So I am replaying both games after a few years as I have noticed they have both been ported to my favourite platform, the PC.
I generally really like the games. The story is strong and mostly really well written, the characters are fascinating. I have enjoyed playing through them in the past as I am enjoying it now.
That being said, I am again baffled by what I consider to be the biggest plot issue I have ever encountered in an otherwise really stellar game story.
This plot point that I am finding the issue with takes place at the end of the first game and most of the second game plot stems around it and revolves around it, so it is no insignificant overlooked mistake.
(Major spoilers beyond this point)
So the story of the first game ends as follows: After having traveled across a good chunk of the decimated USA, Joel and Ellie finally reach the Firefly base in the Salt Lake City hospital. Ellie nearly drowns and as Joel gives her a heart massage, he is knocked unconscious by a firefly soldier. The game cuts to Joel waking up in a bed and Marlene telling him, that Ellie is fine, but they are sadly going to need to perform a fatal surgery on her in order to extract her unique mutated fungal infection and to eventually develop a humanity saving cure from it. Joel, unwilling to let Ellie die and driven by paternal instinct, proceeds to fight his way to Ellie and escape the hospital with her, having murdered (at least) one unnamed soldier, Marlene and the Firefly head surgeon along the way.
The second game then tells the story about a daughter of this head surgeon whom Joel had killed and who was apparently the only person capable of developing said cure. In a quest to revenge her father and the hope of humanity wasted by Joel, this lady murders Joel in an exceptionally cruel and inhumane way. Setting of on another revenge mission, Ellie then goes to hunt her.
From the combination of collectible items in both games and retrospective flashbacks in the second game we learn a few more details about what went down in that hospital prior to the attempted surgery: Marlene was thrilled to see that Joel and Ellie managed to get to them, but devastated after having learned that Ellie would have to die. Ellie was apparently like a daughter to her. She was asked to kill Joel, but decided not to, since she considered him the only person able to understand how she felt. She tells Joel about the planned operation, but, despite obviously understanding and emphasizing with him and despite Joel asking surprisingly politely, she denies him seeing Ellie.
She also had a quite heated discussion with the surgeon on the topic of killing Ellie for the cure. Some quotes from that retrospect:
Surgeon: "How many Fireflies died for less?"
Marlene: "That was their choice."
Marlene: "If this was your daughter, what would you do?"
Right after this Abby (Surgeons daughter) comes to her dad and says "If it was me, I would want you to perform the surgery."
Me: "Then why do you not make this operation Ellies choice?"
My thoughts: When Joel and Ellie have reached the Fireflies, Ellie, having nearly drowned, was unconscious. Judging by her words in the car after having escaped the hospital, they have kept her unconscious throughout her entire stay and intended to chop her up without even having talked to her.
Would Marlene not have wanted to talk to Ellie, to hear her speak one last time?
When not in the heat of a battle, is it not a basic politeness to ask before you euthanise someone, even if it is for the better future of humanity?
In one other second game retrospect Ellie says "I was supposed to die in that hospital. My life would have f** mattered. But you took that from me." From this we can judge that she would most likely have complied and agreed with the surgery. If Marlene was so close to her, she would have known that about her. Would hearing her approval not have made her conscience lighter, her decision easier?
(Edit: yes, there is a slim chance she would have refused. But again, there is Marlene, who, if she knows Ellie as well as we are lead to believe, knows, that is very unlikely. Logically, she would request for Ellie to be woken up so that she could talked to her, and again, she is apparently a very highly ranking Firefy for this request to be at least considered.)
And would hearing Ellies approval not have prevented Joel from going on a rampage, killing the only person capable of developing a cure and dooming humanity to eternity with the infection?
What would waking Ellie up / letting her wake up and talk to her have costed? A few extra hours, days at most? Some bits of food and/or medicine? The infection have thrived for over 20 years, it is not like a few extra days are going to make or break their chances of developing a cure.
The facility was also pretty large. Ellie was their greatest hope of achieving what they all have dedicated their lifes to, so her arrival must have been huge news for them. Her death must have been a collective and well discussed and thought through decision, it could not have just been a shortcut split-second call of one overly excited boss man.
So why did no one ask Ellie?
Edit: I am not saying this is a plot HOLE. I am saying this is a plot ISSUE. An irracional behaviour of characters so that the story can unfold in the intended way. This is the only way for the first game to get the ambiguous ending and for the second game to work. I am not saying this story does not work, as some people seem to be understanding it. I am saying, that there are some reaches in logic and reason that needed to be made.
