It's official: Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) is dead in The Last of Us, and the show will never be the same.
The Last of Us Season 2, episode 2 tackles The Last of Us Part II's most pivotal (and notorious) sequence, in which Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever) kills Joel while a helpless Ellie (Bella Ramsey) watches on. Just like in the game, the scene is as heart-wrenching as it is brutal. But as is the case in any adaptation, there are several key differences from the source material. So how does Joel's death in the show stack up to his death in the game? Let's break it down.
Dina isn't with Joel in the game. Tommy is.
One of the biggest differences between Joel's death in the game and the show is who's with him when he dies. In the game, he's with his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna), but in the show, he's with Dina (Isabela Merced). Tommy remains in Jackson, where he helps defend the town from a horde of Infected (a show-only sequence).
While both Tommy and Dina are out cold for Joel's actual death, the switch between who accompanied Joel to Abby's hideout could have massive consequences for the show going forward. The game sees Tommy hunt Abby for revenge not long after the murder, but could the Infected attack on Jackson — not to mention his young, show-only son — change his priorities? Meanwhile, Dina's presence at Joel's death could further strengthen her bond with Ellie, as the two are both undeniably traumatized by the experience.
Joel actually learns who Abby is in the show.
Part of the mystery of The Last of Us Part II is finding out who Abby is and why she wanted to kill Joel, something you only learn as you play through the second half of the game. (When he asks her who she is before she kills him in the game, her only response is, "guess.")
However, The Last of Us Season 2 wastes no times in giving us an Abby crash course. She interrogates Joel about attacking the Fireflies in Salt Lake City. She monologues about Joel killing her father. She even drops hints about the militia she's joined in Seattle.
The Last of Us laid the groundwork for Abby's backstory reveal starting in episode 1, with her introductory scene by the Fireflies' graves. That early knowledge functions as a way to build sympathy for her earlier on in the show than in the game, allowing us to more completely understand her motivations right off the bat.
The game is very intentional in its omission of these motivations, so this isn't a case of one version of the story being "better" than the other. Instead, it's just a case of each version having a different project when it comes to portraying Abby. For the game, she's a threat until we learn to empathize with her by playing as her. The show wants to build that empathy earlier, while also presenting Joel's death as a specific consequence of his actions in Salt Lake City.
A bonus of learning Abby's backstory so early is that we get to watch Joel process that the events of the Season 1 finale are finally catching up to him. It's a heartbreaking conclusion to his story, yet it also feels inevitable.
That final golf swing looks a little different.
Few moments from The Last of Us Part II are as memorable — or as traumatic — as the final bloody "thunk" of Abby landing her killing blow on Joel. The show opts for a different approach to Joel's last moments. Abby still wails on him with a golf club, but by the time Ellie arrives, the club is broken. It's a simple image, but it speaks volumes to the extent of the damage Abby dealt.
With the golf club broken, Abby opts to finish Joel off by stabbing him through the neck with the broken shaft. That's a gnarly killing blow in its own right, with the squelch of flesh and hiss of Joel's last breath evoking the same feeling as that nasty "thunk": total and complete devastation.
New episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere on HBO and Max Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
