The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

Just replaying the game.

In the equivalent scene in the series, they walk up to the hospital and get knocked out by a trio of fireflies.

The bloaters were setup in the second episode with Kathleen. And then we never saw another. There was no big bloater encounter.

They got so much right about the series but half the budget probably went on episode 1.

I didn't get that at all. If it was implied, it was far too subtle. I would say she was so quiet and distracted because she was still getting over the horrific ordeal with the preacher. She was also saying we'll go wherever you want after this, to Joel. Certainly didn't sound like she was ready to accept death?

So she didn't even get a chance to consent to the procedure, that seems pretty unethical on the part of the doctor.

No shes just traumatised over the whole Joel nearly dying into the whole David ordeal, they rushed through it all too fast in the show, the exerpeince doesnt come across as bad. If you think it was because she knew she had to be killed, she would have went through the same process as they approached the campus where the firefly's were initially meant to be..

Oh it's definitely unethical, not denying that. Just making the point that it wasn't just the doctor; Marlene would have been part of the decision too as both leader of the Fireflies and someone close to Ellie. The doctor wouldn't have made the decisions he did without Marlene's agreement/approval.

haha Joels kid gets gunned down by a soldier because they "may" be infected and theres uproar over whether killing a girl to harvest a cure to save humanity without her knowing is "ethical" haha WHAT!

Exactly.

I would say he / they justifying their behaviour because Ellie is seen as the saviour of the world .

But how stupid to go straight in and kill that same person on a hunch ? Bit of a quack grasping at straws .

You would think there were a lot of steps to go through before that particular decision would be even broached .

Ellie was upset after her experience with David and nothing to do with giving herself up as a sacrifice to the Fireflies imo .

She obviously trusted Marlene and wanted to do what they set out to do . I don't think she would be so keen if she knew what they had in store for her . She has fought to stay alive all the way .

I do agree Joel was on the back foot in this episode because he realised in the last episode how much Ellie means to him and by his own admission hasn't felt that way since his daughter died .

Interesting he doesn't mention Tess ?

I'm not saying they're the same thing, just pointing out that society has collapsed from pretty much the get go of the show and humanity stopped following the same rules/ethics we follow from pretty much that point onward and now its 20 years later. So i just find it weird that people are questioning the ethics of it at this point in the story with all the sh!t they've seen 😁

A doctor in a post apocalyptic world.

I forgot about the letter from Bill, must watch that bit again.

Just because it's post apocalyptic doesn't mean ethics go out the window, otherwise David did nothing wrong.

Have to say have read some of the game fandom and there are a few differences in the lead up to Joel's massacre of the Fireflies that would have made a difference in whether Ellie might have had a chance to give consent or not .

First is the tear gas . Apparently in the game Ellie nearly drowned in a submerged tunnel escaping infected and Joel saved her and was bashed on the head by the Fireflies when he was resuscitating her.. probably thought he was eating her .

Second Marlene had a diary where it shows she had saved Joel from being killed by them and had regretted sending Ellie off with him and Tess as she thought Ellie would be unprepared for what was ahead of her .

Finally Ellie was given a letter from her mother by Marlene , not just a knife , and in it she talks about her not wasting her life and surviving to make a difference.

These all point to Ellie having a chance to think about giving herself up in sacrifice for a vaccine/ cure .

It doesn't change the fact that the doctor was essentially going in blind to kill a 14 year old girl ..and I also found out why that doctor, in particular ,had to die ..but that's a spoiler .

So the question of whether Ellie should have died or not is not a new discussion .

Well she did think that just rubbing her blood on an infected bite would cure it. So it's safe to assume she probably doesn't think she needs to die to be fair.

What exactly during the trip would have made her think she'd have to die for the cure? Most of the trip was survival not gleaning any more information on a potential cure. Even when she woke up in the car she didn't question the fact that she was alive just the strangeness of being in a hospital gown.