Warning: this article contains spoilers for episode eight of The Last of Us
The lead characters of The Last of Us passed many thresholds in last night’s penultimate episode, and both Ellie and Joel will never be the same. The absolute desperation and horror of the Silver Lake community and its leader David was the stuff of nightmares that will haunt both of them for the rest of their lives, but in the midst of the despair, Joel comforts Ellie with two words he hasn’t uttered in over two decades.
In the last moments of the episode, after Ellie has overcome Silver Lake’s predatory leader David, Joel embraces Ellie and says “It’s okay, baby girl. I got you,” and the audience can practically feel each other’s hearts swelling with sorrow, grief, and relief as Joel says the words he hasn’t used since his daughter Sarah died in his arms in the first days of the cordyceps outbreak, finally and forever acknowledging that Ellie has truly become his surrogate child.
The online reaction to Joels’s words of comfort may be larger and more heartfelt than any other moment in a series that is rife with gut-punching disappointment and heartfelt sorrows. Even compared to the season’s most emotional episode, “A Long Long Time” the last moments of episode eight may have triggered the audience’s biggest collective ugly cry yet.
As Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann points out, while Joel is too late to save Ellie from David (she must do that herself) he can still rescue her emotionally, embracing her fully like he never has been able to so far.
And just like Ellie and Joel, fans may never be the same.
We could probably all use a long hug after this one.
We can only hope that we can dry our eyes and get ourselves sorted before The Last of Us‘ season finale, which airs this coming Sunday. We all might want to arrange for some emotional support that night.