Warning: Spoilers below.
In a world where parasitic fungi can turn humans into undead monsters, death shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Yet, the shocking fate that befell one beloved character in the newest episode of The Last of Us has sent reverberations throughout the show’s entire fan base.
Fans who played the 2013 and 2020 video games that the HBO drama is adapted from knew that the untimely ending for Joel, one of the show’s main protagonists, was coming. They just didn’t knew when. His death ultimately arrived in the final moments of the second episode of season 2. Pedro Pascal, who portrays Joel, opened up about his character’s ending in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not like they said, ‘Hey, we kill you at the beginning of season 2,’ but it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let’s say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for season 1,” Pascal said. “It was just a matter of how and when.”
Ahead, we break down everything to know about his death, from the motive behind it to how it differed from the game.
Who killed Joel?
A new fleet of characters is introduced in season 2’s first episode, which takes place five years after Joel massacred the Fireflies in an attempt to save Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) life. Unbeknownst to Joel, his spree of violence incites a revenge campaign in Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), the daughter of the murdered Fireflies surgeon. To fulfill her mission of vengeance, Abby recruits a band of fellow former Fireflies to track down Joel. Together, the group stakes out in the mountains that loom over Jackson, the Wyoming settlement that Joel and Ellie have taken refuge in.
In episode 2, a massive snowstorm hits Jackson, a seismic event that sends an army of infected masses barreling toward the settlement. Abby is caught up in the middle of the chaos, but she is unexpectedly saved by Joel, who happens to be patrolling the area outside of Jackson’s walls with Dina (Isabela Merced). Abby uses the chance encounter to her advantage, tricking Joel and Dina into heading to her hideout spot.
After Abby’s followers put Dina to sleep, Abby reveals her identity and vengeful motive to Joel. She then gruesomely bludgeons Joel with a golf club, keeping him above the threshold of death just long enough for Ellie to enter the room. The former Fireflies pin Ellie down to the sidelines, forcing her to helplessly witness Joel’s final moments, in which Abby spears a broken golf club through his neck. The episode ends with a shot of Ellie, Dina, and Jesse (Young Manzino) heading back to Jackson on horseback, with Joel’s covered corpse dragging behind them.
How does Joel’s in-show death differ from his in-game death?
Joel’s death on the show closely follows his death in the video game. One major difference is who was present with him at the time of his death; while Joel originally encountered Abby while on patrol with his brother, Tommy, the show’s version of events has Joel accompanied by Dina.
What happens next?
The death of Joel likely means that the spotlight will more prominently feature Ellie’s arc, as well as shift the focus toward other characters that orbit her.
Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy, teased what comes next for his character in the wake of his brother’s passing in an interview with Esquire. “There’s this scene that follows the events of the second episode,” he said. “I won’t get into it too heavily, but there’s a transition that happens, a passing of the torch so to speak. It felt not only was it happening in the story, but in our work and in our production. It’s exciting moving forward. It’s a terribly tragic episode. But now the world expands.”
