Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
A flashback to 1983 shows young Joel protecting Tommy from their father, Javier, who admits he has repeated the violence he suffered as a child. The episode then follows Joel and Ellie across several birthdays in Jackson. At fifteen, Ellie receives a guitar Joel made for her. At sixteen, he takes her to an abandoned natural history museum, where she climbs a dinosaur statue and imagines a spaceflight inside an Apollo capsule.
By seventeen, Ellie is dating Kat, and Joel reacts badly to her tattoo, smoking and relationship. He later agrees to help her move into the garage. On Ellie’s nineteenth birthday, Joel takes her on patrol; they find Eugene bitten. Ellie wants to bring him back to Jackson, but Joel sends her away and kills him. He tells Gail that Eugene killed himself, but Ellie contradicts him and reveals that Joel executed him.
The story then returns to the New Year’s dance from Ellie’s perspective. After Joel’s fight with Seth, she joins him on the porch and asks again about Salt Lake City. Joel admits that he killed the Fireflies to save her and would make the same choice again. Ellie says she cannot forgive him yet, but wants to try. They remain together on the porch, both crying; the episode then returns to Ellie in Seattle.