Spoiler Warning: Major spoilers to follow for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2, “Through the Valley”Well, the scene that video game fans knew was coming is here. Consider this your final spoiler warning. In The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2, “Through the Valley,” Joel was killed. Those who never played the original game likely had no idea this was coming, as TV shows rarely kill off lead characters without some behind-the-scenes drama. The death of Joel was a jarring, surprising reminder that one of TV’s most acclaimed modern entries isn’t afraid to take big swings. But it happened, and we all need to process it together.
But why do it? Why kill off one of the most critically acclaimed leading television characters, destroying a phenomenal dynamic (Joel/Ellie) in the process? Well, it had to happen because the video game dictated it. As tragic as Naughty Dog’s decision was, it could take the TV series in an interesting new direction. Joel’s death symbolizes a shift for the series, allowing it to explore different avenues and themes that it could not have before.
Joel Meets His Maker in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
The hit second season of The Last of Us picks up five years after the end of the first, with Joel and Ellie now part of the thriving community of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. However, the relationship between the two is strained due to Ellie’s survivor’s guilt. Joel saved her from being sacrificed for a potential cordyceps vaccine at the end of Season 1. After a rocky first episode, things seemed to turn a corner in the second outing. Ellie admitted to her fraught relationship with Joel but wanted to go on their daily patrol together to hash things out. But then all hell broke loose.
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As Joel had already left for patrol with Dina (Isabela Merced), Ellie is forced to accompany Jesse (Young Mazino). The two pairs soon become trapped in a snowstorm, with both Abby’s (Kaitlyn Dever) crew and hordes of infected on the loose. Fans will recall that Abby tracked Joel to Jackson Hole at the end of Episode 1, wanting revenge after he killed her father in the raid to save Ellie from the Fireflies. By pure dumb luck, Joel and Dina encounter Abby in the mountains as the snowstorm intensifies. At the same time, a massive group of infected launches an attack on Jackson and breaches the perimeter. Joel wants to go back and help, but Abby convinces him to return to her cabin, as her friends are armed and can back him up. That decision proved to be his doom.
At the cabin, the group knocks Dina out and takes Joel hostage. Abby does the traditional villain backstory monologue, though Joel has no patience for that, with an irritated “oh just shut the f**k up and do it already” as his iconic final words. Abby shoots and brutally beats Joel, while Ellie tracks him to the cabin just in time for Abby to deliver the fatal blow. Just like that, our leading man is no more. It couldn’t have happened in a more violent, depressing, or heart-shattering manner.
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 2 Is Manufactured for Maximum Viewer Heartbreak
Joel was never afraid to die. You really can’t be if you have to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The threat of an infected taking one down is always on the table. But this method of death was so much more human and raw. These weren’t mindless zombies; they were people who chose to take Joel hostage and torture him. We thankfully didn’t see Abby take a golf club to him on screen, but we heard the blows and screams. We heard the punches and saw Abby’s bloody fist and Joel’s gashed head. Abby didn’t just want him dead; she wanted him (and the audience) to suffer in agony. For as much emphasis as the show put on Joel’s “father figure/family man” status, having him nearly die alone, surrounded by strangers (minus the unconscious Dina) was certainly intentional.
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When Ellie arrived at the cabin, Joel was still barely clinging to life. She’s taken down, and we see Joel make a futile attempt to crawl to her before Abby drives a broken golf club into his neck. Did Joel recognize his surrogate daughter as he was on the brink of death? For at least some semblance of peace, this writer chooses to believe yes. Could Ellie have intervened had she made it to the cabin sooner? It’s unlikely, as Abby’s team easily overpowered her. But maybe she and Joel could have had a proper goodbye.
That “what if” will likely hang over Ellie for a long time, as she and Joel were still strained when he died. She never got to see him for that morning patrol like she wanted. Their last interaction was her cursing him out when he punched out the homophobic bigot who harassed her and Dina the night before. Ellie came home to Joel playing a guitar he had repaired for her, but she walked by without saying a word. That would end up being her last chance to make amends.
As Ellie leaves the cabin with Jesse and Dina in tow, we see the guilt setting in. We don’t need words; the look on her face tells us that she’s absorbing the fact that the man who saved her life died with her angry at him. And that scene of her crying on top of Joel’s corpse? It should be illegal to tear out a heart like that. As if this girl hasn’t dealt with enough. Joel’s death hit nearly every movie and TV trope. Estrangement from loved ones? Check. Tortured? Check. Alone? Check. Died trying to save others? Checkity check. It was engineered to inflict maximum devastation, and it absolutely succeeded. Seriously, give Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, and Kaitlyn Dever every award.
What Comes After Joel’s Shocking Death in ‘The Last of Us’?
Is this what game fans have been reluctantly waiting for? It was better when the TV-only Last of Us fans lived in blissful ignorance. And the latter group would have no reason to believe Joel’s time was up. He and Ellie were the only two main characters, and a successful show wouldn’t kill off half their leading stars without some dramatic story shift. Joel is still involved with the town, and there was no behind-the-scenes drama either, as Pedro Pascal seems to love his headlining role.
So… now what? Ellie will clearly be the sole protagonist going forward, and we know what’s first and foremost on her mind. Revenge. As Abby’s band of murderers left Joel’s body in the cabin, Ellie swore to hunt down and kill every last one of them. Will she achieve that? We don’t know — and no spoilers from the game players. As agonizing as this was to watch, it might shape Ellie into a stronger person.
She really has no choice. If she wants to honor Joel’s memory, she needs to come into her own as an adult. While she has grown since Season 1, there’s still a ways to go. It’s unclear what the rest of Season 2 will bring, but we should anticipate an Ellie-centric vendetta mission. Just no more brutal deaths, OK? The Last of Us airs Sunday nights at 9 PM on HBO and streams simultaneously on Max.
