What happens to Joel in The Last of Us Part II? Theory, reactions, and game storyline explored
With The Last of Us season 2 shooting right now, the conversation behind Joel has sparked up again. Recently it was reported that Joel actor Pedro Pascal had done shooting for the upcoming season, but then later on that report was disputed by outlets saying that the actor still had some work left to do. This was enough for fans to wonder if they had already shot "THAT" scene for the season.
It's a known fact that The Last of Us season 2 will be adapting the story of the second game, and it features a specific scene that will surely prove to be controversial among those who have just watched the show and not played the game.
Note: Potential spoilers for the upcoming season to follow
Joel does indeed die in The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us is about a world that is rundown thanks to the Cordyceps virus that took over the world 20 years back and turned people into monsters who can infect others with a bite as well. In that, Joel is tasked with delivering Ellie, a girl immune to the Cordyceps infection, to the Fireflies who will be able to reverse engineer a cure.
Joel is successful in bringing her to the Fireflies, but when he learns that for a cure to be made, Ellie has to die, he ends up killing them and escapes with Ellie to Jackson to live at his brother's makeshift town. However, Joel doesn't reveal the truth to Ellie and tells her that the Fireflies had a bunch of immune people and weren't doing anything with the virus and so he got her out of there.
The lie and killing of the Fireflies eventually catch up to Joel as the daughter of the doctor who was supposed to operate on Ellie, Jerry Anderson, catches up to him in Jackson. Named Abby Anderson, she tracks down Joel five years after the events of the first game and brutally murders him in front of Ellie which fuels her revenge tale. The event itself takes place during the opening of the game.
Pedro Pascal reacts to Joel's death in The Last of Us
While Pedro Pascal will be returning as Joel in The Last of Us season 2, there is no denying that he will have quite a short role in it. Considering that Kaitlyn Denver is playing Abby in The Last of Us season 2, we are sure to get the highly controversial scene. Talking to Esquire last year about Joel's death, Pascal revealed that he wasn't emotionally ready for the scene.
This is what he said in the interview:
"If that does take place in the show, I don’t know that I’m emotionally ready for it."
While he didn't confirm that the death itself will be taking place in the second season, one can't imagine it not happening because of just how important the scene is to the narrative of the second game. While Joel does die early on in it, he still has a major role.
Joel and Ellie's relationship is explored through flashbacks
With The Last of Us Part II taking place five years after the original game's events, Joel and Ellie's relationship in Jackson is further explored through flashbacks. In this, viewers get to see how Ellie is dealing with her immunity and how she eventually figures out about Joel's lie which causes a rift between them. However, at the end of the game she eventually forgives him a day before his death.
There is a good chance that these flashbacks will still be an essential part of season 2's story, but it's all about when we will get to see these characters return. Currently, The Last of Us season 2 is slated to come out sometime in 2025.