The Last of Us: What will finally happen to Joel in the 2nd season of the series?   

The creators and the protagonists answer

The first season of HBO’s TV adaptation of the cult game The Last of Us wrapped up a few weeks ago to rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. Among other things, the show was praised for how faithful it stayed to Naughty Dog ‘s game , deviating in few places to basically add more detail.

With the second season already announced, many are wondering if the production will continue in the same pattern, this time adapting as faithfully as possible the events of the second game, The Last of Us Part II.

*SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE FIRST HOURS OF THE LAST OF US PART 2 GAME*

In particular, in the early hours of the sequel, Joel is killed very violently by Abby, who is the second playable character in the game. So, there is a lot of debate as to whether in the second season we will actually see Joel die.

Pedro Pascal , who has the role on the HBO show, hasn’t played the game, but he knows what’s going on with his character. So, speaking to Esquire about the “Joel” theme in Season 2 ^of the series, he pointed out:

It wouldn’t make sense to follow the first game so faithfully only to deviate so severely from the path. So, yes, that’s my honest answer.

On the other hand, Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie on the show, said:

If that happens in the series, I don’t know if I’m emotionally ready.

But there is a big “but”. Craig Mazin, who is the writer and executive producer of The Last of Us alongside Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann, seemed to suggest that anything is possible in terms of where the series could take Joel’s character:

This should be pretty obvious to everyone by now, but I’m not afraid of killing off characters. But the important thing is that neither Neil nor I feel constrained by the source material.

As it seems, then, Pascal believes that Joel will indeed die in the second season of the show, Ramsey does not want to think about it and Mazin, who also has the final word, surprisingly leaves the possibility open.