u/PatrickBrown2

My son and I were talking about this and came up with a cool way they could bring Joel back from the dead.. and I think it works!

So Abby killed him with the gold club right? Well what if..

Joel actually got bit by a clicker during the fight to save Abby just before, but he hid that. Then after he's killed by Abby, he actually has the infection inside him, the fungus is wrapping around his brain and he's turning, but much slower because he died before it had a full chance to consume him, and it needs a live host.

Anyways, imagine Joel bursting out of his grave eventually, he's a full blown infected, maybe this even happens after Ellie's story has wrapped in 2. We could have Ellie over his grave as it happens, big moment, I'm no storyteller but maybe they fight and he escapes, she won't kill him because it's Joel, she's hesitant.

Then the main story could be Ellie finding a way to make her immunity useful, like how she always wanted that to mean something. Maybe they actually figure it out (without having to kill Ellie).

Then the cool part is, she uses that cure on infected Joel, maybe after a big boss battle with him. And it actually turns him human again, but he's obviously going to be looking a bit messed up but it's Joel! He's back!

The theory could be that the fungus actually kept his brain alive and regenerated it after Abby bashed it, or maybe the fungus protected it somehow. And then the cure helped bring him back. And they can use it on others too.

Anyways, that's it, just a cool idea I wanted to share. Imagine if that was fleshed out into a good story. I think it'd work and make a great story. Some great gaming moments too! Ellie fighting an infected Joel! And then being able to save him, how good would that be?