A Shocking Death on 'The Last of Us' Has Fans Wondering If This Is Real Life
Fans are comparing the show's death to 'Game of Thrones.'
Published April 21 2025, 8:54 a.m. ET
Warning: this post contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2.
Television has taught many people that death is not always as permanent as it might seem. Characters get bailed out or come back from the dead, sometimes when you least expect it, and following the second episode of The Last of Us season 2, many are wondering whether that might be the case for Joel.
The episode, which ends with what appears to be the shocking murder of Pedro Pascal's Joel, has led many to wonder whether this show really killed off one of its main characters. Here's what we know about the shocking twist:
Is Joel really dead on 'The Last of Us?'
You might find it difficult to imagine that Joel's death is as real as it seems on The Last of Us, but the show is serious about this. Joel is dead, and he died in almost exactly the same way he does in The Last of Us: Part II. Joel's death is the motivation for much of the plot in the second video game, and it looks like the show is set to mirror that approach, with Ellie seeking revenge on Abby and her friends for murdering him.
Much like Game of Thrones, this death is a major shock for fans of the show in the exact same way it was for fans of the game when it was first released in 2020. Joel is one of the principal characters in this story, and killing him off is a bold swing. If the show wanted to faithfully adapt its source material, though, there was basically no other way for them to proceed through the story.
Why does Joel die in 'The Last of Us?'
Joel's death comes at the hands of Abby, a former Firefly who is the daughter of the doctor he murdered at the end of season 1 as he was attempting to save Ellie. Abby had been searching for Joel for five years before she stumbled across him and decided to get her revenge. Now, though, Abby has orphaned Ellie in much the same way that Joel orphaned her, leaving Ellie with the same thirst for revenge that she just quenched.
Joel's death was controversial at the time of the video game's release in part because he was the character you spent the most time playing as in the original Last of Us. Although Joel is dead for real in the world of the show, though, that doesn't necessarily mean that this is the last we will see of Pedro Pascal.
The game artfully weaves in flashbacks of Ellie and Joel's time together in between the two games, and it seems incredibly likely that the show will do the same thing. Pedro Pascal definitely didn't have to be on set for as long for season 2 as he was for season 1. He's not going to be disappearing from fabric of The Last of Us completely, though.