Joshua has been with Moses for a long time. He has been his assistant since he was young, the one he could call on to lead the Israelites into battle, the one who went with him to the top of Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments, and the one who would stay behind even after Moses left the temple after communing with God and one of the twelve sent to explore the land. The one thing you do not see in Joshua is a desire to usurp Moses' authority or position. You see instead a person who is more interested in Moses relationship to God than anything else. At the end of Moses' life, it is no surprise that God tells Moses to bring Joshua to the Tent of Meeting so that he can commission Joshua as Moses' successor.
Joshua is there while God speaks to Moses one more time and reveals what he has known all along, that this chosen people will soon choose other gods to follow after. Moses' impassioned plea to 'choose life' will fall on deaf ears. Joshua is there when God gives Moses a song to give to the people. One to pass down from generation to generation. One to sing to remind them of God's promises and their rebellion. Joshua is there when Moses gives the song to the people. Joshua is there when God tells Moses that he is to go up to Mount Nebo to view the land he will not be allowed to enter. Joshua is there when Moses bestows a blessing on all of the tribes.
But Joshua was not there when Moses makes his trek up the mountain to where God shows Moses the entire land. 'from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.' - Deut. 34:1-3 NIV
Moses has to end his journey with God alone and Joshua must begin his with God alone as well.
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