Marlene Was Right In The Last Of Us

Arguably one of the best narrative horror games of all time, The Last of Us Part I is so good due in part to how it presents its characters. Instead of having characters that are strictly good or evil, there are many morally gray areas for everyone involved in the game’s story, and what’s right or wrong is left open to interpretation by the player. One of these main points of moral debate involves the characters Joel and Marlene, and who was on the right side of things for one of the biggest dilemmas in the entire series.

Considering The Last of Us Part I remake’s rave reviews, many players have likely been inspired to return to the iconic game. While some players have no doubt already returned to the game at least once over the years, a fresh look at the title after some time away can often change a fan’s perspective on the title’s characters, particularly when it comes to the impactful choices they make over the course of the story. This is particularly true when it comes to Marlene and the Fireflies’ efforts to find a cure for the Cordyceps brain infection through utilizing Ellie’s immunity.

Marlene’s Tough Decision Was The Right One In The Last Of Us

In The Last of Us Part I, everything comes to a head once Joel learns of the Fireflies’ intentions with Ellie, that she must die in order for a vaccine to be reverse engineered from her unique parasite. Joel’s ultimate choice here is foreshadowed in the intro of TLOU, where he chooses his own family over saving others. Though many players see Marlene, who is determined for Ellie to go through with the vaccine surgery, as a villain, she was right in her convictions, as doing so could have ultimately saved humanity over a single person.

Just because Marlene is firm in her choice here does not mean she is doing so flippantly, or without any care for the people at hand. In fact, when some Fireflies initially tell her that they should kill Joel preemptively, she refuses, acknowledging he may be the only other person who understands the gravity of her decision, as they both care for Ellie. The real-life inspired Cordyceps infection in TLOU has one chance for a cure in Ellie, and Marlene’s decision was only made after a huge amount of internal debate, which is evidenced by a voice recording of hers that can be found in-game.

Additionally, although Marlene is asked for her permission for the surgery on Ellie to take place, she states in another recording that this was more done as a formality – she couldn’t have put a stop to something so much bigger than herself. Marlene has had long-time connections to both Ellie and Ellie’s mother Anna, and while she swore to Anna to take care of Ellie, Marlene knows that before her death Anna, a nurse, was also looking for a cure. She had no way of knowing this is how it would have to be found and knows that even if she objected she would be overruled.

Marlene Is Confronting The Trolley Problem In TLOU

It seems that as he’s aged, Joel in TLOU has only become more stubborn and self-centered than he is in the beginning of the disease outbreak. While this is valid to an extent, and bound to happen to anyone going through so many traumatic events, it cannot explain away his selfish impulses. While characters like Marlene are considering the future of the entire world, Joel is solely focused on his own future, and having Ellie in it is a key component of it, regardless of what happens to the rest of the world.

Joel and Ellie undoubtedly form a bond over the course of the game, but part of Joel’s attachment to her also comes from him projecting his own daughter Sarah on to Ellie. Again, while this is an understandable traumatic response, it doesn’t justify the lengths he goes to in order to protect her while sacrificing the rest of humanity. Sarah’s death in TLOU still hurts years later, and Joel cannot bear to go through something similar again with Ellie. On the other hand, Marlene is focused on the bigger picture, even if Ellie’s death would be tragic.

The entire situation is akin to the famous philosophical debate of the trolley problem, where someone can shift a runaway trolley’s track in order to kill one person instead of five. There are variants of this dilemma that make it a harder choice; for example, if the person who can operate the trolley’s tracks knows someone who will be hit, or if the situation was instead a doctor who could save the life of five patients by sacrificing one. However, in this instance instead of five people on one side of the tracks, it’s the entirety of the population, with Ellie on the opposite track.

Joel’s decision to save Ellie, kill Marlene, and subsequently lie to Ellie about the Firefly Lab in TLOU is emblematic of the cowardly choice to not pull the lever, when many would argue that’s the correct decision. Conversely, Marlene is operating under the concept of utilitarianism, which will always favor the choice that would rationally result in maximizing the well-being of as many people as possible. Although there are philosophical oppositions to be had against utilitarianism, it’s undoubtedly a less selfish outlook on the situation that Joel, who is only considering the well-being of himself and Ellie.

One could argue that it’s not even Joel’s care for Ellie that prompts him to make this decision, but his fear of what the loss will mean for his own psyche – sacrificing Ellie may save humanity, but as a result he’ll be miserable, so thwarting a cure is worth it. In fact, even Joel’s voice actor considers him a TLOU villain. On the other hand, Marlene is willing to live with the lifelong guilt that would come along with sacrificing Ellie to give humanity another chance, and she would ultimately be on the right side of history in The Last of Us Part I if she did so.