The Last of Us 1x8 - Poll!

He wanted to kill her ever since he found out she was with Joel.

Erika Kobori

I would say neither. He has been brainwashed by David and didn't want Ellie usurping his place.

Bridget

Joel is a fun guy. Saved by fungi in the fungipocalypse.

Fredrik IB

Just because it's Troy i say mercy

Cooper Little

When I first watched the episode I thought it was out of vengeance. After the reaction I considered mercy but overall I think he still wanted to eat.

Jorrit Vanhooren

I want to believe that he would do it out of mercy and believe the best in people. However, James was firm on killing her from the moment they crossed paths, I think it was all revenge.

Sam Berrecloth

If there was mercy in him, he could have just let her escape on the horse. Killing her means food on the table.

db

I originally picked vengeance, but after rewatching the episode a few times there are a lot of moments with James and the other hunters that make me think they know what David is doing but are too afraid of him to say no. Also the guy that tells James to kill her is the man who pauses when the widow asks what they’re eating. So I think it’s mercy.

El of house Wood

Troy clearly wanted to kill her for all the puns that Video Game Ellie made him listen to. He was doing out of mercy...for Pedro Pascal

Danny King

James wanted to kill her. He wanted extra meat for all to eat. Not another person to feed.

Ranae

James didn't have to shoot the horse. He purposely ran ahead and could've said he lost her if he wanted to.

Monica

The way they were all gathered around her after shooting the horse, before David got there, gave me strong vibes of them not wanting David to have her.

Swedish Malin

Actually did not think of that scene that way, but curious if on a rewatch it changes my reaction to it

Edward Smyth

Troy Baker said in an interview that James was worried Ellie would replace him as David's second in command. https://www.vulture.com/article/troy-baker-last-of-us-guest-role-interview.html

James was one of those in-the-know on the cannibalism stuff, and he was fully complicit. Whatever doubts he had were with David's leadership and getting friends killed, not anything to do with sympathy for Ellie's potential fate.

Shmengels

There was that scene right before Ellie led them away where James was questioning David’s methods and “God’s way”

Nicky Grajek

For me, it was definitely vengeance because he seemed like he was going to kill her at the campfire with David and he only seemed conflicted at the kill table when Ellie revealed she was infected, He was also fine with her dying out in the forest alone so he definitely doesn't have much mercy.

Troy baker actually answered this in an interview, but you can interpret it however you’d like to.

VanguardDuelist

As everyone else pointed out, he definitely did it out of vengeance. His whole preacher bit was a complete fabrication just so he had some way to exert control over the rest of his group, as indicated by his monologue to Ellie about the rest of them needing religion to keep going.

I don't think James was that thoughtful. He was probably doing it out of selfishness. One less mouth to feed. He probably hesitated because he realized they'd have to eat her.

Jordan Malloy