The Last of Us Theory Might Make This Joel Change Actually Make Sense

Joel’s death in The Last of Us Season 2 hits like a ton of bricks. The first season focuses on his reluctant journey as a father figure, taking a young girl, Ellie, who’s immune to the infection plaguing the world, across the country to an organization known as the Fireflies that believes it can use her to make a cure. Once Joel arrives, though, he has to make an impossible choice: allow the Fireflies to kill Ellie to make the cure, or kill all the Fireflies to save someone he now considers family. He ultimately chooses the latter, and it’s the direct cause of his death in Season 2.

When the daughter of one of the Fireflies he killed shows up five years later, Joel ultimately accepts his fate. He doesn’t plead for his life because he knows he would do it all over again, given the chance. However, Season 2 of the HBO series is making a major change to the moments following Joel’s death that takes some theorizing to comprehend.

The following contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us: Part II game.

Joel’s Final Resting Place in The Last of Us Season 2 Is a Hard Sell

Unlike The Last of Us Part II video game, which Season 2 is adapting, Ellie spends three months in the hospital following her encounter with Abby and her friends. She’s worse for wear after Manny kicks her square in the stomach and needs time to heal, just like the community of Jackson, which survives the infected invasion but not without a good amount of damage. This break gives everyone time to clear their heads, and once Ellie leaves the hospital, she and Dina are ready to talk to Tommy about getting revenge for Joel.

Tommy makes it clear that he supports them and wants to help, but he needs to get approval from the council first because there’s still a lot of work to do and not many pairs of hands to do it. In the meantime, he tells Ellie to visit Joel’s grave, which is ten miles outside of town. The reveal doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the game had to tackle the same story point and chose to place Joel’s graveyard within Jackson’s walls. Tommy doesn’t go into detail about why they bury their dead so far away, and it’s entirely possible that it’s a precaution to avoid leaving someone who’s infected in town. However, another explanation could make sense if HBO decides to go down that road.

[RELATED – The Last of Us Star Teases “Killer” Episode With Minor Character From the Video Game: “I’ve Never Had to Cry So Much”]

Joel’s Ghost Always Looms Large in The Last of Us Part II

As The Last of Us Season 2 is making abundantly clear, no one wants to take Joel’s death lying down. Dina is quick to devise a plan to find Abby and her friends, and once Ellie is given the green light, she immediately gets on board. The events play out similarly in Part II, though Dina doesn’t have as much skin in the game. They both head to Seattle and take out nearly all of Abby’s crew. Abby catches wind of what’s going on, though, and kills Jesse and injures Tommy before turning her sights on Dina. Ellie has to back down and heads back to Jackson with Dina, her mission incomplete.

For the next year, Ellie and Dina live on a farm outside of Jackson with Dina’s son, JJ. They both try to move on, but Ellie struggles, and once Tommy gives her a lead about Abby, she leaves her quiet life behind.

It’s unclear whether the events of The Last of Us Seasons 2 and 3 will play out the same – after all, HBO has less time to cram everything in. What could help Ellie’s struggles feel more real in live-action is if the farm she and Dina live on is where Joel’s grave is. Not feeling like she has any ties to Jackson left, she could convince Dina to be closer to Joel, who haunts her every waking moment and ends up being the reason she gives up on a chance at a real family.

The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on Max.

Are you upset about Joel’s grave being ten miles outside of Jackson in The Last of Us Season 2? Do you think the choice could come back around down the line? Let us know in the comments below!