In this first episode we have the game's director Neil Druckmann, Troy Baker, the voice/mocap for Joel, Ashley Johnson, the voice/mocap for Ellie. And Anthony Newman, designer for melee combat. It is hosted by Christian Spicer, a big fan of the game.
We start with Druckmann talking about how you were supposed to play as Joel in the beggining of the game, killing the infected neighboor, but that's been done before and it would be way more interesting to live that scene through Sarah's innocent eyes. Then, he proceeds to talk about the concept art and how the idea for Joel to carry Sarah's birthday gift throughout the game came from that; once Neil saw a watch on Joel's wrist, he brainstormed with the writing team, and they found a visual cue to Joel and Sarah's connection, even after her death. Druckmann explains that it's very easy for Joel to simply pull the trigger on their neighboor, if it means protecting his child. She is everything to him and losing her was a fate worse than death.
That's where Troy Baker comes in, mentioning he prepared a lot for Sarah's death scene. And despite the fact he had to go deep in his emotions to shoot it, it took a long time to catch the emotion Neil was looking for. They originally did it about six times, and then one month later, Druckmann asked to shoot it again. It was done about three times, before Neil called Troy and said he "had a man broken", but not "what's happening, this is happening. I can't fix it. She's going. She's gone. I'm broken." The scene was lacking a range of emotions and that made Troy realize Neil was the best director he had ever worked with.
Enter Ashley Johnson, Ellie herself, literally. For she feels as if the line between her and Ellie is very blurred, like they're almost the same person. "I'm very possessive of this character as well", she jokes.
Upon being asked what does a family mean to Ellie, Ashley replies that Ellie sees kids in this world with parents and that she certainly looks for guidance, and wishes to have that. As far as Marlene goes, it's complicated, but they do care deeply about each other. While with Joel, it's parental from the get-go.
She says Ellie feels very isolated because of her immunity. She's at an age, where being different stops you from being relatable and that can make one feel very lonely. According to Ashley, Ellie's "it can't be for nothing" is about this loneliness and the feeling she needs to be good for something.
Christian asks Troy how Joel sees Ellie once he finds out about her immunity, if it brings him hope and Troy doesn't think he has hope neither that Joel believes in his own redemption, but he does want to keep surviving.
Switching from cast to crew, Anthony Newman mentions that originally, the Infected were meant to be only in the background since this is a story about humans, but as things developed, they created four different infected stages, each of them with their own style, stronger than the previous phase.
Druckmann talks about Joel's relationship with Tess and that accepting this quest to take Ellie to the Fireflies was because "he made a promise to someone he loved"; he had to follow Tess' death wish. He still tries to keep his distance from Ellie, but fails and starts seeing her as person rather than "just cargo".
Christian asks both Troy and Ashley what did they think of Joel/Ellie's choices up to that point in the game. Troy's reply is that, despite following what Tess asked him to do, Joel also cannot simply abandon a little girl. Ashley believes Ellie follows him because she trusts Marlene, but she did not expect to love Joel as a parent. Ashley loves the way Ellie is written and her choices throughout the game.
The next question Christian asks to both Troy and Ashley is "what are their characters fighting for"? And what does Neil Druckmann think both characters are fighting for?
To Troy, Joel has a silent contract with Sarah. He has tried to end it all before, but that's not the answer and his only choice is to keep fighting, surviving, for her. To Ashley, Ellie is trying to find meaning, for her immunity, for all the losses she had so far, to understand everything that happened to her and if she can use her immunity for good.
Neil says Joel is trying to protect himself and that can only be done by protecting Ellie as well. Meanwhile, she is trying to justify all of her losses. And in the second game, Ellie's quest for meaning follows through. If she can't find an answer, guilt will consume her because it isn't fair that everyone else keeps dying, except for herself.
You can listen to the podcast yourself here
Next week, we'll get more details about Joel and Ellie's journey through the Bill's Town section. Stay tuned!
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