"It's Like an Addiction": 'The Last of Us' Creator Neil Druckmann on Why Ellie's Quest for Vengeance is Turning Her Into Joel

Ellie may have inherited Joel’s revolver, but it’s the rage behind it that truly links them. In Episode 5 of The Last of UsSeason 2, the brutal hospital confrontation between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Nora (Tati Gabrielle) reaches a turning point not just for the character but for the series — and co-creator Neil Druckmann says that transformation was always the plan. Speaking on the official HBO podcast for the series, Druckmann explained how Ellie’s journey is less about justice and more about a compulsion that consumes her — one that puts her on a parallel path to Joel, the man who once stopped at nothing to save her.