure from Ellie, but she would have to die as a result. Given the fear established in The Last of Us episode 6 about Joel's "failures" to protect Sarah, the finale of HBO's adaptation takes on even more turns before its runtime is over. Many of these shocking moments come from Joel's subsequent actions, which round out The Last of Us' season finale in spectacular fashion.
Why Joel Killed All The Fireflies
The first shocking moment from Joel comes with his massacre of the Fireflies. After being told what needs to happen to Ellie, Marlene orders two men to walk Joel out to the highway, so he cannot cause any trouble. However, Joel - who has already committed to saving Ellie's life - kills his two captives. He then uses their weapons and goes on a murderous rampage through the hospital in order to reach Ellie. The scene is portrayed with a strangely beautiful horror, with repeated shots of Joel's feet moving through the hospital surrounded by dead Fireflies accompanied by Gustavo Santaolalla's fantastic score.
Given how The Last of Us episode 8's ending established how dangerous Joel can truly be, The Last of Us episode 9 doubles down. Joel works his way through the hospital in firefight after firefight before making it to the surgical suite. Upon entering, Joel orders the surgeon to unhook Ellie. After he refuses, Joel kills the surgeon. He then leaves with Ellie, leaving behind the countless dead Fireflies in his wake. Joel decides to kill the Fireflies due to his newfound love for Ellie. After losing Sarah and becoming a cold, broken man, Ellie brought him back. In his reluctance to lose another daughter, Joel massacred the Fireflies.
Why Joel Killed Marlene
The next shocking moment of The Last of Us episode 9 comes when Marlene corners Joel in the hospital parking garage. After asking Joel and Tess to take Ellie to the Fireflies in The Last of Us episode 1's ending, Joel and Marlene's story comes full circle. After Marlene pleads with Joel to rethink his decision, Joel shockingly shoots her. He then returns to finish her off after seeing Marlene still alive as he says "You'd just come after her." The scene is brutal and showcases the dark depths Joel will go to in order to protect those he loves.
The reason behind why Joel kills Marlene is evident in his final words to her. While he could have let her live, Joel's reasoning for killing Marlene is to protect the future he has planned with Ellie. Joel is aware that, if Marlene survives, she could regroup with any Fireflies left across the country, potentially find another surgeon, and come looking for Ellie. In a bid to prevent this, Joel kills every Firefly present in the hospital, including Marlene.
Why Joel Lied To Ellie About The Hospital
With an adaptation of The Last of Us Part II on the horizon, the final shocking moment from Joel comes in the final few sequences of the season 1 finale to set up future stories. After escaping the hospital, Ellie wakes and asks Joel what happens. Joel lies to her, telling her that the Fireflies stopped looking for a cure after other immune people began showing up. He says that a group of raiders attacked the hospital shortly after, and they barely escaped with their lives.
In the very last scene of The Last of Us episode 9, Ellie asks Joel to swear that he was telling the truth about the hospital. Joel doubles down with little to no hesitation, swearing that he did not lie to Ellie. This stems from Joel knowing how selfish his decision was. Despite being overwhelmingly understandable due to how the show has portrayed Pedro Pascal's Joel and his character arc, Joel murdering the Fireflies, stopping the chance at a cure, and taking the choice away from Ellie is incredibly self-centered. Joel knows this and is aware that Ellie would resent him if she knew the truth.
Ellie's survivor's guilt over Cordyceps, stemming from the deaths of Tess, Sam, and most importantly Riley, have caused her to resent her own immunity. Given her comments earlier in The Last of Us episode 9 about finishing what she and Joel started, it is clear Ellie is committed to finding a cure in order to ease her survivor's guilt, absolve her of the things she has done to reach this point alive, and avenge the deaths of her loved ones. Joel is fully aware of this and lies to Ellie to protect their relationship, something that will have big ramifications going into The Last of Us season 2.