Troy Baker Says His Son Helped Him Grasp the Ending of The Last of Us Part I

If you’ve played The Last of Us Part I, you’ll know that the end is a bit of a controversy with the protagonist Joel giving up the potential for a cure for the world in order to save just one person in the form of Ellie. Though a lot of fans have argued about Joel’s choice through the years, actor Troy Baker says it was his son that helped really put the ending into perspective.

Talking to Milan Games Week (via @NaughtyNDC), Baker explains the care that he has for his son is akin to Joel’s when it comes to Ellie by the end of the game. Here’s the post:

‘People have asked me, ‘Why would Joel do that when he could have saved the world?’ and my answer to them is always this—he did, he did save the world. It’s just that the world was that girl, and that’s it.”

I guess it really speaks to the theme of found-family and fatherhood in The Last of Us, seeing that Joel loses his daughter in the very beginning of the game, but decides to save his new ‘daughter’ by the end of it. Even the visuals are the same with Joel carrying both Sarah and Ellie to safety.

Besides being a solid horror/survival game, The Last of Us manages to shine with its storytelling and lore, and that’s what makes the game so great after a decade since its release. We don’t know where a third game could go down the line, but if the story is anything as strong as the second game, I’m all in.

The Last of Us Part I and Part II are currently available for PlayStation 4|5. Watch out for HBO’s The Last of Us which is set to premiere on Jan. 15, 2023.