I think we've strained a bit too far from our original discussion, so I guess I'll just say that Ellie probably wouldn't want to be sacrificed, I know that Marlene makes a big deal about weather or not Ellie would want for Joel to rescue her, but it's pretty obvious that she'd want to, at least based on her personality throughout the game and what we've been shown of Left Behind. Put your 14 year old self on Ellie's shoes, would you rather die to start a war over what's inside you, potentionally wiping out 50% of who you wanted to save, or live a decent life with the closest thing you've got to a father in a post-apocalyptic world?
Now officially addicted to League of Legends.
Send help.