TLOU Day: Lessons Learned Through The Last of Us

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us series features some of the most popular video games in the world. Set in post-outbreak America, the games (Part I and Part II) follow survivors of an infection that killed or changed millions into fungal monsters like Stalkers and Clickers. The in-game narrative names September 26 as the day the outbreak reaches critical mass. That is, September 26 is when the world ends in The Last of Us — and where the action really begins for the player.

Now, every year we observe The Last of Us Day (previously known as Outbreak Day) during September! For this 2025 celebration, we’re looking at the lessons taught by The Last of Us that can be applied to our real lives. Plus, we’ll explore the game’s impact on the way we view and relate to our own reality.

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Community Is Everything

When the apocalypse occurs, most fictional stories showcase governments collapsing. Societies lose their rationality, chaos breaks loose, and anarchy reigns. Humans can no longer rely on systems and social constructs. So, then, what can we rely on? We have to look to each other. Despite the world ending in these games, people still found hope through building communities and forming connections. Even Joel and Ellie, brought together by circumstances they both hated, forge an unbreakable bond. Meanwhile, the lone wanderers and isolated people go down the darkest paths.

What does this mean for our lives? Create those connections now. Don’t only reach out to your neighbors when the sky falls down or zombies start running around. Borrow a cup of sugar, bake a welcoming apple pie. Look out for one another. Start now and see just how much it changes things. And hey, if you ever need a hatchet once the cordyceps infection outbreak happens, you know Joel Miller down the street has one!

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Wrong and Right Aren’t Simple

What would you do to survive? Could you live with yourself after, no matter what you have to do? Fortunately, most of us can pose these hypothetical questions — but we’ll never actually have to answer them. The Last of Us, however, consistently forces characters into difficult physical and psychological situations. Community leaders struggle between what’s good for the many versus what may benefit the few. Survivors wrestle with guilt and regret when they have to kill their infected friends and family. Conversely, others revel in the opportunity to exert power and control in an ungoverned society.

Most striking of these moral dilemmas is Joel Miller’s. At the end of the first game, Joel completes his objective; that is, he delivers Ellie to the Firefly rebel group. Since she’s immune to infection, the Fireflies plan to use Ellie for a cure. But the necessary surgery would kill her. Outraged, Joel murders everyone — including doctors and surgeons — in order to save his adopted daughter’s life. Was he wrong or right? Most players still can’t decide.

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Revenge Never Satisfies

This lesson isn’t unique to The Last of Us, but it’s always worth exploring. After all, many stories feature protagonists driven by spite or hate. They aim to avenge a lost or injured loved one, letting their desire for vengeance consume them. Sadly, Ellie allows her violent urges and wounded heart to motivate her every move. After Abby Anderson kills Joel — who killed Abby’s father — Ellie sets out on a warpath. The problem is that Ellie isolates herself, alienates the people who still care about her, and doesn’t even reach some sort of catharsis during her final confrontation with Abby.

Look, letting go of trauma is easier said than done. Often, pain and PTSD affect us physically as well as mentally, living in our muscles, dictating our conscious and unconscious reactions alike. Ellie cannot heal from Joel’s murder. But instead of finding a healthy avenue or alternative, she simply continues a cycle of senseless violence until she is a shell of her former self. Let Ellie’s tragic path be a reminder to you to find a better way.

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Love Is the Answer — But It’s Not That Easy

Every previous lesson comes down to this. The best and most productive, highest-functioning communities function because the people genuinely care about each other. You can juxtapose Joel and his brother Tommy’s community against the cannibals to see that. In The Last of Us Part I, Joel wipes out his allies in order to save Ellie because he loves her too much to let her go. Perhaps it was selfish, but his heart was in the best place. Finally, Ellie’s strong affection for Joel is what leads her to revenge — and Ellie’s love for Dina is what keeps her from landing a killing blow on Abby.

But it’s also not that simple or easy to save that love wins, love saves us, or love is the answer. In the end, Dina leaves Ellie since Ellie isn’t present for their family. Abby essentially adopts a new sibling, but Ellie finishes the game totally alone. Since they are narrative foils, we understand Ellie could have made better, more redemptive choices the same way Abby did throughout The Last of Us Part II. But we are left heartbroken because she couldn’t — and now she must suffer the consequences.

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What lessons have you learned from The Last of Us? Celebrate this acclaimed video game series with other fans at side.show/geekgroup or in the Sideshow Social Network. And as always, don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!