Bashing Part 1 & Joel [SPOILERS]

You can love Joel and still disagree with some decisions he made

Most likely wishy washy people suddenly saying Joel was a bad character it order to justify some story points from Last of Us 2 and trying to convince people Abby was a good character. Funny as before Last of Us 2 he was every fans favourite along with Ellie. Remember when they showed Joel for the first time in a Last of Us 2 trailer? Everyone overjoyed and lost their mind.

I really haven’t seen many people tearing Joel down. I have, though, seen people being more critical of his decision in Part I.

This is a good thing, I think.

Joel was never meant to be an unambiguous hero—he starts off very reluctant to travel with Ellie, we learn that he had a history of doing bad things to survive, he tried to pawn Ellie off on Tommy when they first got to Jackson, and he eventually murders the people who he was supposed to be working with. So, when he lies to Ellie at the end of the game, he’s lying to us too—do we choose to accept that he’s the good guy and was protecting his surrogate daughter, or do we reject that and see his choice as a selfish act that possibly doomed humanity?

All of that said, it doesn’t negate the fact that he clearly cares for Ellie and provided some of the few moments of genuine happiness in her life. Joel did terrible things, but he also read space books just to be able to have something in common with a daughter that didn’t want anything to do with him at that point.

Part II, in seeing events through Abby’s eyes, forces us to reckon with Joel as a character—can we forgive him for destroying Abby’s life because he enriched Ellie’s? Can we judge him for murdering Marlene when what he did was to protect a child he loves?

Any discussion of the themes of Part II is going to necessarily re-evaluate Joel. His choices in Part I are the direct catalyst for Part II.

Aren't we all here because we loved 1 and the characters?

I certainly love Joel, but I also recognize that he made choices that harmed others. Part of me is glad that he and Ellie lived through the events of Part I, but I now have to wrestle with that knowing that it was the direct result of completely, unknowingly, shattering Abby’s world.

Abby's storyline is almost beat-for-beat, Joel's storyline in Part 1 -- they're the same characters.

Yes, that’s the point. It’s pretty obvious that Abby’s gameplay mechanics are closer to Joel’s in Part I (the reliance on bridges and ladders, crafting shivs instead of Ellie’s switchblade, finding paths while your younger partner stays behind, etc). It all goes back to the idea of a cycle—how many Fireflies did Joel kill to “save” Ellie? How many Scars did Abby kill to save her friends?

I just think the events of the prologue made people reflect on Joel's past and his actions, that's all.

Nothing we didn't know in the first game, but we were more focused on other stuff, like his growing love for Ellie.

I would not call it bashing, just getting to switch perspectives for a moment and let go of our bias toward Joel, on some level.

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