Poll: The Last of Us Academic Poll (SPOILERS)

[Captain Billy]

This should just take a second, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

So I'm writing a paper for my Honors class on the violence in The Last of Us and exactly how it affects the game's themes and moral statements. I'd like to know which of you fellow Escapists, in the penultimate scene of the game where you break into the room with Ellie on the operating table, shot all of the doctors in the room. That's it.

Thank you!

 

[Casual Shinji]

Nope, just the one guy with the scalpel blocking my way.

First time playing I didn't know I could actually kill him with said scalpel, so I just shot him with El Diablo.

 

[tippy2k2]

The only doctor I shot was the one who blocked you with a weapon (since you were forced to do it). The others were just too freaked out for me to bother with. I felt that if I were Joel in that situation, I would focus on Ellie like a laser beam. If nothing gets in the way of that beam, he would leave them alone so that's what I did.

However, my friend had the complete opposite reaction. He walked in and cleanly shot every person in the head that was in that room. He was so pissed off about what the doctors were about to do to Ellie that he straight-up murdered everyone he could.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Jog my memory...is that the room with the Capra Demon?

I shot everyone. Less out of an outraged desire to save Ellie (in all honesty I half-agreed with what the doctors were trying to do) and more out simmering irritation with the Plonk-tastic gunplay extravaganza I'd just had to wade through.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I straight up murdered everything I came across with coldly detached efficiency.

No loose ends.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I didn't shoot anyone. I did kill the doctor who attacked me with a scalpel but I did so by taking his scalpel away from him and cutting his throat with it, and I only did it in self-defense.

I didn't want to kill the doctors, because they were doing what they thought was right, and I thought that it would be wrong to deprive the world of people who were actively trying to find a cure. I just wasn't going to let them cut Ellie open just on the off chance that they might figure out a cure because of it.

 

[Auron225]

Yes

BUT only because I really thought I was supposed to! I didn't even want to shoot the first one (if it was a real-life scenario, I would have disarmed him and just punched him or something) but I didn't see a prompt appear to do anything else involving a scalpel and he was blocking my way to Ellie, so I shot him once straight through the head, then turned and did the same to the other 2.

I heard you can actually fire a bullet right past his head and he'll drop the scalpel and cower in fear. Haven't tried that though - I will if I ever replay.

 

[Raggedstar]

I did, but in my defense, I thought I had to. I even tried to shoot in the air or ground to scare them away (a la Spec Ops: The Line), but it didn't work. And the idea that I might've killed the last brain surgeon to ever live makes me sad. At the time, I didn't know about any alternatives or sparing the ones that were cowering.

Though on a lighter note, it's actually kind of funny to shoot someone in the foot and they fall dead as if it was a headshot.

 

[Mikejames]

The doctors weren't the real villains in the end. I tried to incapacitate the one with the scalpel, but I guess kneecapping is fatal...

 

[The_Echo]

I shot them all.

I uh. I wasn't aware I had the option to keep them alive.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I only had to kill the one, and I was pretty horrified and pissed off about the whole way the last sequence plays out. I think the writing finally fell apart - or maybe the concept of making the statements they intended overshadowed considerations of cohesive thought.

In short - the whole final sequence never happens if they, oh, I don't know 1) drug Joel until the business is done, 2) let Joel see Ellie, fine and getting patched up, and tell him hey we need some help on the parameter, thus getting him out of the way while business is done - AND out of the hospital AND away from being able to muck things up, 3) waited a reasonable amount of time before proceeding with business so as to not have it be quite so obvious that cutting a kid up is the #1 priority of the day before even maybe letting her recover from nearly drowning - which just casts them as inhuman, I feel, for the sole purpose of smoothing the idea of killing them all on your way to to something entirely irrational. I refuse to believe Joel hadn't considered they wouldn't need her alive to study her brain. I refuse to believe that Ellie didn't at least suspect she'd be making the ultimate sacrifice at some point in the "study."

It just gets really irrational and poorly done all around - everyone's wearing the "stupid hat" so things can pretend to urgently make a great moment of decision happen that you will not be consulted about and probably disagree with. This is not so uncommon in games through the ages, but it is a focal point in this game for reasons I'm still unable to suss out.

 

[shadyh8er]

Shot them all. I disagreed with Joel's ultimate decision and it was my way of venting frustration. (Also I thought I had to because it makes sense to in context).

 

[Hero of Lime]

Kept the other two alive, mainly because I sympathized with them in the situation. I'm not too crazy about Ellie, I actually wish there was to option to let the surgery go as planned. Even if there was a slim chance of a cure being created, I would take that chance. Funny enough, even Ellie was willing to die for the cause.

 

[Zhukov]

Shot the first doctor in the foot, which apparently caused him to instantly pass out.

Fired a couple shots into the wall next to the other two to see if they were going to start shit, then grabbed Ellie and GTFO'd.

In other words, no, I did not.

 

[Zhukov]

I heard you can actually fire a bullet right past his head and he'll drop the scalpel and cower in fear. Haven't tried that though - I will if I ever replay.

That's false.

He'll flinch, but he won't back down.

Unless I wasn't firing close enough or something.

 

[Gamer87]

They meant well... If they had asked Ellie for permission she probably would have said yes even. Couldn't live with something like that hanging over you. I'm not saying they should have killed Ellie, I just really like the greyscale ending. Joel did the RightWrong thing and it was a really bold way to end the game.

 

[tippy2k2]

I only had to kill the one, and I was pretty horrified and pissed off about the whole way the last sequence plays out. I think the writing finally fell apart - or maybe the concept of making the statements they intended overshadowed considerations of cohesive thought.

In short - the whole final sequence never happens if they, oh, I don't know 1) drug Joel until the business is done, 2) let Joel see Ellie, fine and getting patched up, and tell him hey we need some help on the parameter, thus getting him out of the way while business is done - AND out of the hospital AND away from being able to muck things up, 3) waited a reasonable amount of time before proceeding with business so as to not have it be quite so obvious that cutting a kid up is the #1 priority of the day before even maybe letting her recover from nearly drowning - which just casts them as inhuman, I feel, for the sole purpose of smoothing the idea of killing them all on your way to to something entirely irrational. I refuse to believe Joel hadn't considered they wouldn't need her alive to study her brain. I refuse to believe that Ellie didn't at least suspect she'd be making the ultimate sacrifice at some point in the "study."

It just gets really irrational and poorly done all around - everyone's wearing the "stupid hat" so things can pretend to urgently make a great moment of decision happen that you will not be consulted about and probably disagree with. This is not so uncommon in games through the ages, but it is a focal point in this game for reasons I'm still unable to suss out.

But there is a very logical explanation for why the end happened the way it did;

The Fireflies were under the assumption that Joel didn't care and they didn't want to risk Ellie saying no to the surgery.

That's what it comes down to. Joel was bitter about taking the job in the first place and saw Ellie as nothing but a glorified Amazon package when the Fireflies last saw him. They have no clue that he has grown to care for Ellie (and some members wanted Joel killed anyway just in case but Marlene (the black lady) sided against that).

The other important part was the speed. I think the Fireflies were afraid Ellie would say No and so rather than risk her putting up a fight or their conscious getting the best of them (namely Marlene, the leader of the group), they decided not to risk it and get her right away.

Or at least that's how I interpreted the end events.

 

[Drummodino]

Yes I killed them. I was in a cold rage and when I burst through the door and saw them standing over a defenceless Ellie, I didn't hesitate. All three received a shotgun blast.

No one was taking her from me. NO ONE!

 

[lunavixen]

I only shot the one that you have to, I wanted the surgery to go ahead to be honest. I can see what the fireflies were trying to do and killing the doctors wasn't a good enough answer even though the chances of getting a cure was slim. I think they were better off keeping Ellie alive and doing other tests, using her actual brain as a last resort. The "going directly to surgery" bit struck me as just a way to create a reason to not kill Ellie and try for a happier ending.

 

[Autumnflame]

First playthrough i took them all out to be sure

second i only killed the head doctor

third i killed the 2 males casue they smart mouthed me. while the woman was respectfull so she could live