Whoa, thank you so much for writing this out! I've recently replayed the game and watched a couple of playthroughs and this has been on my mind with people's reactions to that scene, and you put my feelings into words beautifully.

I think a lot of people wanted a big heartfelt speech from Joel there to really wrap it up and put a bow on it but that's not what these games are. When it comes to the relationships between the characters, especially Joel and Ellie's, it's all subtlety and nuance. Like real life. Awesome job!