One of the most emotional scenes from the game has become one of the best scenes of the instant-classic first season of The Last of Us, the beloved giraffe scene. But why does it hit so hard? There’s actually a great reason.
Fans have been hopeful the scene would make an appearance since the show was announced, wondering each week when it would show up before it finally became perhaps the best scene in this week’s ninth and final episode.
Here’s the scene, in which Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey recapture the magic absoultely perfectly, in case you missed it:
Explaining why The Last of Us giraffe scene the scene so important
As in the game, Te Last of Us giraffe scene comes after a group of cannibals threaten Joel and Ellie, leading them to feel that humanity may not be worth saving, and dropping their faith in life as we know it to its absolute nadir.
We, the viewer, too, are wondering if there’s any hope in this world, that week after week has made us cry our eyes out, sometimes when a piece of humanity breaks through, sometimes when it feels that there may be no hope for humanity at all.
Then, when they enter Salt Lake City, Utah, they find a herd of wild giraffes are thriving. Think of it like Jurassic Park, when they find that the dinosaurs are breeding when this was supposed to be impossible. Life, uh, finds a way.
So why is this so powerful? It’s because the giraffes are a sign that life can go on, that beauty and wonder can still exist in the world, even when all hope seems lost.
As Joel looks at Ellie, he hears the joy in her voice and he feels it too, giving her a branch to allow her to live fully in that moment as well. In that second, they don’t just have hope in life and the world, they have faith in each other, their truest moment shared together of bonding.
In this moment, Joel really is Ellie’s father.
Watch the original version from the game here:
The scene was actually filmed in a zoo, according to one Twitter report from May of 2022
“My friend works at the zoo and can confirm this,” said the Twitter user.
Read up on Pedro Pascal, who has become a huge part of the culutral conversation lately, here and here.
Catch up on the entire first season now on OSN Plus here.