The Last of Us Season 2 Just Made the Game’s Most Brutal Moment Even Darker

The Last of Us Season 2 pulled no punches when it came to executing the game’s most brutal moment. The Last of Us is one of the most brutal shows on television. The first season killed off multiple children, had cannibals, and much, much more. The second season is only going to take things further, if the second game is anything to go off of. The Last of Us Part 2 is a deeply controversial game and a big part of that revolves around the way it uses that violence against people you care about even more than those in the first season.

Spoilers for the latest episode of The Last of Us follow.

Yes, we can all finally talk about it: Joel is dead. This is a secret that gamers have had to keep from TV show enjoyers for two, long years, but now it is wide in the open. This moment shocked players when The Last of Us Part 2 was released for PS4 in 2020. Players got the game expecting another Joel and Ellie adventure and had their hearts shattered when they saw Joel get clubbed to death in the first two hours of the game.

It didn’t help that the ads for the game showed Joel in places he would never make it to as a way of misdirecting fans over his fate. This caused a lot of its own controversy among fans, but the actual event of Joel’s death was by far the most upsetting thing. Some fans swore off playing the rest of the game, some noted that it was a betrayal to the character and the fans, and some went as far as even sending death threats and hate messages to those involved with making The Last of Us Part 2. It’s intentionally brutal to anger the player and make them feel Ellie’s rage.

The Last of Us Season 2 Makes Joel’s Death Even More Upsetting

Naturally, given how significant this moment is, many have been wondering how the show would pull it off. Obviously, in a video game it’s pretty easy to be graphic and gory. It’s all pixels. In a show, it’s harder both logistically, but also for the audience to see something that intense. Some feared that The Last of Us Season 2 would pull back on how extreme this scene is… but it’s arguably even more brutal than it is in the game.

In The Last of Us Part 2 video game, Joel and Tommy are lured into a trap by Abby. Tommy introduces them to the group and they quickly realize this is who they are looking for. Joel is shot in the leg with a shotgun by Abby while other group members knock Tommy unconscious. Joel is then tortured for an extended period of time with a golf club. By the time Ellie gets to him, he is barely even functioning. Despite Ellie’s pleas for them to stop the violence, Abby finishes Joel off by hitting him with the golf club, using all of her force, essentially caving his head in. The group then knocks Ellie out, rendering her unable to chase after them.

The Last of Us Season 2 makes some notable changes to Joel’s death scene. For starters, Joel is partnered with Dina instead of Tommy. The show takes some liberties and adds a new sequence where Jackson is attacked by infected, requiring Tommy’s full attention. Dina is knocked out using some sort of drug, but she’s fully aware of what is likely about to happen to Joel. Once again, Joel is shot in the leg and then beaten with a golf club.

However, when we cut back to Joel’s torture we see that Abby hit him so hard with it that the club broke apart. She is forced to just beat his face in with her bare hands, highlighting an extra degree of intimacy to the violence. Once Ellie makes her arrival, she begs for them to stop. Bella Ramsey’s performance is heart wrenching and deeply upsetting as you see real tears pour out of her face. Once Abby is commanded to finish what she started, she picks up a part of the golf club and impales it into Joel’s throat while Ellie and Joel stare into each other’s eyes. All of the sound cuts out as you hear Joel’s last breath escape his body.

The group kicks Ellie and then leaves, leaving her too wounded to be able to go after them. However, she’s still fully conscious. She crawls over to Joel, removes the club from his throat, and cuddles up to his dead body, sobbing, likely feeling regret over not savoring the time the two had together. It’s incredibly tragic and it’s hard not to get emotional over this moment. While both versions of this scene are pretty brutal, the emotional sprinkles the show adds in might just make this version way more gut wrenching.