BEFORE being adapted into a smash hit TV show, The Last Of Us started out as a wildly successful series of video games, with Part II coming out in 2020.
Joel was unexpectedly murdered at the start of the game, leading fans to speculate whether the same fate might befall him in the live-action version. Here's everything you need to know.
The Last Of Us Part II video game shocked its legions of loyal fans by killing of Joel — the protagonist from the first instalment — right near the start.
And Joel didn't heroically fall victim to a fearsome fungus-fuelled zombie in the console versions — he was beaten to death with a golf club by a young woman named Abby.
Here we take a look at what happens to Joel in the highly-rated HBO adaptation.
Does Joel die?
Yes — Joel does in fact die in The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2.
This pivotal and shocking event occurs when Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a new character introduced this season, brutally kills Joel in front of Ellie.
The episode titled Through the Valley builds up to Joel's death with a series of converging storylines.
Abby, driven by a personal vendetta, is revealed to be the daughter of the doctor Joel killed at the end of Season 1, when Joel rescued Ellie from the Fireflies, dooming the potential for a cure but saving her life.
Abby and her group of former Fireflies, now hardened by years of military training and sacrifice, track Joel to the outskirts of Jackson.
After a harrowing sequence where Joel saves Abby from a horde of infected, she leads him and Dina to a lodge where her group is hiding.
Revenge
Once inside, Abby's group subdues Dina and prepares for their true purpose: revenge.
Abby confronts Joel, demanding he admit to killing the Fireflies and her father.
After he does, she shoots him in the leg and tortures him, mercilessly beating him with the golf club — all while Ellie is forced to watch, restrained and helpless.
Seeing he's not making out alive, Joel tells Abby to get it over with rather than begging for his life.
Unlike the game, where Abby caves Joel's head in with the golf club, in the TV show she stabs him in the neck with its broken and jagged shaft.
The brutality and emotional impact of the scene are heightened by the show’s refusal to soften the moment or offer any hope of survival — Joel's death is final.
Is Joel really dead?
The sequence is not a dream, hallucination or fake-out — it is a definitive, irreversible moment in the series, mirroring the infamous scene from the video game.
’s portrayal of Joel ends here, with the character only expected to appear in flashbacks in future episodes.
The characters murder marks a turning point for the show, ensuring that the consequences of Joel’s actions in Season 1 of The Last of Us reverberate throughout the rest of the second series.
It is a seismic moment for the series, fundamentally altering the trajectory of the story and the motivations of its characters.
For Ellie, witnessing Joel's murder becomes the catalyst for her own journey of vengeance and grief, setting up the core narrative for the rest of the season.
