Ellie Williams: The Last Of Us – Power Of Truth Survivor

Ellie Williams from HBO’s The Last of Us is a character defined by her desperate need to know who she can trust in a world built on lies.

Born into a post-apocalyptic landscape where survival requires constant suspicion, Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps infection that has destroyed humanity. This makes her both precious and vulnerable: everyone wants something from her, but she can never be certain of their true motives.

Her defining fear—that everyone she cares about will either die or leave her—drives every relationship and ultimately shapes both her redemption and her destruction.

Ellie’s worldview is shaped by abandonment and betrayal at every turn. Her mother died at her birth, she was raised in a FEDRA orphanage, her best friend Riley left to join the Fireflies (then returned only to die), and every adult figure has either abandoned her or revealed hidden agendas.

Like all Power of Truth characters, Ellie believes “things are never what they seem” and “everyone has secrets.” In her world, this paranoia isn’t neurotic—it’s survival.

FEDRA claims to protect while actually oppressing. The Fireflies present themselves as humanity’s saviors while planning to kill her to synthesize and harness her immunity. Even love comes with lies, as she discovers when Joel—the person she finally learns to trust—betrays that trust with a devastating deception. He lies about what really happened at the hospital, where she was promised her immunity could provide a cure for the deadly Cordyceps infection.

Her relationship with Joel forms the emotional center of her Power of Truth journey. She constantly tests him: “You’re not going to leave me, right?”

The classic Power of Truth question—”Who can I trust?”—dominates their dynamic. She slowly, painfully learns to trust Joel completely, telling him, “Everyone I have cared for has either died or left me. Everyone—fucking except for you!”

This makes Joel’s lie about the Fireflies the ultimate Power of Truth nightmare: the person she trusted most took away her choice and lied to her face about it. When she asks him to “Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true,” and he says “I swear,” he doesn’t just betray her—he makes her doubt her own instincts.

For a Power of Truth character, being right about sensing deception but being gaslit into questioning yourself is the deepest wound possible.

In later episodes, Ellie falls completely into the Power of Truth Dark Side. After Joel’s murder, she becomes consumed by paranoia, trusts no one (not even her lover, Dina), and loses track of reality through PTSD flashbacks. She pursues revenge with such single-minded obsession that she destroys everything Joel died protecting—her future, her family, her peace.

Power of Truth characters in their darkest moments become “paranoid, delusional, basket cases”—and Ellie embodies all of this. She looks for evidence to confirm her rage, tests everyone’s loyalty until they break, and reads sinister meanings into everything. Her quest for certainty about who killed Joel and why becomes a death spiral that costs her Dina, her ability to play guitar (her last connection to Joel), and nearly her humanity.

Yet Ellie’s final choice—releasing Abby instead of drowning her—suggests she may be learning the hardest Power of Truth lesson: that “maybe is a very slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that’s the best we have.”

She acts on instinct (the Joel flashback) rather than paranoid calculation. She chooses mercy without certainty that it’s right. She accepts she’ll never know whether Joel’s choice was justified, whether the vaccine would have worked, or whether her life has the grand meaning she sought.

The Last of Us presents the Power of Truth character’s ultimate test: Can you survive when everyone really is lying, when the conspiracy is real, when trust inevitably leads to betrayal?

Ellie’s answer—traumatic, costly, but ultimately hopeful—is that you can choose connection over certainty, mercy over answers, and peace over the endless, destructive quest for absolute truth.

About the Nine Character Types®: The Power of Truth is one of the Nine Character Types explored in my book series. These characters are investigators, secret-keepers, spies, and skeptics, driven by the need to uncover what’s hidden—and haunted by the fear that, eventually, everyone will betray them (or they will betray themselves). ORDER eBOOK HERE

Just Do It!

Did your New Year’s resolutions include finishing that passion project? Any writing project is daunting. Going from the first blank page to 100 screenplay pages or 300 novel pages is a huge challenge. But the answer to “How do you eat an elephant?” is, one bite at a time. The way to accomplish any goal is incremental progress. Get started and keep going.

Robert Collier, one of the first self-help authors, said: “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”

Be consistent. Be diligent
Get started. Keep going

When I was a student in the UCLA Master’s in Screenwriting program (oh so many years ago) we had 10 weeks to go from blank page to finished first draft. The way I could meet that deadline time after time was to write 5 pages a day. Just 5 pages. Everyday. I never had to pull all-nighters or hand in an unfinished draft. I was a full-time student then. Five pages may be too much for someone working full time.

 

So here is a workable alternative:

  1. Have a bite sized manageable writing schedule
    Set a modest daily goal — set aside one hour a day to write
  2. Leave yourself a starting place
    When you hit your one hour goal, stop. Stop even if you’re in the middle of a bit of dialogue. Especially if you’re in the middle of character back and forth. That way, when you sit down the next day, you have a jumping off place to give you a push.
  3. Press on with the real job
    Research isn’t writing. When you come to a factual or an information gap, don’t Google it and fall down the inevitable rabbit hole. When you have finished that first draft, type “QC” where the missing bit should go, as in “The Sonora Desert, all QC miles of it, stretched before him”. A quick search through your document for “QC” will tell you what fact-checking to do or missing information to fill in.
  4. Head down and butt in chair
    Forget advice about finding the right atmosphere to inspire you … You can put up with noise/silence/kids/discomfort/hunger for one hour. (For those 60 minutes all you do is write and don’t allow ANY distractions in) Set a timer and point to it if someone wants to interrupt you.
  5. Get help to realize your goal
    I believe so deeply in this approach I wrote an online course that helps writers finish a first draft writing just one hour a day. I started with the presumption that most people using the course had busy work lives, active families, and ongoing social obligations.
 

But everyone, no matter how busy, can block out one hour a day.

The course is a step-by-step guide. You have a specific assignment each day. There is screenwriting information, video lessons, and all the material you need each day.

To learn more about The One Hour Screenwriter eCourse click HERE

 

Power of Conscience

These characters believe they are their brother’s keeper. They feel responsible for the greater good and for doing good. They wrestle with how far they should go in seeking justice and fairness for others, in exposing corruption and injustice or in standing up against evil or wrong-doing. They worry about with what is the higher duty and what exactly is required of them in response.

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Power of Idealism

Personality

Power of Idealism characters believe that life and love should involve a grand passion or an heroic destiny.  They see the world in terms of sweeping epic poetry or as a struggle of operatic proportions.  Intensity of feeling (good or bad) makes this character’s life worth living.

Power of Idealism characters believe it is better to be in intense pain than to feel nothing at all or to be simply content or complacent.  These characters are more than willing to suffer for their art, their iconoclasm or their noble or romantic gestures.  They believe pain is necessary to living a life of passion.  They embrace their pain and even tend to wallow in it.

Power of Idealism characters have high standards and seek excellence in whatever they do.  They appreciate the finer things in life and special luxuries large and small.  They strive for aesthetic perfection in all areas.  They abhor anything they consider to be coarse, gross, common, ordinary, mediocre, inelegant or ungallant.  They believe that what is perfect but unavailable or unattainable is infinitely more desirable than what is flawed but possible or achievable.  They are always reaching for the unreachable star.

A character driven by the Power of Idealism wants to stand out from the crowd, to be extraordinary, unique and special. They are youthful rebels, Epic Heroes or lovers whose passion lives forever.  In addition to the examples below, see the Power of Idealism blog posts for more examples.

Character Examples

Coming of Age characters like the title characters in Billy Elliot or Juno, “Jess” Kaur Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckham and Curt Henderson in American Graffiti are young people “finding themselves.” They don’t quite fit in and struggle to find their rightful place in the world. Learn how these characters lose their innocence but gain a more complex understanding of the adult world.

Epic Hero characters like Colonel Robert Shaw in Glory, King Leonides in 300 and William Wallace in Braveheart are warriors in a doomed but noble battle. These Epic Heroes fight courageously and sacrifice themselves for honor, glory and the immortality of story, song and legend. Learn how these characters lose their lives but live forever in our hearts.

Separated Lovers like Rick Blaine in Casablanca, Karen Blixen in Out of Africa and Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago are torn asunder from their lovers but their passion transcends time, distance or death. In Separated Lover stories learn how love becomes stronger than any other force on earth– even death.

Intense and sensitive Power of Idealism television characters include Meredith Grey in Grey’s Anatomy, Carrie Bradshaw inSex and the City, Ryan Atwood in The O.C. and Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek. Learn how these complex characters keep us enthralled week after week.

Power of Idealism eBook

The Power of Idealism Character Type eBook explains how these characters are alike and how each character is made individually distinct. It will help you develop unique, original, evocative and authentic Power of Idealism characters that fully explore all the contradictions, reversals and surprises of a fully formed human being.

Discover the Power of Idealism character’s specific goals, unique emotional obstacles and very distinct responses and reactions to any opportunity, challenge or threat. Create this character’s Immediate Tactics, Long-term Orientation and Strategic Approach in a way that is recognizably “true” at every step of the story and during every moment of screen time. The audience will instantaneously recognize and relate to your character because your character is complex, three-dimensional and “feels real.”

This eBook is thorough analysis of the Power of Idealism Character Type in his or her many guises and roles as a protagonist or a member of a larger ensemble. It is packed with numerous examples from film, television and even real life! Examples from scores of scenes and dozens of quotes from film and television characters clearly illustrate this character’s motivations and psychological dynamics in a story.

Power of Idealism ETB Screenwriting

Comprehensive Analysis

The Power of Idealism Character Type eBook illustrates exactly how to create and differentiate this character based on his or her:

(1.) World View (beliefs about how the world works) What are the essential core beliefs that motivate a Power of Idealism character’s ordinary actions?

(2.) Role or Function (position in the story or role in the ensemble) What do the other players look to a Power of Idealism character to do or provide in the story?

(3.) Values in Conflict (competing values that push the character to extremes) What opposing choices or goals establish the Power of Idealism character’s moral code? What is this character willing to fight, sacrifice or die for? And why?

(4.) Story Questions (emotional journey in the story) What personal issues, dilemmas and internal conflicts does a Power of Idealism character wrestle with over the course of the story? What does this character ask of him or her self? What is this character’s Leap of Faith in an emotionally satisfying story?

(5.) Story Paradox (emotional dilemma) What is the duality or the contradiction at the heart of a Power of Idealism character’s story struggle? How is the character’s internal conflict expressed in actions.

(6.) Life Lessons (how to complete the emotional journey) What must a Power of Idealism character learn over the course of the story to make a clear, satisfying personal transformation? What actions lead to this character’s emotional salvation?

(7.) Dark Side (this character as a predator or villain) What happens when a Power of Idealism character’s actions are driven entirely by fear? How might or how does the story end in tragedy?

(8.) Leadership Style (what defines and qualifies this character as a leader) How does a Power of Idealism character convince others to follow? How does this character act to take charge and command?

(9.) Film Examples (the Power of Idealism character as a protagonist)

(10.) Television Examples (the Power of Idealism character as central to an ensemble)

(11.) Real Life Examples (historical Power of Idealism figures on the world stage)

 

Power of Excitement

These characters are usually an agent of chaos. Their rakish push-the- envelop devil-may-care attitude inevitably shakes things up in a story. But their charm, ready wit and natural talent as an escape artist or improvisor often saves the day.

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Power of Love

These characters see their own value reflected in the eyes of their love object. Their philosophy might be stated: “You’re nothing without me. (And I feel I am nothing without you.)”

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Power of Will

These characters take what they want, fight for every inch of turf, refuse to show any weakness themselves and pounce decisively on the weakness of others. They have a kill or be killed framework for everything. They believe absolutely in the Law of the Jungle.

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Power of Reason

These characters don’t believe in getting personally involved or emotionally entangled in any issue. They always try to maintain a sense of cool detachment and personal objectivity.

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Power of Imagination

These characters are the naifs, innocents and eccentrics, seemingly the last person anyone would think of as a hero. They are, in fact, the classic mythic hero or the reluctant hero that Joseph Campbell and Chris Vogler describe.

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The Power of Ambition

These characters want the reassurance of the visible, tangible evidence of their outward success or status. The definition and meaning of “success” is at the heart of a Power of Ambition character’s story. Is success truly measured from the outside or from the inside?

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The Power of Truth

These characters believe the world is filled with hidden dangers, secretive enemies and concealed pitfalls. This character’s philosophy might be stated: “Things are never what they seem.” “Trust no one.” “Question everything.” “Watch out for secret agendas and hidden pitfalls.”

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