The song at the end of The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 has a haunting link to the game 

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 ends in devastating fashion, and features a beautiful song that has a powerful connection to the video game.

Season 2 Episode 2 of The Last of Us features a pivotal moment from the game, that proves to be the inciting incident for Ellie’s upcoming journey.

A couple of details changed in the adaptation from game to show however, including who is on patrol, and what gets said.

But one musical addition makes a powerful link back to the source material, that works perfectly in this context. Warning, major SPOILERS ahead…

What song plays at the end of The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2?

The song that plays at the end of Season 2 Episode is ‘Through the Valley,’ which is also the title of said instalment.

The same song featured in the “reveal” trailer for The Last Of Us Part II video game in 2016, where actress Ashley Johnson – playing Ellie – sings it, before interacting with Joel. Or what gamers eventually learned to be the ghost of Joel.

Johnson also appears as Ellie’s mother in Season 1 of The Last of Us, which gives the use of her version in the show extra meaning as Bella Ramsey’s Ellie crawls to Joel and holds his now lifeless hand.

Variety asked co-creator Craig Mazin about the song, and he credits The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, “because that song is there as part of the game universe.”

Mazin continues: “Sometimes my job is deciding which things to steal. Because Ashley played Ellie’s mother, there is this sense of a ghost that’s always there. So in the end, there is little Ellie gasping for breath with the man who is her father, and we hear the voice of the woman who is her mother. And it’s beautiful.

“Sometimes the parallel universes touch. I don’t know how else to describe it. We don’t do a lot of meta stuff, but sometimes it touches. And if there’s a moment where you are free for the universes to touch, it’s this one, because this is a shared experience now with everyone.

“We’re sort of saying, everyone who played the game and now everyone who hasn’t, we have lived through this. The lyrics are beautiful, Ashley’s voice is beautiful, and I just couldn’t think of a better way to end.”

For more on The Last of Us, read about Dina’s fate in the games, find out about Eugene’s importance in Season 2, and learn exactly why Abby wants to kill Joel.