The Last of Us has always been a brutal story about love, loss, and the cost of survival. Season 1 ended with Joel choosing Ellie over the future of humanity, leaving a trail of Firefly bodies in his wake. Now, in season 2, the consequence of his choice finally catches up with him. The question fans have dreaded since the beginning finally gets an answer: Does Joel die?
“In Season 2, Episode 2, ‘Through the Valley,’ Joel’s past returns to haunt him. Driven by years of pain, Abby finally exacts her revenge for Joel’s actions at the Firefly hospital. The episode delivers one of the most emotionally charged moments in the series. Let’s break down this turning point, its impact on Ellie, and why Joel’s fate was sealed long before the final blow.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season 2.
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Joel’s Past Comes Back to Haunt Him
Joel’s time in Jackson gives him a rare moment of peace. He’s found a home. He’s found family. But peace doesn’t last long in a world like this. Season 2 episode 2 delivers a gut-punch that fans of the game saw coming, but it makes the moment no less heartbreaking to bear. Joel dies. And it’s not just any death. It’s slow, violent, and deeply personal.
The person who kills Joel in episode 2 is Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). She is the daughter of the surgeon Joel murdered in the Firefly hospital, the one who was about to perform the surgery to create a cure using Ellie’s immunity. Joel didn’t just kill the Fireflies; he destroyed Abby’s entire world. Now, five years later, she’s come to exact her revenge. All these years, Abby waited, trained, and planned. And when the time came for her revenge, she made Joel suffer a gruesome death.
How Joel Dies in The Last of Us Season 2
The show doesn’t hold back. Joel’s death scene is just as savage as it was in the game, down to the golf club. But there are a few key changes. In the game, Joel dies while on patrol with Tommy. In the show, it’s Dina who’s with him when they run into Abby at an abandoned outpost.
Joel saves Abby from a horde of infected, not knowing who she is. He brings her back to a nearby shelter, thinking he’s helped a fellow survivor. But Abby knows exactly who Joel is. And when they’re all inside, she locks the door behind her. That’s when it all spirals. Her group restrains Joel, and she reveals that she is the daughter of the Firefly surgeon, Dr. Jerry Anderson, who was killed by Joel back in the hospital in the finale of season 1. To Abby, Joel is a man who killed her father, so what she is doing to him seems perfectly reasonable to her.
The beating isn’t quick. Abby strikes Joel again and again with a golf club, each blow landing with thundering force. The others hold back, watching in silence. When Ellie and Dina arrive, Ellie rushes in, only to be restrained and pinned to the ground. She screams, thrashing helplessly as Abby delivers the final blows. Joel dies on the floor, bloodied and broken. It’s slow, brutal, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it.
Why Abby Kills Joel?
Abby’s actions aren’t random. She is purely motivated by revenge. Joel took her father, the one person she loved more than anyone. And when the Fireflies fell, Abby’s world did too. She spends the next five years rebuilding herself, eventually joining the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), a militant group in Seattle.
Abby could have killed Ellie. She could have killed Dina. But she didn’t. Abby’s mission was focused on killing one person – the killer of her father, her family. While she is a villain in the eyes of the audience who have built an emotional connection, in her story, she’s just avenging the death of her father. This is just a tragic reminder that there are no heroes and villains in The Last of Us, only broken individuals driven by their personal goals and motivations.
What Joel’s Death Means for Ellie
Ellie’s world shatters in a single moment. She wasn’t just close to Joel, he was her father figure and her protector. Even though their relationship had grown strained over the years, the love between them never disappeared. And now, that love has turned into an untamable rage.
Joel’s death marks a turning point for Ellie. She has lost the one person who gave her life meaning, and that loss becomes the fuel for everything that follows. The Ellie we see now will be colder and more ruthless, willing to cross lines Joel once kept her from. Her journey is no longer about survival or finding peace. It is about revenge. In chasing that revenge, she will mirror the very violence that took Joel from her, sacrificing everything just to kill Abby.
