The Last of Us: Meaning Behind Ellie's Final Line Explained

HBO has finally released all of the episodes for their live action adaptation of The Last of Us and it's a big hit with audiences.  The Last of Us not only opened with bigger numbers than House of the Dragon on the HBO Max streaming service, it has continued to be a hit week after week. HBO has already renewed the series for a second season that Pedro Pascal has teased that they will begin filming sometime this year and it was also will also adapt the second game throughout multiple seasons. Fans have been discussing The Last of Us finale so much and the big discussion between Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and now the people behind the episode have revealed exactly what it means. During the latest episode of The Last of Us podcast, Ashley Johnson, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explained what Ellie's "okay" meant.

"I don't feel like it's either. You know, and this also sets up the rest of their story in [The Last of Us] Part II. I think she sees that he's lying. And the 'Okay' is like, 'Alright, we're done. You're not being truthful with me and I can't trust you. Like, I love you but this was one thing that my life would have mattered and I could have maybe made a difference somehow. And that's taken away from me now. And like, who I am now? Like I don't know this person that I've gone on this journey with, that I care so much about, is choosing to lie about something so huge.' And Ellie… like her b******t detector is the best," Johnson revealed. "She knows he's lying. She feels it. She doesn't know the extent of it. But somethings off. So it's like it's not choosing to believe the lie, or it's just like, 'Okay, the rest of our relationship is gonna be a little different."

"I feel watching Pedro [Pascal] and Bella [Ramsey], the same thing that I felt watching you and Troy [Baker]. And that is, I'm not sure if Ellie is saying, 'Okay. You're lying to me, and I'm just going to hand wave it away and move on.' Or if she's saying, 'Okay. You're lying to me and now we're forever changed in a negative way.' Or is she saying, You're lying, but you just told me you're not lying, and it's incredibly important to you, and I love you. And I'm going to say 'Okay, I'm just going to decide to not dwell in the lie.' Or is she so terrified that what she's suggesting happened happened, that she wants to believe him because the alternative is terrifying to her. It can be any of those things. But, that's why I love it. I mean, for a guy that was constantly calling Neil, saying, 'What if Bill and Frank had a life together?  What if Sam were deaf? What if it was Kansas City? What if? What if? What if? What if?' And this time I was like 'No, no, no. And then he's going to say the thing, and she's going to say okay because that's correct.'" Mazin added.

You can check out their full explanation in the video linked above. 

Craig Mazin, the Emmy-winning creator of HBO's Chernobyl, produced The Last of Us alongside Druckmann, the creator behind the hit video game series. In an interview earlier this year, the writer said The Last of Us is the "greatest" video game story ever told. "It's an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games," Mazin said in an interview with Empire Magazine. "[Joel and Ellie] didn't shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I've been playing video games since 1977."

Joining Pascal (Joel) and Ramsey (Ellie) include Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence. Original game stars Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, having played the part of Ellie and Joel in both video games, are also set to appear.

All episodes of The Last of Us are now streaming on HBO Max. The show's first season is set to last nine episodes in total with new episodes rolling out on a weekly basis.

What do you think about their comments? What did you think about The Last of Us finale? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!