As fans prepare for HBO's The Last of Us to air in 2023, many are returning to the original game series to see what they can expect to see in the show. With the recent September 2nd remaster, The Last of Us Part I, they have been given the perfect opportunity to enjoy the game just the way they remember it.
But what most are enjoying from the series is the relationship between Ellie and Joel. Their friendship carries the game and provides the emotional link that has kept fans intrigued for nearly a decade. The best interactions between Joel and Ellie really helped to make the game what it was.
Introductions
When Joel meets Ellie, he isn't expecting to have to carry living cargo across the country. While it wasn't a moment that saw the two bonding, it was an essential interaction in their relationship. After all, Ellie had the chance to see what Joel was like at his worst.
With Joel holding Ellie at arm's length, the two struggle to get along, and it's why their initial interactions are so difficult. Yet it's exactly that growth that makes their friendship as great as it is. They didn't always get along, and they had to work at it, which made their bond strong, and it's why they're the best main characters.
Death of Sam
It seemed like Joel and Ellie had finally made long-term allies when they met Sam and Henry. They worked together well, and they felt like kindred spirits. After all, even if Henry abandoned Joel and Ellie, they were two pairs of people desperate to protect each other.
Sam and Henry were some of the best characters in The Last of Us, and their death proved to both Joel and Ellie that they couldn't get attached. It was the two of them against the world, and Joel was willing to do anything to protect Ellie. It also helped to foreshadow just how difficult it would be for Joel to live without Ellie, just as it was impossible for Henry to live without Sam.
Ellie Saves Joel
For most of the first half of the game, Joel was working to protect Ellie from the major threats in their world. So when it was Ellie's turn to take responsibility for him, it was a moment that proved just how attached she was to him. After all, she was a little girl left to save a man from a horde of enemies and a major injury.
It was one of the most shocking moments from The Last of Us, and Ellie had absolutely no way to prepare for it. With no one to defend her, it was a moment where she had to grow up. Ellie had a hard life, but no moment was harder than when she was guiding an injured Joel and desperately trying to keep her only friend alive.
Ellie Whistling
While many moments between Ellie and Joel are incredibly dark, there is a sweet moment in the game where Ellie desperately tries to figure out how to whistle. While many players may find themselves surprised, thinking the sound if coming from a new sort of infected, the second Ellie figures it out, she gets excited.
While it's a minor moment, it's one that betrays Ellie's childish nature. She's still learning to enjoy the world, and that openhearted willingness to try new things and have fun helps to open Joel's heart again. While he hardly enjoys the sound, he doesn't tell her to stop, and that reveals his good nature too.
Keeping Joel Alive In Winter
Not only did Ellie save Joel at the university, but she also managed to keep him from succumbing to his injury or infection. She managed to negotiate for medication, hunt for food, put together a shelter, and keep Joel warm even in the depths of winter.
While it's an unpopular opinion, Ellie shouldn't have been able to keep Joel alive through it all. It's why it was so impressive that she managed it alone and even managed to bring Joel back from the brink. She could have died protecting him, but she risked it all the same, just because she cared for him.
Joel Lies To Ellie
After saving Ellie from the fireflies and slaughtering them along the way, Joel led Ellie back to Jackson and safety. Yet, just before they reached the city, Ellie stopped him to ask what happened with the Fireflies, and Joel chose to lie through his teeth.
It felt like a moment where the series went too far. After all, Ellie was clearly indicating that she was trying to trust Joel, before he lied. It damaged their relationship, but fans spent years debating whether she believed him. The moment was one of their best interactions, because it proved that — no matter how much they care for each other — their affection could become extremely damaging.
Carrying Ellie Away From David
In her darkest moment, Ellie had to kill one of the worst villains in The Last of Us while a restaurant was burning around them. It was a life-or-death moment, and while Joel was on the way, Ellie had no way of knowing that help was coming. She needed to keep herself safe, and it was the first time she had to kill a human being so brutally.
While Joel got there, he was too late, and he had to drag Ellie away. Yet it was her reaction that made the moment oddly touching. When she turned around and accepted that Joel was really there, it was a genuine moment. She trusted him and relied on his presence to keep it together, as he tried to drag them out.
The Car Scene
After getting a car and getting away from Bill, Joel is busy driving when he looks over and realizes that Ellie is awake and reading comic books in the car. It's interesting largely because Ellie actively steals from Bill, and Joel doesn't bother lecturing her in the slightest. She brings a good energy to the man, especially once she finds Bill's magazines.
It's a sweet moment between the two that helps establish Ellie as more than just a sidekick. She's a well-developed character just like Joel is, and it's a big reason Ellie is so beloved by the fanbase. She's a sweet kid with a good nature and interests of her own.
In The House
When Ellie finds out that Joel is planning to leave her behind, she runs off without a word and waits for Joel to come look for her. After discovering a diary, she emphasizes how ridiculous the old world was, driving a wedge between herself and Joel, given that he had lived through it.
The confrontation that the two have is the reason that Joel sticks with her. She makes it clear that she is not Joel's daughter, and it's a conversation they needed. Ellie establishes herself as more than a simple replacement, and one who has wants and needs of her own. It makes her a person in Joel's eyes, and it's the reason he came to love her as a new daughter, not a replacement for his first.
The Giraffes
The single greatest scene between Joel and Ellie came at the tail end of the game when the pair were planning to meet with the Fireflies for the first time. After everything they had been through, the two came across a field filled with giraffes, and it was the first beacon of hope they encountered.
It was a moment that really helped prove to Joel that, despite it all, Ellie was still a child and still deserved the chance to enjoy her childhood. She wasn't any different from other kids — from Joel's own daughter — and it's the main reason Joel decided to save her. He didn't need to do it, but that moment gave him more than enough cause.