The Last of Us Hid a Major Detail in the New Episode That Will Make You Sad All Over Again

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 episode 2, “Through the Valley.”] Pedro Pascal seems to be everywhere, from roles in Game of Thrones, Narcos, and The Mandalorian to upcoming Marvel movies The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday. One place you won’t see him, however, is in the opening credits of HBO’s The Last of Us. Pascal has played Joel opposite Bella Ramsey’s Ellie since the nine-episode first season in 2023, with the two co-stars sharing first billing in the opening title sequence that shows a fungus growing and overtaking the world in a homage to the video game’s opening credits.

The HBO show’s opening sequence culminates in fungi growing side by side, symbolizing Joel and Ellie just before the title appears. But in Sunday’s “The Path” episode of The Last of Us, the title sequence has been updated following Joel’s death in the final moments of last week’s “Through the Valley.”

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Besides removing Pascal’s name from the opening credits, the two blooming mushrooms are now just one.

Should Pascal’s Joel appear in future episodes via flashback, the actor would be credited in a guest-starring capacity. With Joel’s death and Pascal’s removal from the opening credits, Ramsey receives first billing, followed by series regulars Gabriel Luna (Tommy), Isabela Merced (Dina), and Young Mazino (Jesse).

“When we get to the moment where Abby does what she does, it was hard for us to write and shoot as it was, I think, for a lot of people to watch,” showrunner and “Through the Valley” director Craig Mazin said of Joel’s death at Abby’s (Kaitlyn Dever) hands in the post-episode insider. “But this story is about how we all deal with those moments, which do confront us in life. We all think, ‘I can deal with this much stuff.’ And then life says, ‘Ah.’ And then we find out what we can put up with.”

“I have nothing but respect for the level of investment that people have in a video game, or a television show or movie or book,” added Pascal. “I experience it myself, and I’ve flung books across the room because its impact is so profound in me in experiencing a story. And I think that if it is incredibly painful for people, that’s obviously a brilliant achievement of the storytelling.”

New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 premiere Sunday nights on HBO and Max.