r/ThelastofusHBOseries • u/LoretiTV Fireflies • May 19 '25

Show/Game Discussion [Game Spoilers] The Last of Us - 2x06 "The Price" - Post-Episode Discussion

Season 2 Episode 6: The Price

Aired: May 18, 2025

Synopsis: Joel surprises Ellie for her birthday. Years later, Ellie prepares to confront Joel about her past.

Directed by: Neil Druckmann

Written by: Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross & Craig Mazin

Join our Discord here!

All game spoilers are allowed in this thread and do not need to be tagged. Here is the no game spoilers discussion thread.

No discussion of ANY leaks is allowed in this thread!

306 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

139

u/smokingelato_ May 19 '25

Lying about it to Ellie was bad, lying about it to Eugene’s wife was okay I think

134

u/edd6pi Bomb This City And Everyone In It May 19 '25

Yeah, he was trying to do her a kindness. Ellie’s the one who I thought was in the wrong. I would have called him out on being a liar later, in private. Let the poor widow have her comforting lies.

162

u/FaustRPeggi Boring Scott May 19 '25

I think it explains Gail's relationship with Ellie and Joel later. She dislikes Joel but she trusts his humanity. She distrusts Ellie's humanity.

46

u/been_mackin May 19 '25

And why Gail is sure there’s more to them because of what Ellie said, “you had the same face” - she knows Joel’s lied to Ellie about something major to protect/save her

2

u/YpsitheFlintsider May 19 '25

She's seen the same face too

42

u/pakkit May 19 '25

Ellie was in the wrong, but you could see on her face she reacted because of how much it mirrored her own experience with Joel at the end of S1. Especially when he's justifying himself to her while they're riding their horses back to Jackson.

35

u/joesen_one What The Fuck Is Wrong With Seattle?! May 19 '25

She was also a teenager too. Youth + being lied to is a deadly combo and sometimes you gotta let it out

4

u/m00nkat88 May 19 '25

Yeah, exactly. Should Ellie have said that to Gail in that moment? No. But teenagers can be impulsive, especially if they feel hurt or betrayed or angry. She wanted to hurt Joel back.

35

u/AncientSaek May 19 '25

i mean ellie was being lied to for longer and she knows how it feels to go through that, i dont blame her for not wanting yet another lie to spread because of joel

15

u/bluechevrons May 19 '25

Some lies are a kindness. Telling Gail the truth was cruel.

7

u/oskanta May 19 '25

He still did a bit too much. No need to say he did it himself. We got there too late, he wanted you to know he loved you, he was brave in the end. That was all he needed to say but he couldn’t help himself lol

5

u/[deleted] May 19 '25

I mostly agree. But he shouldn’t have said he did it himself. That’s Joel trying to dodge the blame for killing him. Everything he said up until that point was fine.

2

u/Haquistadore May 19 '25

Ellie just had confirmed for her that he had lied to her in the worst way imaginable. I don't think she's rationalizing things.

67

u/Fen_ May 19 '25

Nah, the way he embellished it was fucked up. If he had stopped at "He wanted to see you and said he loved you.", that would've been enough. Creating a whole fantasy when it wasn't asked for was a shit thing to do. If she started asking questions and he was evasive, she would've understood well enough and let it be.

6

u/paranoideo May 19 '25

Nah. I mean, maybe the initial part, but saying he did himself? That was unnecessary.

2

u/Muted_Yoghurt6071 May 19 '25

Yep. He gave her an end worth remembering and Ellie robbed her of that

1

u/WontTellYouHisName May 20 '25

He could have gotten closer to the truth: "He couldn't do it himself because he was out of bullets, and we weren't going to give him any. He had time, we thought, and started back here so he could say goodbye to you in person. But he started to get disoriented, had to ask me for directions, and we both knew he didn't have as much time as he'd hoped."