Lurker > KogaSteelfang

Interesting that the need for company is comparable to the need for food, at least mentally.

That's what the Toads from Mario look like when their mushroom cap is removed.

She is a violent, vindictive, impulsive, and bloodthirsty person. She'd probably do it for a Klondike Bar.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

That's terrible. :( I'm sorry.

It's just something that happened. Nothing to be done about it now.

Zikten posted...

So is it really like zero taste? Like you bite into some meat and its like chewing on soft ice or something?

There was no actual flavor of anything. But I could still taste sweetness, and I think sourness.

As for smell, that was just gone.

It was gone for about 2 weeks, then it was back. A bit weaker at first, but within a day or two it was fine.

Tag.

Punished_Blinx posted...

The logistics of why that conclusion is reached is overall heavily implied with information that is already provided to us as the viewers. We don't need characters to sit down and explain specific details that people will just poke more holes in anyway. It's a fictional parasite that doesn't have a real world parallel.

You do know that Cordyceps is in fact real, right? It is called the zombie fungus because it functions similarly. It infects ants, temporarily takes control of them and drives them to climb to high place where the ant dies and the mushroom sprouts from it's head to release it's spores.

Like all real world fungi, there is no cure or medication. There are treatments to gradually kill it off. Edit: Humans can't get cordyceps,talking about regular fungal infections here.

Obviously the show cordyceps is fictionalized, but it is real and has an actual real life counterpart which can't be cured. Of course, I don't think an immune ant has ever been found, so idk the viability of using that one to immunize others. But if we're taking what's presented at face value and not looking deeper, the first two episodes literally tell you a cure cannot be produced. Ever. That it will not, and can not happen.

So why are we putting so much faith into a random brain surgeon who most likely knows nothing about fungi? Putting his opinion above those of the experts presented in the first 2 episodes? They were likely infinitely more educated on fungus than this surgeon was. His plan was just to pull it out and let grow in a lab. As a brain surgeon he should be capable of getting samples without killing her. But that's apparently not an option either. There's lots of different ways he could potentially get what he needs, but he's a brain surgeon and brain surgery is what he's going to do.

Punished_Blinx posted...

No reason? An infected woman gave birth to her.

I doubt they advertised that. It was just Marlene and that other guy that knew. I don't think Marlene would march her straight to Fedra and announce that she was infected. So, to Fedra. Healthy baby is a healthy baby. Becomes a healthy kid, becomes a healthy teen. Who has had no risk of infection to their knowledge. So yes, no reason for Fedra to test.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Then she was transported to FEMA from the outside world.

Most likely smuggled in, and hidden among firefly sympathizers. Then once she was old enough to go to school, she'd been in the QZ and a part of the community for far too long to have been exposed. So, again, no reason. Doubt anyone ever even questioned it at all. Remember what I keep saying about Fedra being incompetent. That helps explain this part.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Sure? Why not? Don't they have her held for weeks?

It's a blood and saliva sample. You don't need a facility or medical knowledge to get those. Assuming they didn't have anyone there who could do that anyway. We know she travels to Salt Lake City and arrives before Joel and Ellie. From there they have samples to work off for potentially weeks before they arrive. That seems logical no?

Again the only thing that needs to be ruled out is that her blood doesn't work. Something that shouldn't require extensive resources and time and something we see directly implied by the show already.

We don't know how long they had her. Just that it was 3 weeks since she was bitten. It's likely they found her shortly after due to Riley's absence. Since Marlene knew of her birth, she chained her up to see what would happen. It proved she was immune, and Marlene contacted the medical team. That's all we know for sure, but since everyone was afraid to even get close to her I don't think they were getting samples at that point. Also, she was violent, so it wouldn't have as easy it normally would've been. Since she had no idea why she was being held, I don't think she was having any kind of test performed on her or she would've figured it out.

Punished_Blinx posted...

I never said she tested it herself. She arrives to the facility before Ellie and Joel do. If she has blood and saliva samples for them to study before they arrive then there you go. Jerry decides they need to operate after he scans Ellie on the day and realizes there's no other option. Nothing is contradicted. Marlene isn't the doctor. Jerry is.

I think deep down everyone knew it wasn't going to be happy times for Ellie when she got there though yeah.

Sure, that's possible. But samples go bad. They'd need to refrigerate it,band since they couldn't even get a car battery, I have my doubts about long term samples surviving the trip she had to take. Also, consider that she thought Ellie was on the way to the medical facility. Why would she take samples and transport them herself when Ellie is going to be there in person? Marlene did not expect to beat them there. So there's no reason she'd be trying to arrive late, with non viable samples, to give the doctor when he would literally have Ellie right there. That was the original plan. Not for Joel to take her all the way. Not for Marlene to arrive first. For Ellie to be rushed there ASAP, and Marlene stayed behind. There's absolutely no reason to assume they took any samples or tests, and much less for them to be taking them to the facility instead of just sending a message and letting the doctor check when Ellie arrives. So, we rule out Marlene sending samples ahead, which leaves either her taking them and analyzing them herself, or them just not doing it and jumping the gun.

Punished_Blinx posted...

We don't see Marlene's perspective of the day. We only see Joel and Abby's.

By the time we do see the latter conversation they are well into talking about how extracting the cordyceps specimen out of her brain is the only option.

Nope. It's a conversation about how that's what they're going to do. No mention of it being an only option. I literally watched the episode like an hour ago. Joel wakes up and asks to see Ellie. Marlene says no that she's being prepped for surgery. Joel asks what surgery, and Marlene says they're going to extract the cordyceps and grow it in a lab. That's it, that's all the explanation we get. And since Joel couldn't have been out for very long, and it's extremely unlikely other tests had been done beforehand. It means the surgeon had always planned on removing her brain. Even if they did do the tests, he was a brain surgeon. That's what he was there to do. I don't think the medical team ever considered any other option. You said we have to take things at face value as they're presented. So let's do that. The medical team had far too short of a time to properly analyze her, and Marlene was unable to do so herself. She was prepped for surgery almost immediately, and slapped in the table to be scooped.

Punished_Blinx posted...

I'm not saying anything 'has' to have happened. I'm saying there's no reason not to take what is told to us by the game at face value. There's enough room for all sorts of explanations and we never see the direct perspective of the doctors or Fireflies that could easily explain their logic outside of "They were stupid and rushing" which automatically gives a defense for Joel that clearly isn't intended by the narrative.

Good thing I'm not defending Joel. I'm pointing out that the Fireflies were the ones who were destroying humanities last hope. Plus, we don't need everyone's perspective. Literally anything suggesting that they were thorough and the surgery is the last option, not the first. Sadly, that is distinctly missing from both the game and show, while also showing that there was no time or opportunity for them to have happened.

You can apply Occam's razor here. Is it more likely that they did those tests and ruled them out as options? Yes. Yes it is. Except we have a fairly complete timeline of what happened, and when, and what options were available to the characters and there's just no room for them to have logically happened. At least with a character acknowledging them there'd be something, anything, to support the notion that they checked other options and this was the last resort. But, it's just not there.

Punished_Blinx posted...

It's not a constant check. It's a simple machine that does some sort of scan. All it takes is one scan from one single machine in the entirety of Ellie's life.

Do you honestly think that's likely she never had one done before?

Yes, because why would they just go around testing random people for no reason? As far as Fedra knew, there were no infected inside the QZ. The only people at risk of infection were those leaving and returning,which we see are the ones being tested. Did you see how many people were in the QZ? How many Fedra agents? There's no way they have the man power to test everyone. And no reason to test those in Fedra facilities with no risk of exposure. There's just no reason, and no manpower to do that.

Look at real life. For infectious diseases, do they test you for those at regular check ups? Do they test you for COVID at every doctor visit? No, they don't. They test when you've been exposed. There's simply no reason to assume that with Fedra being in the state it is,that it's even capable of such a thing. And with Ellie being enrolled in Fedra school, in a Fedra facility, right under their noses they'd never have a reason to suspect anything. She's in the perfect position to avoid being tested.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Can you not apply Occam's razor here? All of this is just theorizing a way for them to be wrong instead of simply using the information that we are provided to be valid.

I can. She's infected and tested positive. I don't need to say more about it, because that answers it entirely.

Punished_Blinx posted...

simply using the information that we are provided to be valid.

The information we were provided was that they test people entering the city. They are literally never shown testing anyone besides those who have been outside, because inside the city is infection free.

The information that we aren't provided with, and actually is a stretch based on everything we saw happen... Is that they would be routinely testing the citizens who aren't at risk. Fedra is incompetent, they barely function as is and other QZ have managed to overtake Fedra. They're barely holding it together as it is. Why waste so much time, manpower, and resources to randomly testing people when you can keep them as safe by testing at the gates instead?

Punished_Blinx posted...

You have no evidence that it wasn't. You're just deciding they didn't have time and that's that.

When were they done then? When Marlene had Ellie chained up? With her guards afraid to even approach her? With no medical knowledge, or facility to test? While on the run from Fedra?

Others have been saying Marlene didn't know Ellie would due until just before she told Joel. But if she had tested the viability of the other options, and sent Ellie to a brain surgeon... Then she knew before we ever even meet Ellie and was sending her to die the entire time. it can't be both ways, she was either surprised and upset that Ellie had to die, or it was her plan from the start. And she sure looked upset to me. So I'm leaning towards it being a surprise to her too.

And you're saying they tested at the facility, which is likely what Marlene intended to happen. Then yes, they had no time to do that. They literally only had until Joel woke up to perform the tests and determine no other option was viable. It's likely he was out for less than an hour,vans in that time they also had to have prepped the surgery room. Because they were not expecting Ellie, and I doubt they kept it in functional status for fun. Which means they started prepping Ellie for surgery when she arrived. That appears to have always been the surgeon's plan. There's simply no time to fit in other options given what we see occur.

Punished_Blinx posted...

That moment is solely from the perspective of Joel. He gets knocked out, time passes and he finds out they're prepping her for surgery.

We do not know what happened while she was knocked out.

We do not know what information the Fireflies are working on in the lead up to that moment.

They likely weren't working on anything involving Ellie. Since the first team that was supposed to pick her up got massacred, she's been missing for months with no indication that she survived. And Marlene and her group abandoned the area to continue on to the hospital. Ellie just happened to randomly show up on their doorstep months after they probably assumed she had died.

Then when she arrived they prepped the surgery room and told Marlene what they were going to do. Then she told Joel, who most likely wasn't unconscious for a very long time. From everything we saw, and were told, they had no interest in exploring any option other than cultivating it from her brain.

There's a lot of pieces that have to be put together to get the full picture there, and then exploring other options first simply doesn't fit with any of the rest of it. And it's such an easy, so easy workaround. Have Marlene mention them ruling out the other options. Literally, any indication that they explored other options first... But that takes time. Time Marlene didn't spend at the start of the series, and couldn't be spent at the end. Where do they fit in? Secretly sneaking into Ellie's Fedra room at night and stealing her blood like a vampire? Testing at some medical site that they then can't use to test her when the series starts?

You're saying it has to have happened, because there's no evidence it didn't. I'm saying it likely didn't happen because they no opportunity, and if they could test her from within the QZ there's no reason to ship her off to a medical site to do exactly that. it's literally the reason Joel and Ellie are travelling. To get her to the site, and see how they can make a cure. If that had already been determined prior, then it undermines Marlene's and the Fireflies entire plot.

Punished_Blinx posted...

What do you think is more likely though? That she was never tested for her entire life (even though she was an obvious risk as a baby) and she would always register as infected or that her recent bite that she was immune against registered her as infected?

That she was never tested, for sure. Like I said, I doubt Fedra has the manpower and supplies to constantly be checking everyone. Why would they bother testing people who haven't been at risk? Once she was in the QZ for a few days, with no wounds they'd have no reason to test her again. Not unless she's gone outside the QZ and she hadn't. Those testers are treated as very hard to get.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Sure we do. That happens shortly after she is bitten. Then it never comes up again. It can go either way.

3 weeks is a pretty long time. Plus, the bite you say triggered the alarm was the one she was immune to. Plus, Occam's razor, the simpler explanation is often the right one. She had an existing infection, it was detected. No need to complicate it by trying to explain that another bite, which didn't affect her, and she is immune to, is still lingering in her system to the point that tests positive, but not really because of her pre-existing infection also blocked it. That's just too complicated and convoluted to be the intuitive assumption we're expected to make. She just tested positive because it's in her system, that's all.

Punished_Blinx posted...

we also have to assume that the Fireflies didn't test her blood at all (which isn't a complicated process at all)

She was in Fedra protection until the show starts. They were on the run, hiding, and then wiped out. I don't think they'd have the supplies and ability to test anything there. Which is exactly why we trust Marlene when she decides to send her to a medical facility. It's that when she gets there they've already got a game plan on what to do. They just disregard safer options for a quicker one. Probably due to how long it took for Ellie to arrive and not wanting to risk missing the opportunity again, but also due to their dwindling numbers and having to scramble. Desparation made them hasty and dumb, and led directly to the conflict with Joel.

Punished_Blinx posted...

If the blood is no good then why would a bite be any good? Why wouldn't they just test the saliva and blood and establish that isn't a possibility?

I was just saying those were all things that should've been tested for viability first. Killing the only known immune person should be an extremely distant last resort. Not the first.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Every conversation emphasizes they need the parasite in her brain to get the cure and it's a fatal operation to get it out. There is no information anywhere that contradicts that hypothesis and we both know there isn't going to be one.

True. It emphasizes the one and only option they want to attempt. But there is info that contradicts them having already ruled out the other possibilities. That is that we see her journey, from only just meeting Marlene to arriving at the facility to be killed. There's just no way that they determined every other option was invalid with what we see, or what they say. So again, Occam's razor. Was it ignored because they sneakily tested everything behind the scenes and his that information from literally everyone, characters and viewers... Or that they jumped the gun because none of them really knew what was going on?

Mom says I got in a fist fight with a kid when I was like 6. I don't remember it happening, and neither did he because we became friends later in high school and I asked him.

Also, self defense against my dad in my lower 20's. He decided he wanted to kill me, so he started loading his gun. Me and mom rushed him to get it away from him before he got it loaded. Then tackled me to the floor unexpectedly, and started pummeling me. I fought back, but I was just trying to get him off of me while he was out for blood. He eventually ended up sitting on my chest strangling me. I could tell that if I didn't stop him that he'd absolutely choke me out, and likely wouldn't stop at that. So I used all my strength to punch him in the face several times. That's when mom stepped in and grabbed my arms telling me not to fight back, and I no longer had a chance to hit him with her in the way, but he still had my throat. I don't remember how, but I managed to break free and get to the phone and dial 911 real quick. Then I got tackled again(he outweighed me by like 75 lbs). He took the phone and smashed to pieces. It sounds like a quick scuffle, but no, that fight lasted a long time.bid say at least 5 minutes of us pummeling each other before I got the phone.

He calmed down after that. Because he was afraid to be caught red handed killing me. Then when the cops got there he lied, and I told the truth, but they sided with him and told me I had to leave. I went straight to the Magistrate's office with mom and got a protective order against him. They sent a photographer the next day to get pictures of how bad I was hurt. They found wounds I didn't even know I had, like big bite marks on my back. I was pretty wrecked, horribly bruised all over, and bloodied up.

So, I suppose I lost. He's threatened the same again, but I'm not longer afraid of him and I won't let it happen another time. I think he knows it now, I've had to put him in his place a few times since and he saw that his intimidation no longer works.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Are we assuming that she was never tested for infection previously? Even after her birth?

Why would he constantly be testing healthy people who've had no exposure to it? People travelling into and out of the city, sure. A student whose pretty much under constant supervision who shows no signs of infection? Nah, I don't see why they'd waste time on that. So it's certainly possible that she had never been tested.

Besides, both Fedra and the Fireflies don't exactly make smart moves. Fedra is even more incompetent than the Fireflies. What makes you think they have regular city wide screenings of every individual, rather than just testing the ones at risk by going out of the city?

Punished_Blinx posted...

In the show we only have one conversation from their perspective.

We see that Ellie doesn't even know who Marlene is, or why she's being held by her. So, it's safe to assume they didn't run any actual medical tests there, if it was even possible.

Then we see that she gets no medical tests while with Joel during the journey. Which means, the only conclusion is that they immediately jumped to killing her as soon as she arrived. They didn't have time to test any of the basic stuff, which would logically take at least a day, probably weeks to do.

Punished_Blinx posted...

If they detect there's no traces of cordyceps in her blood and saliva then logically there is no point trying to do anything with it.

This never happened, and we have evidence to the contrary. Since she does test positive. There's no reason to think it's detecting the bite that was nullified rather than her own infection. She's infected, she's tests positive, it's in her system. That's how it's presented to us, and every character that knows about her. There's no reason at all to think otherwise.

Punished_Blinx posted...

The unique factor which everyone is focused on is the cordyceps implanted in her brain.

The brain extends down through the spine. There are also non lethal brain surgeries which could get the cultures they need. Test the blood, if no good. Test a bite. If no good, test spinal fluid and cultures. If no good, perform non lethal surgery to access it. If no good, then there's really only 2 choices left at that point, take the whole brain and try or accept it won't work. They skipped literally every sound option. That's why I think a quick Convo saying they tested her blood or something before sending her would've gone a MASSIVE way to having people side with them and make it more of a moral conundrum rather than us seeing how stupid they were and siding with Joel simply because he's the only competent person in the room. >_>

Punished_Blinx posted...

We don't know what the extracting process is or what happens with cordyceps when it is removed from the brain.

Well first they kill Ellie and remove the brain. Besides neither do they. He was a brain surgeon, not a fungus expert. They were literally just taking a shot in the dark, and that shot just happens to be through a little girl's skull because they can.

Punished_Blinx posted...

That alarm could be detecting the recent infection she was immune from. But yeah we don't know what those things are detecting.

The infection she was immune to? The one that didn't infect her? From 3 weeks earlier. Joel was concerned that they'd detect her infection several months into their journey. Her unique infection is 100% treated as a Cordyceps infection. By Joel, Tess, Ellie, Marlene, all the fireflies, even the detectors. Everything but the dogs. There's no reason at all the assume it behaves like an entirely new entity, when it's still just a different strain.

Punished_Blinx posted...

We'll see. If it is eventually determined that the cure is located from the cordyceps and not her blood than they weren't making the wrong decision.

That's what I'm saying. Nothing points to them even trying that. Like, at all. It's straight to child murder with no other considerations of possibilities. Separation made them stupid.

Punished_Blinx posted...

It was processed into it so they didn't know.

Or... It's a basic fungus until gets into a host and can grow. Like we see in the opening credits, it's more like a slime mold. Assuming that's representing Cordyceps. Which, why wouldn't it be

Punished_Blinx posted...

They also needed the surgeon to extract the cordyceps to keep it sustainable presumably.

Why? If they just need to crack her open and ingest the fungus?

Punished_Blinx posted...

A random cannibal or raider would need to specifically crack her skull open to eat her brains and then risk eating the cordyceps to figure out that it was the cure and then also figure out how to grow it.

Well, you pointed out she has no tendrils. So would the slimy brain fungus look much different from regular slimy brain goo? They'd eat it, gain her immunity, or toss even toss it out and it's just grow into the ground right? We've seen that it does that until it can infect more hosts. Heck, it's looking more and more like just slaughtering her at any point would be a better option that bringing her to the fireflies.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Yes it's the cordyceps. Which is in her brain. If that type of cordyceps does not travel by blood or saliva it will need to be directly ingested.

Who says it doesn't travel throughout her system? There's enough in her blood to immediately trigger an alarm on one of those testers Fedra uses. Takes like 1 second to detect it in her system. It's not a brain scan, her cordyceps is unique, but it is all throughout her system. It simply didn't replace her flesh with its own, but it's still there.

Punished_Blinx posted...

If the Fireflies were idiots who were completely wrong then one choice is explicitly wrong.

I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm saying they were desperate, and were making the worst possible decision that they could. Yes, they were stupid, but not wrong.

Joel is the opposite. He made the right decision for the wrong reason. He was saving Ellie, but he actually saved the world's only hope.

If investing her cordyceps is the only way, then David and his group were just as close to saving humanity as the Fireflies were. And any cannibal group has just as good of a chance as they did. >_>

Punished_Blinx posted...

If it's the cordyceps that is specifically the cure (and honestly I think at this point that can be inferred for both the show and the game) all they'd need to do is get it out of her brain, cultivate it where it can grow and be harvested and feed it to people.

The detectors prove that it's not entirely restricted to her brain though. It's all throughout her system. Have they tested if it can be cultivated from her blood? Her spinal fluid? Anyway outside of killing her? No, they didn't. Like I said, just a simple statement that they tried other methods first would side step this issue entirely. But it leaves us to watch as they make a dire decision for no real reason.

Punished_Blinx posted...

The tendrils were meshed in with the grain.

Which again is probably them giving a hint on what the cure is supposed to be.

Well, again, I don't think many people would like eating wiggling, wormy, tendriled food.

Plus, by that logic all they'd have to have done is blow Ellie's brains out into some flour or wheat or something. Why the big journey to get her to a medical facility? Just for a scan to tell them that? It was all for nothing then. Any random cannibal or raider was just as close to making the cure as the Fireflies.

Punished_Blinx posted...

The reality is the Fireflies have established that it isn't Ellie's blood or saliva that is unique but the parasite lodged around her brain.

Which is still Cordyceps. The testers still registered her as infected when scanning her neck(blood I assume). So, it is present in her system the same as the other form of Cordyceps. The fireflies didn't establish anything about her blood or saliva, in the show or game. And the reason her infection gives immunity, is because it signals that she's already infected. Same with Sam, his infection was likely signaling to hers to not affect him. Its what stops the infected from attacking each other. Sam was too far gone to be helped by the time she tried. It'd be the same as taking a vaccine while already sick with a virus, it won't do anything at that point.

Punished_Blinx posted...

We can look for loopholes all we like but we know what the intention is.

The intention was for it to be an ambiguous choice, with neither side being right or wrong. That's why the discussion has lasted so long, and had so many people break it down looking for reasons to support their chosen side. Besides, both the first 2 episodes explicitly stated that there was no cure. No way to fix it. No way to synthesize a fix. But now, a barely functioning group, with broken and outdated equipment is supposed to do it in a day.

There's no evidence it would work outside the fireflies wanting to do it. And it's not nly the tendrils that infect people... Otherwise I don't think the initial outbreak would've happened. I don't think many people would be eating biscuits with big wormy tendrils wiggling out of it.

Punished_Blinx posted...

We already know she can't pass on her immunity with her blood.

We don't. Sam was already infected before she tried. Also, she just kind of smeared her blood on his wound.

If she had previously given him a blood transfusion before he got infected, it may have worked. It did feel like her doing that was their way brushing that idea aside, but it really didn't prove anything. She even tells David she infected him when she bit him, so the writers are aware of the possibility that it can be tried.

If only they had one voice log, or mentioned in the show that they had even tried the most basic options before resorting to just murdering her. But no, it's presented as if they only want a solution if it kills her.

Punished_Blinx posted...

Ellie's immunity isn't engineered. It seems to be a strain of the fungus that gives her immunity. So if other people are infected with that same strain then logically they would also have immunity.

Yes. Exactly. So why kill her instead of test if she can pass her immunity along through blood and saliva?

MarcoRubio posted...

If some fungus expert in Jakarta with the entire knowledge of humanity before it collapsed couldn't make a cure, how could some hack in a basement with limited knowledge do it?

Episode 1 opening: There is no vaccine. There is no cure. If this happens, humanity dies.

Episode 2 opening: Fungal expert witnesses the infection starting within 12 hours. "What do we do about this?" She responds with "Bomb. Bomb this city and everyone in it." Which basically means, there's nothing they can do outside trying to kill all the infected. She doesn't even consider studying the corpse for a solution, because there isn't one.

Then, by some miracle, Ellie proves immunity is possible. So, these fairly incompetent terrorists decide to use outdated machinery which only halfway functions to and they aren't even sure will function through the procedure at all... To do what was already established as impossible.

Yet, we're supposed to ignore all of that because Joel didn't know. That's true, but it poses it to us as the viewer and player to decide. And we know more than any of the characters. Joel acted impulsively and selfishly, for wrong reasons for sure. But his actions resulted in preserving the last hope humanity had.

Imo, first half of episode 1. The rest of it just dives straight into how bleak everything is. That half really built things up to show how everything changed for the characters.

I would also say episode 3, because I really liked Bill's character... But Frank's character really annoyed me. He was so controlling and manipulative, it just made me feel worse for Bill. It ended on what was supposed to be a bittersweet note, but to me just looked like Bill was fooled one last time.

I wouldn't know. I've never been any sort of prize. >_>

Um, no. I want a partner, not a caretaker.

Sometimes, depends on the game I guess. Something like Pokemon saving before a static encounter and doing it over if I mess up. Or something similar.

Blue_Popo posted...

I just think you need to do way mire tests before you can cinclude on cutting her up, shes too valuable to act that hastily

This is the only reason I'm not siding with the fireflies. They did practically nothing to test other options. She's unique, and literally the fate of the world depends on her. So they immediately decide to kill her.

That should be the last, final option after exhausting all other options first. That would also give her time to consent to the fatal procedure when she's a little older if it came to that. But no, they were going to squander the only chance they had.

Joel saved that potential cure. By accident for sure, but in the end, as long as she lives the potential cure does too.

Okay, let's not put future spoilers please. >_>'

BlueBoy675 posted...

In the game Ellie is clearly aware of whats going to happen. In the show Marlene makes a point of saying they intentionally kept her in the dark and moved forward without her consent. I feel like that was a conscious decision by the showrunners to make viewers more sympathetic to Joels choice.

I don't think she was in the game. It was the same situation. She was unconscious from drowning and they took her straight to the surgery room before she wakes up. Joel lies to her afterward just the same. Iirc Ellie even asks him if they got what they needed(I may be wrong on this part though, it's been a long time). Which implies she thought she'd survive the procedure.

Obviously she'd choose to go through with it even knowing it's kill her, but game Ellie had the same amount of choice as show Ellie.

BlueBoy675 posted...

In the game its a little more ambiguous

Was it? She was unconscious in both, and they were going to kill her before she woke up.

Doom_Art posted...

I mean they say directly that this is the plan

Harvest from her brain and cultivate it to induce the controlled infection in anyone.

Ah, my bad on that part. Still seems like a spinal tap would work though.

Both the game and show present it as if Ellie has a unique form of infection. One that blocks further infection and prevents one from mutating.

She could potentially spread her infection the same way the others do. It's barely touched upon in either game or show. She bites David, claims to infect him, but then that's it. So the writers knew the possibility existed. The show goes a step further, with her trying to save Sam. He was already infected before she tried. It's not that her infection cures the disease, it's that being infected prevents being infected again. So even if her blood can make one immune, it wouldn't have worked on him.

There are so many ways they could have potentially created a "cure" via her blood, or saliva. Even a spinal tap would likely serve the same purpose as the removing her brain. Removing her brain would serve 2 purposes... First it would kill her. Second they could look at her brain. What good would either of those do? They already know her brain isn't affected like other infected, does seeing it not affected help other infected stop being infected?

Also, the fact that fungal infections are not treated the way they seemingly want to do. They can't create a vaccine for a fungus. They only either pass along her safe infection, or make medications that can gradually treat an infection, which would also require Ellie to be a living source.

Fireflies were desperate, and dumb, and really had no chance at success by killing Ellie, while keeping her alive prolongs that option. The fireflies were the ones who would be robbing the world of it's only hope. Ellie lives, maybe eventually someone smarter will figure out how to utilize her infection to help people properly.

Haven't. Don't think I ever will.

Eh, they're ok. I'll watch his videos when I can't find anything else interesting to watch. Kind of a fallback option when bored.

I turn 40 later this year. I'm not looking forward to it.

I'd love to, but my internet is barely functioning today. Doubt I'd be able to stay connected.

Thank you so much for the invite though. It's much appreciated.

Nah, I was unemployed at the time.

You'd make a profit with the $100. You buy something for $80, pay with the $100, and get $20 in change. Then you get the $100 back. You walk away with what you bought and $120.

So... Yeah. The hundred.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Bouncing between neutral and poor. Seems to change a few times each day now.

...and it's down. I'm like a yo-yo lately.

Bouncing between neutral and poor. Seems to change a few times each day now.

DarkMinun posted...

I'm 6 feet, also known as "How tall are you really?"

This.

adjl posted...

It's pretty common for people (mostly men) within a couple inches of 6 feet to round up because being less than 6' tall is often mocked. As such, people sometimes get skeptical when somebody claims to be 6' even.

This too. I'm just barely scraping the underside of the 6' mark myself. lol
It seems common for guys within a couple of inches to go ahead and round it up to 6' even if they're not particularly close to that.

I used to have lots of recurring nightmares. Plenty of them were unsettling, but I think the worst ones involved me and mom being murdered.

First one was when I was a kid. Had it maybe 1-2 times a month for a couple of years. In it I found a hidden staircase to an unknown basement. A creature comes out and starts attacking everyone. Me and mom run away, but get cornered at a cliff. It usually shoves her off and drags me away as I wake up. Sometimes it'd be a little different, with it grabbing mom and shoving me off the cliff as I wake up.

Another was similar, but I was older and it was a more realistic situation. With me and mom out for a ride and we pull over to stretch our legs. Then someone else pulls over at the same time and pulls a gun on us. We do as he says until he just gets annoyed. Then he shoots mom and takes our car and his car keys with him. I'm left stranded in the middle of nowhere trying to save her. Like the previous one, sometimes it's switch things up, and he'd shoot me in the gut and leave mom stranded trying to save me.

Thankfully haven't had ones like that in a long time.

Pepys_Monster posted...

My friend has a hot girlfriend and keeps it real. He doesn't want to see me be embarrassed.

You should be embarrassed of him.

Yes. I want to be a father.

I've never been to one. I have no interest in it either. The whole thing seems like it'd just be super awkward and off-putting.

Bees. Lots and lots of bees. Once had to be hospitalized because a best of hornets fell on me. Had hundreds of stings. Various other ones I stepped on as a kid by accident. Once at a picnic a wasp got on my sandwich and I bit it, that wasn't a fun experience at all. Another time, I got stung in the neck by something, and had a severe allergic reaction and had to be hospitalized again. I've never had a similar reaction before or since, so idk what actually stung me.

My brother had a pitbull that he got from a coworker. The coworker said it was too mean. It turned out to be super sweet and loving... To people. It could not be around any other animal. One day the neighbor from over the hill was spying on our place(he does that a lot, gets in too of the hill on his his property and just watches). His dog was with him and wandered down and got attacked by the pitbull. I rushed out to try and save the dog, but I knew not to get between them. But it was muddy from a previous rain, and I slipped. He nipped my leg for just a second before going at the other dog again. I ended up with a 2 inch or so gash on my knee.

Lots of various other animals like goats(they attack everything). Ferrets always bite me for some reason. Another of our dogs once, I was tapping my foot and I guess it annoyed her and ran over and bit my foot. I tested it by tapping again and she got me again. lol

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/2/7/AAOK_sAAEQd7.jpg

I always feel isolated.