Joel's lies to Ellie were driven by a complex mix of emotions and motivations.

He hopes to protect Ellie through lies and relieve her psychological burden and fear.

At the same time, he also hopes to maintain the trust and dependence between them in this way.However, this act of lying also exposed Joel's inner selfishness and vulnerability.He is afraid of losing a loved one again, so he protects Ellie at all costs.

This complex emotional entanglement makes the relationship between Joel and Ellie even more tense and fascinating.