This article contains major spoilers for ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 2.
HBO’s ‘The Last Of Us’ has done it. It has delivered the gut-wrenching blow from the game, the controversial moment that gamers knew was coming, yet hoped wouldn’t. As for those who haven’t played the game and just watched the death of their favorite character in Season 2’s second episode titled ‘Through the Valley,’ know that everyone is sobbing. We weren’t ready to say goodbye to Joel Miller, and neither was Pedro Pascal.
The actor often jokes that he gets “killed a lot.” Such has been the fate of his characters in ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ ‘The Equalizer 2,’ and ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle.’ But ‘The Last Of Us’ is different. This brutal death at the hands of Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby will hurt for a long time. Pascal knew this had to happen, but it didn’t soften the blow. Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie on the show, also sobbed upon reading the script. There’s no doubt this heartbreak came early, and fans are howling over it. The actors made their feelings clear, too.
Pedro Pascal Opens Up About Joel’s Brutal Death In ‘The Last Of Us’
Joel Miller was only trying to be a good guy and save Abby from a horde of infected, but it was the biggest mistake of his life. She manipulates him and takes him and Dina back to her lodge. There, she shoots Joel in the knee and beats him to death with a golf club, before using her hands, and the final strike is with a spike in the neck. The sequence is utterly painful, not just because we all love Joel. The wound is aggravated as Ellie braves the blizzard to find Joel, only to witness him taking his last breath. Her cry is devastating, as is her pledge to avenge him.
So, how was it for Pedro Pascal to find out this shocking twist in ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2? He told Entertainment Weekly that he was informed from the get-go about his limited time on the show. “It’s not like they said, ‘Hey, we kill you at the beginning of season 2. But it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let’s say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for season 1. It was just a matter of how and when.”
But knowing doesn’t prevent the hurt when the time comes. “I’m in active denial. I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over. I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on ‘The Last of Us.’ And, no, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad,” he added.
Bella Ramsey was a mess too, even though she was also told about the show’s direction and Joel’s ending. In all honesty, she revealed, “I knew that Joel was going to die but reading it in the script I was dreading getting to that bit… and I cried. I actually sobbed my little heart out. It’s the first time I’ve cried from reading a piece of writing.”
Why Did Joel Miller Die In ‘The Last Of Us’?
The biggest villain for ‘The Last Of Us’ fans isn’t the infected species, but Abby, who mercilessly kills Joel. Vengeance drove her ever since she saw her father’s mangled body, with his brains scattered on the floor after Joel executed him. But why? It was all to save Ellie’s life.
Abby’s father was the surgeon tasked with extracting the cure from Ellie, who is immune to Cordyceps infection. But the procedure would’ve killed her. Joel, being Ellie’s fierce protector, opened fire on all the Fireflies and the medical staff, too, and fled with the unconscious Ellie.
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In the aftermath, Abby joined The Washington Liberation Front, a hardcore militia that toughened her resolve further. She took shelter with her group at a lodge overlooking Joel’s community in Jackson. While keeping watch, a blizzard rages on, and a horde of infected awaken. They later turn to Jackson after Joel saves Abby. Back in Jackson, a major firefight ensues, the infected break in, and bodies mount up.
The episode is reminiscent of ‘Game Of Thrones.’ Well, with the snowy landscape, dead enemies rising, walls breaching, and explosions everywhere…but mostly, it’s the crushing horror of Joel’s death. It has now joined the ranks of TV’s most heartbreaking deaths.
Fans are rallying on social media about the unfairness and emotional turmoil after the episode. Pedro Pascal knew how fans would feel: “I have nothing but respect for the level of investment that people have in a video game or a TV show or movie or book. I experience that myself. I’ve flung books across the room because its impact is so profound on me and experiencing the story. I think it is incredibly painful for people, and that’s obviously a brilliant achievement of the storytelling.”
‘The Last Of Us’ fans clearly expected to be given more time with Joel. But the creators didn’t want to stretch the time period for something that was inevitable. “There’s a danger of tormenting people. It’s not what we want to do,” co-showrunner Craig Mazin explained.
Well, this twist spells disaster and major consequences. The show will never be the same, and the characters’ journeys will have the shadow of Joel’s tragic loss. For now, we all grieve the man who was one of the best post-apocalyptic characters ever.
