Alright so now that The Last of Us series has kicked off on HBO, it’s only fitting
for us to dive in on the rugged, “closed off from the world” main character of Joel
Miller.
Episode 1 of the series gives us a brief introduction, but we’re going to fill in his backstory,
what his future has in store, and why he’s a morally gray character we can't help but
love.
Obviously spoilers for the game and potential ones for the series, so if you don't want
to be infected with “Spore”-ers, then sneak off now.
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Jared, now let’s get into The Last of Us.
So episode 1 of the series does a pretty good job of establishing much of what we learn
about Joel from the games, aside from a brief timeline change of 10 years.
Joel was born and raised in Arlington Texas, growing up alongside his brother Tommy, with
the two later moving to Austin Texas.
Austin having a large live music scene, Joel found a passion for music, playing the guitar
and once saying he even aspired to be a singer.
However some of his life plans were interrupted when he married an unnamed woman and together
had their daughter Sarah.
With the stress of young parenthood, Joel unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity
to attend college, and the same stresses caused him and his wife to separate.
Surprisingly this no-name woman is never revealed, but instead Joel takes over as main caregiver
for Sarah, being a single father for most of her life.
The two lived an average suburban life, with Joel working construction jobs.
He even had dreams of starting his own construction business later on with various building plans
and books scattered about his office.
However, he had some difficulties balancing work and life, usually coming home later,
and one time was overheard struggling to keep a contracting job.
Despite life’s struggles, he always found time for Sarah, whether it be late night movie
watching or attending her weekend Soccer games.
The night of Joel’s birthday, 32nd in the game, and I believe 36th in the series, Sarah
gifted him a new watch to replace his old broken one.
This later becomes a treasured memento to Joel because of what happens on Outbreak day.
Of which starts with their neighbor Jimmy acting a bit strange, and then escalating
to the full on outbreak we know.
During this night though, Sarah, Joel, and Tommy try to escape Austin, only to be caught
in a horde of infected.
Leading to Joel and Sarah escaping, but a major turning point of Joel’s life occurs,
when a military officer thinks they are infected, shooting them, resulting in Sarah being mortally
wounded.
Joel loses the one person he truly loved, and only the watch to remember her by.
That’s why he fondly looks at it later on, even though it is broken.
Now this is where the 20 year time jump happens, and much of Joel’s early life is a mystery.
Though through brief conversations and other people we meet along the way, there is a general
idea of the character Joel was during this time.
Shortly after Sarah’s death, Joel contemplated ending his own life, after seeing the chaos
of what this new world held.
But instead chose to survive, fighting alongside his brother Tommy.
However in order to survive, this took the two down a dark path of torturing and deceiving
countless innocent people, essentially becoming a hunter.
These were parasitic bandits that threw any sort of moral code out the window, using any
sort of trickery tactics to ambush others, for their own gain and survival.
Joel was able to smuggle the pair into Boston, where Joel spent most of his days until he
was eventually paired up with Ellie.
Though after years of seeing nightmares day in and day out, Tommy leaves Joel for the
Fireflies, very much differing with Joel’s ideas of survival.
The fallout between the pair was pretty serious with "I don't ever wanna see your goddamned
face again!"
being the last thing Tommy said to Joel before heading off to Wyoming.
Joel continued his days as a lone brutal survivor, riding that morally gray line, descending
more and more into darkness, eventually meeting a woman named Tess.
Joel seems to care about her a fair amount, and the pair took on the role of smugglers
for the Boston quarantine zone.
Smuggling brought on a reputation as a man to fear, forming relationships with other
sketchy people, again only to survive another day.
According to Neil Druckman, the writer of the two Last of Us games, a lot of inspiration
for the Joel character was borrowed from Josh Brolin’s character of Moss from 2007’s
No Country For Old Men.
He noted that his “very quiet, very cool under pressure” traits helped build the
core of Joel.
While voice actor Troy Baker built in more emotional elements to help show how this character
evolves from heartbroken father, to devious smuggler, into something that is a bit of
a mixture.
This quiet, morally gray persona is what makes Joel such an interesting character throughout
the story, because it’s never actually said he was a hunter.
Rather several context clues hint at it like “he had been on both sides of things”
hinting at him having to do what needed to be done, but a bit ashamed of his earlier
dark days.
Him adapting to this new world, shutting off emotions, seemed to be his new way of survival.
The second turning point of Joel’s life is when he and Marlene are tasked with smuggling
some cargo for Tess and the Fireflies in exchange for their missing weapons.
However it’s soon revealed that the cargo is actually a teenage girl named Ellie.
She’s a bit spicy in her attitude, though Joel, not wanting to be a babysitter, is persuaded
by Marlene into taking the job as they hit the road.
However there’s a huge snag, when they are stopped by military control, revealing that
Ellie is actually infected.
Joel and Marlene are confused why Tess would set them up to transport an infected, but
Ellie pleads with them stating her bite is more than three weeks old, and she is immune.
Joel skeptical of this revelation, goes along with transporting her.
It’s the weapons for him, as he has absolutely no attachment to this degenerate in his eyes.
As their journey continues, Joel’s toughened exterior is only so tough, first blaming some
of their mishaps on Ellie’s whole involvement, like Marlene being bitten on their way to
meet the fireflies.
But Joel never abandons Ellie.
Sure there is that quiet, tough love nature to him.
Like when Joel is attacked by a hunter in the hotel, and Ellie saves his life with her
knife, he is instantly pissed.
Like a father disappointed in going against his wishes, but he soon learns Ellie isn’t
like Sarah.
She is maybe a surrogate daughter in the making, but she is stubborn and holds her own.
As their journey continues, Joel slowly becomes more open with Ellie, alluding to his time
as a hunter, talking about Sarah in a loving memorable way.
Even though it’s been roughly 20 years, he still has a fondness for his lost daughter,
while also having recurring nightmares of that night on outbreak day.
It’s really shown that Joel cares for Ellie like a daughter when they meet up with Tommy
and the others in Wyoming.
Tommy gives Joel an old picture of him and Sarah after a soccer match.
However Joel says he is good, showing that those painful memories of Sarah are something
he wants to put in the rear view mirror.
After bandits attack the dam, this is where Joel’s feelings towards Ellie really shift,
consoling her, asking if she is okay.
Something not necessarily shown prior to this.
It’s almost like the picture of Sarah was his daughter in a different life time, and
now Ellie is his shot at a second chance.
To have new memories with a daughter he never got to share them with.
Before all of this Joel was all about handing off Ellie to a different party as their responsibility,
but after this run-in, Joel finally takes on the responsibility to deliver Ellie to
the Fireflies.
It’s that father daughter relationship that blossoms, and is reflected more so in future
scenes with Joel trying to explain football to Ellie.
It’s Joel opening up about his hobbies and passions to someone he cares about.
Once they arrive at the University in Colorado, only to discover the Fireflies have moved
operations to Salt Lake City, there is a small glint of hope in Joel’s tone, that he won't
have to end this journey with Ellie just yet.
With them becoming so close, he doesn’t really want to pass her along.
However this is all cut short, as they are attacked by some bandits, resulting in Joel
landing on a rogue piece of rebar, impaling his abdomen.
This injury almost ends his life, but Ellie is able to nurse him back to health during
the winter months in a basement of an abandoned house.
During this time, the roles are reversed where Ellie is the one looking after Joel, and this
is the other side of the coin, showing how the pair are in this for the long haul.
Ellie is however captured by members of the same bandits group that attacked them at the
University, learning they are cannibals led by a real creepy man by the name of David.
Now I don't get too far in on David, but he is basically a demented version of Joel, who
has descended much further into the darkness of the world.
Completely warped.
So it’s a really interesting dynamic to introduce him, and how Ellie has to maneuver
interactions with him.
In order to locate Ellie, Joel reverts to his old hunter days, eliminating all but two
bandits and interrogates the pair.
Up to this point, Joel has done some gnarly things, and hinted at a much darker past,
but here we see a side of this loving father that is straight up sinister.
He is a man that will do anything to get his daughter, or in this case Ellie back, straight
up torturing the pair.
It really speaks volumes of Joel’s character, how much he has evolved from even the start
of he and Ellie’s journey, but there is still that primal rage in him.
But instantly shifts to consoling Ellie when he finds her making mincemeat of David.
Joel will do anything for Ellie at this point, which makes the ending have such a gut punch
impact.
Joel and Ellie eventually stumble upon the Fireflies held up in an old hospital in Salt
Lake City, advising Joel they had made it just in time.
Ellie is being prepped for surgery and finally a potential cure can be researched to stop
the infection.
However when Joel discovers that Ellie is being sacrificed for the procedure, his primal
rage and loving father both come out, eliminating most of the Fireflies, the doctors, and takes
Ellie back for himself.
It’s such a conflicting thing for Joel to do, because a heavy portion of their journey
he wants to leave her on the side of the road and move on with things, but here he theoretically
dooms humanity for his own selfish reasons.
In a way, Joel saving Ellie and then lying to her in the car ride back to Wyoming, is
him wanting to create this faux life for himself to live in, distracting himself from all of
those nightmares Tommy mentioned earlier.
Joel is one heck of a conflicted character by the end of this.
He cares deeply for Ellie, he wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but yet lies to her
face about maybe the biggest medical advancement in the past few decades.
The ending really completes the complex journey Joel makes from the beginning of the story.
Initially Joel is this loving father, who seemingly would sacrifice himself for his
daughter, eventually evolving into someone who was willing to sacrifice his friends,
and finally metaphorically sacrifice all of humanity for Ellie.
Troy Baker, the voice talent for Joel added that in doing this, Joel robbed Ellie of her
meaningful sacrifice to save the wider world from the infection, and so robbed her life
of a wider meaning because he believed “if we can't save one little world, then it's
not a world worth saving.”
Weeks later back at the Jackson community in Wyoming, Joel is a bit conflicted about
the decision he made, confiding in Tommy about what really went down in Salt Lake City.
The first thing Tommy asks is if he told Ellie the truth, instead lying that there was no
cure in order to protect her.
Joel very much has morphed into a full on father figure towards her, and Tommy responds
with "wouldn't have done it differently" after hearing Joel’s reasoning.
Joel visits Ellie, letting her know how well she is integrating with the community and
gifts her the guitar he found.
Joel even shares his love of music with her, by playing “Future Days” by Pearl Jam.
Softly singing lyrics about "future days” and “Days of you and me" that resonate with
Ellie as she listens to Joel softly sing.
This is another key moment, because Joel finally shares his talents with her, again wanting
to be this loving father, then giving her the guitar to learn to play.
A couple years had passed, as they fully integrate into the Jackson community.
Joel being Tommy’s brother, became a well-known, trusted, and respected hard working member
in the community.
Mainly he and Tommy would patrol the Mountain View lodge area, clearing out infected.
One winter it was said the pair took out over 20 clickers and bloaters in a large horde
up on the mountain.
Joel continued to care for Ellie like a daughter.
Teaching her to play the guitar, finally how to swim, and on her sixteenth birthday, surprised
her by taking her to a nearby museum.
Ellie loves museums by the way.
At the museum, he surprised Ellie with not only a model spaceship exhibit, but also a
recording of the Apollo 11 launch, having Ellie imagine she was flying into space.
He gifted her a Space pendant to certify her as an official astronaut.
Roughly a year later, Joel had to finally confront Ellie about the truth about what
really happened at the hospital all those years ago.
Ellie went off to search for her own answers, with Joel reading a note she left.
Knowing he couldn’t keep this from her, Joel admits the Fireflies indeed saw hope
in Ellie and were confident a cure could be developed, but he intervened, stopping them
to save her life.
This fractured their relationship, as Ellie was no longer on speaking terms with Joel.
Sometime later, Joel caused a stir at Jackson’s annual winter dance, trying to stick up for
Ellie after she kissed her girlfriend Dina, but this was a bit too overbearing as he wasn’t
her actual father, and caused embarrassment.
Later that night Ellie confronted Joel playing his guitar on his porch.
She scolded him for stealing her purpose in life, with Joel responding that if God had
given him a second chance, he would have done the same thing over again.
This affirmed his love and care and selfishness towards Ellie, but allowed for them to slowly
rebuild their relationship.
On March 2, 2038 Joel and Tommy got caught up in a blizzard while on patrol, saving a
stranded hiker named Abby Anderson, as they escaped the weather and infected to a hideout
at the Baldwin mansion, where Abby’s friends were staying.
This was all a trap though because once the two introduced themselves, the room fell silent,
and Abby shot Joel in the leg.
They knocked out Tommy and tied up Joel, wrapping his leg in a makeshift tourniquet so he wouldn’t
bleed out.
Joel urges them to do whatever speech they have planned and get it over with.
It’s not revealed at the time, but Abby is the daughter of the doctor that Joel shot
at the hospital all those years ago to save Ellie.
Abby finally caught up to him, to get her revenge, beating him with a nearby golf club.
Ellie tries to save him, but Abby’s group overpowers her, holding her down to watch
Joel’s last breath.
Pleading and threatening them, Abby smashes in Joe’s head, ending his life.
Ellie in a panic, promises she is going to get her revenge, but is knocked unconscious.
Joel was 56 when he died, and was the closest thing to a father that Ellie had.
It’s an interesting parallel of how Joel’s journey starts, him watching his daughter
pass away, and then at the end, his new daughter, Ellie, watches as he passes away.
Joel’s body was later buried in Jackson's cemetery, with several members of the community
leaving condolences outside his house.
Ellie never fully recovered from the tragedy of watching Joel that day.
She later had several moments of PTSD reminding her of that nightmarish day.
Which affected her and drove her to get even, just like what Abby set out to do.
In the end, one of the most heartbreaking moments from the game is Ellie trying to play
Joel’s guitar.
She tries to play the same song Joel was playing the night she confronted him about everything,
but after losing a couple of fingers, it’s impossible for her to strum the same tune
without messing up.
This small thing that connected the two was also taken from her, as Ellie breaks down
again, leaving the guitar behind.
Honestly the Last of Us and Last of Us 2 are the best video game stories I have ever played.
I even got emotional during a couple moments from the second game, and that last guitar
scene was one of them.
Druckman and crew did a great job of fleshing out these characters, especially Joel.
A man, with a clouded past, some might even feel he’s a villain in a certain point of
view, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most complex, well developed video
game characters out there.
Again part of me would have absolutely done what he did for Ellie.
Obviously I’d like to hear your thoughts on Joel, did he do the right things?
and what do you think Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of the character so far?
And I’ll let you know
We’re currently running a competition giving away 3 copies of Wakanda Forever, the subtitles
are correct, SEE!! on the 15th of February.
And all you have to do, to be in for a chance of winning, is like the video, make sure you
subscribe with notifications on, and drop a comment below with your thoughts on Quantumania.
We pick the comments at random at the end of the month, and the winners of the last
one are on screen right now.
So if that’s you, message me on twitter at heavy spoilers
If you want something else to watch, be sure to check out our Last of Us episode 1 breakdown,
Paul gets into everything you need to know
But with that out of the way, thanks for the constant support, I’ve been Jared, I’ll
see you in the next one, take care, and peace.