The “best” episode of the season is also the saddest, not just because of what we see on screen but because it’s Pedro Pascal‘s final farewell in the series. “The Price”, which Joel tells Ellie (Bella Ramsey) he is ready to pay, is also the price of the story with its fans: we may stomp our feet and scream “you promised” like the protagonist, but anyone who knew the game was aware the day would come to say goodbye.

There is a poetic irony that the script ties together beautifully here. To sing Future Days to Ellie, we travel into Joel’s past to understand what drives him beyond the trauma of loss. But one thing we do know: he was a good father, both to Sarah and, once attached, to Ellie. He always fought for the weak, even standing up to an abusive father to protect Tommy. His choice to save Ellie and doom humanity is always described as “selfish,” but no father—not even an emotionally adoptive one—would hand over his daughter for a mere “maybe.” In the Bible, there are men of faith, but in The Last of Us, nothing would give Joel hope that sacrificing Ellie would be the answer.

Ellie, we know, disagrees. In the long flashback that brings classic moments from the game and from their shared intimacy, we see it clearly.

After they return to Jackson, Ellie and Joel settle in as father and daughter, but Joel is overly protective and somewhat old-fashioned. This creates minor conflicts between them, and we, knowing what’s coming, see how much precious time Ellie is letting slip away.

Deep down, more than wanting independence and space, Ellie wants distance from Joel because she knows he lied to her, but deep down, she doesn’t want to confront him. The years pass, and they’re unable to break through the wall she has built. The future he sang to her about on her 15th birthday grows less and less believable.

The truth is, Joel still projects Sarah onto Ellie, without truly understanding the pain she carries inside—he doesn’t even realize she likes girls. Yet there is a connection between them after everything they’ve endured together, and that’s why Ellie struggles with the suffocating way Joel expresses love. Everything slowly builds toward unresolved matters: namely, when and how Joel finally told Ellie the truth.

We arrive at the point where the season began—when Ellie is already 19—and they still haven’t had the conversation about Salt Lake City. It happens during Ellie’s first patrol, accompanied by Joel, when they’re called to help Eugene (Joe Pantoliano), husband of Gail, who we’ve known since the premiere, who is dead. Even more: that Joel was involved.

And here we understand: Eugene was bitten but asks for the chance to say goodbye to Gail before being put down. Joel wants to follow the rules strictly, but Ellie shows empathy. She estimates there’s still time and argues they should help him. Joel seems to agree and offers to go fetch the horses. Ellie asks him to promise he’ll help Eugene—and he promises. As soon as she turns her back, of course, he does the opposite.

Eugene pleads, but Joel is merciless. When Joel reunites with Ellie, she’s more than suspicious, and when they return to Jackson, Joel lies to Gail, saying Eugene took his own life. Ellie confirms her worst fears. That’s when she breaks ties with him for good. Joel’s words—that he will tell Gail “what she needs to know and nothing more”—echo exactly what he did to Ellie in Salt Lake City, only intensifying her anger.

Nine months later, after a complete rupture, we reach the eve of Joel’s death. He and Ellie finally have the talk, and Pascal is brilliant in the scene, conveying Joel’s complex personality with few words and many tears. Even the harshest critics of Bella will have to admit that she is also exceptional here.

Ellie wished she had been sacrificed to save humanity. Even while understanding Joel’s profound love for her, “losing that sense of purpose” is excruciating. The secret that she is immune is heavy enough on its own, but it also means that her survival “killed” the hope that others might live. Joel says he understands that he’ll “pay the price” for his decision—words that resonate with how he reacted when he was attacked by Abby. But for Ellie, who had begun the hard work of forgiving, Joel’s brutal murder prevented her from restoring her relationship with the man who had done everything to save her.

In the end, Ellie now lives to seek revenge on the one who robbed her of the responsibility—and the opportunity—to forgive Joel or to make him pay for saving her. In other words, when it comes to herself, her own moral code falls on deaf ears.

The episode ends with Ellie walking through the rainy streets of Seattle, tracking Abby. The future days of The Last of Us promise only one thing: a whole lot of blood…