Why Ellie and Joel's Relationship Is Very Different in Season 2 of 'The Last of Us'

Although Joel's therapy session in the Season 2 premiere of The Last of Us shows the aftermath of his lie to Ellie at the end of the first season, it still left some viewers wondering what happened. Why is Ellie mad at Joel in The Last of Us, and why does it go well beyond a teenager hating their father figure?

OK, so maybe Ellie isn't actually Joel's kid. But by the end of the first season of The Last of Us, they adopt each other as family. So the sting of Joel's lie to Ellie at the end is all the more powerful since it appears that at some point during the five-year time jump in the second season, she found out about what really happened. So, why is Ellie so mad at Joel? It's all about the way Season 1 ends.

At the end of Season 1 of The Last of Us, Joel kills the doctors who are prepping Ellie for surgery. Since she is immune to the virus spread by those who are infected, her blood could be the answer to a cure. The only downside, Joel learns, is that the procedure to harvest her blood and make a potential cure will kill Ellie.

Since Joel has no intention of losing another daughter, he kills the Firefly soldiers and even Ellie's doctor, all while Ellie remains unconscious. He escapes with Ellie and later lies and tells her that the soldiers had already failed to make a cure from other people who were also immune to the virus. Ellie believes him, and they start their trek to Jackson, Wyo., to start their new life at Joel's brother's community.

Flash forward five years, and it looks like somewhere along the way, Ellie found out about Joel's lie. During his therapy session in the Season 2 premiere, Joel admits that Ellie hates him because he "saved her." Her anger comes from a place of not only being betrayed by her only "family," but also because by saving her, Joel didn't give Ellie a choice in helping to find a cure.

In the show, there isn't a guarantee that Ellie's blood could really be a cure. However, it's one hope that scientists and soldiers initially have. Now, Ellie and Joel (and now, Joel's brother) have to keep that fact a secret, and because of Joel's lie, Ellie harbors a lot of resentment toward him.

Ellie's mom dies right after giving birth to her, but not before she is bitten. As a result, when Ellie is born, she's immune to the virus that turns people into infected zombie-like creatures. The show hasn't confirmed if there are other people out there like Ellie who are immune. But there are fan theories that other people exist in the universe on the show and in the game that the show is based on.

Watch The Last of Us on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on Max.