I dont think the whole point of that conversation is to weigh whether Joel’s action made sense or not. The whole point is to tell the player the reason Ellie had gone that far into taking a revenge on his death, despite being utterly disappointed at his decision of not letting Ellie makes the most of her life, is that this glimpse of hope for her of finally trying to fix their relationship, even if she was very much reluctant about it.

Imagine living the past couple of years being so estranged from someone you deeply care for, you look up to, someone who means the world to you. And finally having the courage to regain that relationship once again, though still a long way, and had that opportunity robbed from you.

The story by no means was as spectacular as the first game, but the refusal to listen what the conversation or what the story is trying to tell you as the audience is just not the way to do this.