The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 has perhaps one of the most profoundly upsetting endings in HBO history. This is The Last of Us‘s version of when Ned Stark (Sean Bean) was beheaded in Game of Thrones (or even when the Freys massacred the Starks and their allies at the Red Wedding).
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 ends with a death so shocking, so monumental, and so early on in a season…well, we can’t believe it’s really real. Can it be true? Did The Last of Us really just kill off one of its biggest and most compelling stars?
**Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2, now streaming on MAX**
Did The Last of Us really just kill off Joel (Pedro Pascal)?!?
The Last of Us Season 2 opened with the few Fireflies who managed to survive Joel’s Season 1 rampage vowing to hunt him down and kill him in revenge. Leader Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) literally promises to do it “slowly,” so he suffers as long as possible. Last week’s episode ended with the reveal that now, five years later, Abby and her friends Manny (Danny Ramirez), Mel (Ariela Barer), Nora (Tati Gabrielle), and Owen (Spencer Lord) have tracked Joel to Jackson, Wyoming. The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 reveals what happens next and it’s carnage.
So how exactly do Abby and Joel cross paths? How does Joel die? And is Joel really dead?
Here’s everything you need to know about the end of The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 — including the state of the besieged Jackson.
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 Ending Explained: Is Joel Really Dead? How Does Abby Kill Joel?
Yes, Joel is really dead. Abby 100% murdered him in a sequence that wasn’t exactly like the same scene in The Last of Us II video game, but comes pretty darn close.
In The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2, a perfectly-timed storm descends upon our characters. While Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) make sure to keep Jackson on alert thanks to rumors of super smart Infected known as “Stalkers,” no one is prepared for what’s about to hit.
Both Joel and Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Jesse (Young Mazino) are on separate scouting runs when the storm falls and comms go down. As if they’ve been waiting for this moment, the Infected launch an all-out assault on the settlement that turns into one of the most bombastic scenes of siege warfare on TV since Game of Thrones gave us “The Battle of Winterfell.”
While this is going on, Abby has left the cushy lodge where she and her friends are staying, only to get lost in the storm. She falls into what’s essentially a nest of Infected. They hunt her and nearly kill her, but it is Joel who saves her. When Abby realizes just who her savior is, she lures him and Dina to the lodge.
Because Dina is an “innocent” in the eyes of the Fireflies, who now identify themselves with as members of something called “WLF,” she is knocked out while Abby gets to work on Joel. In a sequence that very neatly echoes the video game — apart from the fact that it’s Tommy who is rendered unconscious, not Dina — Abby first shoots Joel in the leg. Then she asks her friends to tourniquet the wound. She wants to prolong his suffering, after all. After a tense showdown, Abby begins to beat Joel nearly to death with a golf club she finds.
It’s at this point that Ellie has followed tracks to the lodge, in the hopes of finding Joel and Dina. She is immediately neutralized by Abby’s gang, who batter her badly when she tries to fight them. While Ellie lies crumbled on the floor, she and Joel look at each other. She begs him to get up, but he’s too far gone. Abby finishes the job by stabbing Joel with the broken golf stick…all in front of Ellie.
The former Fireflies leave the scene, even as Ellie swears to kill them all. Joel is very much dead.
So Joel is dead, but what about Jackson? Does the settlement manage to survive the brutal onslaught of an Infected army?
Was Jackson Destroyed in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2?
Almost, but no! Under the leadership of Tommy and Maria, the settlement manages to fight off the invading hoards.
That said, the Infected not only overwhelm the outer walls, but they also kill many in the town. Tommy is able to nobly fend off one Bloater with a combination of ammo, literal firepower, and sheer luck.
However, at the end of the episode, Jackson still stands. Tommy and Maria live.
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