‘The Last of Us’ Creators Explain Major Death: Why [Spoiler] Had to Die

The Last of Us will never be the same again.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us season 2, episode 2, which aired Sunday, April 20, on HBO.

After managing to protect Ellie (Bella Ramsey) from the Infected for a whole season, fans witnessed Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) tragic demise in the second episode of season 2 on Sunday, April 20.

During the episode, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) got revenge on our hero for killing her father, a doctor at the Salt Lake City hospital that he saved Ellie from in the season 1 finale, by exacting her own brand of justice. After beating Joel with a golf club, she delivered the final blow, stabbing Joel in the neck, all while Ellie helplessly watched.

What Happens to Joel in ‘The Last of Us’ Game? His Fate Impacts Season 2

While viewers of the show who might not be familiar with The Last of Us video games were shocked, the series pulled directly from The Last of Us Part II, which was released in 2020.

Nonetheless, show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (the latter of whom also created the video game series) feel your pain.

“I experienced the worst of the negative reaction to it already five years ago. So in that respect, I haven’t been nervous,” Druckmann told Deadline, referring to the backlash to Joel’s death in the video game, noting that it serves as an “important beat” in the wider story.

“It does hurt tremendously when it happens. It hurts, of course it does, because we love Joel, and more importantly, because Ellie loves Joel, and we’re experiencing her heartbreak, and we’re all going to grieve the loss of this person that we’ve come to love,” said Mazin.

Fans React to That Shocking ‘Last of Us’ Season 2 Death

Mazin continued, “But in terms of the narrative, yes, it felt like an inevitability, because this isn’t a show that goes on and on. This is a show that has an ending. We are a show that confronts people dealing with the hardest emotions. Watching Bella in that moment was heart-wrenching. It really was. There were a lot of tears that day from all of us. It was tough.”

At the end of the episode, Ellie vows revenge on Abby and her allies, which sets up the arc for the rest of season 2.

And, don’t worry, fans, because Pascal is sticking around!

“There’s a good amount of Pedro and Bella together because we all want it,” Mazin teased future episodes in an interview with TVLine. Mazin assured viewers that “we do get to see them quite a bit together this season. And we also get to see interesting things happening with them — more, I think, than what we saw in season 1.”

New episodes of The Last of Us premiere on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.