Coincidence and Leprechauns

Imagine a pinecone as heavy as a bowling ball and the size of a chihuahua. Believe it or not, such pinecones exist—and they belong to the coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), a conifer that can be found in parts of North America including California and Mexico. Infamous among loggers and foresters, this tree is nicknamed "the widowmaker" because of the unlucky individuals who met their fate as a result of its falling pinecones. This species produces some of the largest pinecones on the planet, weighing up to 11 lbs (5 kg).

JOEL was not the gray moral agent in the last confrontation in TLOU. The FIREFLIES, and Marlene and the doctor in particular, were the gray moral agents. This isn't even complicated or controversial.

The Fireflies decided the ends (a chance at a vaccine or cure) justify the evil means (child murder). They're allowed to make that moral call! It's interesting and there's a lot of nuance there to discuss!

Joel though wasn't making a complicated or difficult moral decision at all: someone threatened to kill a child and he decided to defend that child, with violence when necessary. He tried negotiating first. He then tried begging. Then he did what he had to do to save her. He even left the nurses alive because they didn't try to stop him. He wasn't the morally gray actor in this particular situation and there's no honest way to cast him as one.

The thing about the Fireflies decisions is that when you make a situation violent you have to be prepared for your victims to respond to that violence. If you decide killing someone is a necessary evil for the greater good then part of that decision is dealing with any defensive violence your victim or their loved ones might enact.

Heee! Thanks nonnie :D