HBOThe Last of Us Season 2 just killed off Joel. It’ll rank as one of the most shocking TV scenes of 2025 – and for some viewers, it went too far.
If you played The Last of Us Part 2, you knew exactly what was coming. If your experience of the story is exclusive to the show, it’s not like it came out of nowhere – in the first episode, Abby literally vowed to kill Joel “slowly.”
She gets her revenge in Episode 2, with the series mercilessly bringing the game’s most gut-wrenching moment to life. Ellie is forced to watch as Abby sticks the sharp end of a broken golf club into Joel’s neck, and as Abby and her group leave, Ellie crawls over to Joel’s lifeless body.
To be clear, this is the inciting incident for everything that happens in Part 2 (and the show prepared us a little bit, so you should be grateful). Unfortunately, the pain of losing Joel (or, more accurately, Pedro Pascal) is too much for some fans to bear.
Joel’s death sparks The Last of Us exodus
HBOIt’s not just that people are sad about Joel dying in The Last of Us. In the eyes of some fans, the show just killed off not only its best character, but the one character they really cared about.
“Well I am done watching The Last of Us. That was bullsh*t, why would you kill off the best character,” one user wrote. “They killed Joel off. And thus any reason anyone would watch this show. Oh the drop off is gonna be hilarious to see,” another commented.
“Wow, The Last Of Us f**king SUCKS ass lmaoooooo. There’s literally no reason to keep watching I do not care about any of these characters,” a third posted.
“I can’t in good conscience continue to watch rest of S2 of The Last of Us. Watching an evil bitter b*tch walking the dead planet with a constant scrowl on her face is not worth my time anymore. You can’t pay me to watch Joel’s killer survive and thrive. F**k that,” a fourth wrote.
Just to address the tweet that claims there’ll be a drop off: The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most acclaimed games ever made, and its sales broke PlayStation records throughout its first year. In other words, it wasn’t just front-loaded: people knew what happened and still bought it, and the vast majority of players stuck with the game after Joel’s death.
That’s not to say viewers shouldn’t be affected by Joel’s death – it is shocking. But it’s not meaningless.
As Craig Mazin told EW, “Part of what makes The Last of Us relevant to those of us who aren’t living in a fungal apocalypse is that it portrays the shattering nature of loss.
“It talks about what is left behind when somebody is torn away from you. Then you start to wonder what price we all pay in our lives – all of us – for caring about people that much.”
Also, don’t worry: Pedro Pascal isn’t leaving The Last of Us, even though Joel is really dead.
Until next week, make sure you know when the next episode of The Last of Us Season 2 drops, read about Abby’s fate in the games, and find out why Eugene is so important in Season 2.
