The Beat Sheet, Act III

The Finale is the longest sequence of scenes, encompassing almost the entirety of Act Three. It’s the home stretch, the place when everything the protagonists have done thus far must pay off, for better or for worse. “This is where we wrap it up,” writes Snyder. “It’s where the lessons learned are applied. It’s where the character tics are mastered. It’s where A story and B story end in triumph for our hero.”⁠19 ‘Triumph’ is a relative term here, as not every Finale has a happy ending, but the ending will still be the result of the protagonist’s choices: a ‘triumph’ earned through their actions. If the protagonist does not like the outcome, they have only themself to blame. They have spent most of the story sowing; now is the time to reap. 

As foreshadowed in the Fun and Games beat, The Last of Us is not a story with an entirely positive ending. The characters may have made the best choices available to them at every point, but their world is a harsh one, and even those with good intentions may find themselves suffering in the end. Such is the case for Joel and Ellie when they arrive in Salt Lake City. A final scuffle with zombies leaves Joel weak and Ellie unconscious, but they’re saved by the very Fireflies they’ve been seeking from the start, but the Fireflies have shocking news: to create a cure for the outbreak from Ellie’s body, Ellie will have to die. As Ellie is already unconscious, now in prep for surgery, Joel is left alone to make a final choice: either he can let Ellie die, offering humanity their best chance at survival; or he can steal Ellie from the Fireflies, potentially condemning humanity to a world without a cure. After protecting Ellie for so long, and after losing so much, Joel makes the only choice he can: he saves Ellie and wipes out the Fireflies, ensuring Ellie will be safe while dooming the rest of mankind. It’s not a triumph for humanity, but it is a triumph for Joel, as he was able to spare Ellie from meeting the same fate as his daughter.