HBO has reiterated the fate of Pedro Pascal's character Joel Miller in a preview for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3.
The second season of the post-apocalyptic drama series follows the same narrative as Naughty Dog's game, The Last of Us Part 2, which involves some very controversial scenes involving Joel, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and newcomer Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).
The most emotional blow yet was dealt in Season 2 Episode 2 of The Last of Us, titled 'Through The Valley.'
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2.
Did Joel Really Die In The Last of Us? Death Confirmed by HBO Season 2 Episode 3 Promo
Episode 2 of The Last of Us Season 2 ended with the brutal death of Joel at the hands of Abby, and HBO's promo for Episode 3 confirms that this fate is permanent.
The 1-minute teaser for The Last of Us Season 2's third episode shows the characters dealing with the fallout of Joel's death.
One scene in the promo shows Ellie (the character who was closest to Joel in the show, despite their recent fallout) taking an emotional moment in her father figure's house and breathing in his well-worn jacket.
Joel's brother, Tommy (played by Gabriel Luna), is also featured in the promo, crying over Joel's sheeted corpse.
Tommy was absent during his brother's death, as he was dealing with the infected's attack on Jackson, but it seemingly won't take long for word to reach him.
Another scene shows Ellie kneeling in front of a tombstone bearing Joel's name, confirming that there is no hope for a miraculous resurrection.
This isn't entirely surprising, given that Episode 2 showed exactly how Joel died in visceral detail, with Abby fulfilling the promise she made in Episode 1 to kill him "slowly."
The full promo for Season 2 Episode 3 of The Last of Us can be viewed below:
Does Joel Die In Last of Us 2 Video Game Just Like In Season 2?
HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us has traditionally stayed very faithful to the events of Naughty Dog's games. Still, the series made some slight changes to Joel's final scene.
As was the way in the game, Joel's actions at the Salt Lake hospital, in which he killed dozens of fireflies to save Ellie's life, came back to bite him, as it was revealed that one of these fireflies happened to be Abby's father.
One difference in the series adaptation is that viewers learn that Abby's father was the doctor Joel killed immediately, while players had to wait halfway through the game to discover Abby's motivations.
Another difference between this scene in The Last of Us show is that in the game, Tommy is present at the lodge while Joel is killed, while in the show, this role instead went to Dina.
However, the rest of the sequence played out almost shot-for-shot as it did in the game, with Abby taking her time beating Joel to death, and Ellie walking in on them in the final moments.
In the game, after Abby finishes Joel with a golf club to the head, Ellie is knocked out by one of her fellow WLF members so that she can't follow them. HBO's version adds an even more emotional moment to this brutal sequence by injuring Ellie but keeping her awake and then having her crawl over to hold Joel's bloodied body.
While it will shock many that Joel is no longer alive in The Last of Us, there is hope for viewers to see Pascal again, as the series still has many questions to answer regarding his character (like why Joel killed Eugene).
Trailers have confirmed there are still several flashback scenes featuring Joel to come, which would mirror how the story plays out in The Last of Us Part 2.
