The Last of Us Part 1and2are not games for those looking for a happy-go-fun time. It’s full of emotional heartache that’s far from targeted towards those easily traumatized by fictional events and characters. But, hey, aren’t we all? The story ofThe Last of Usis one that, even more than twelve years after its initial release, can still get people talking and debating on its characters, their decisions, and its overall story. This fact only proves the level of impact it had and continues to hold over its players and fans.
In 2023, HBO’s first season of the adaptation aired to an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from players, as well as those unfamiliar with the complexity of this story. Fast-forward to two years later, and the second season was finally released to both the apprehensive gamers and the innocent, unsuspecting individuals who had no idea what they were in for. Within two episodes, hearts across the globe were shattered once again.The loss of Joel is one of the most heartbreaking moments across all forms of media, but it’s not the only emotional moment from the second season ofThe Last of Usthat left viewers reeling for a long time after the credits rolled.
The Last Of Us
10The Aftermath of the Battle of Jackson
“Through the Valley” (Season 2, Episode 2)
The Battle of Jackson was an additionto the adaptation that created a lot of depth to the build-up and subsequent aftermath of Joel’s death. It showcased an astonishing portrayal of chaos and carnage, and audiences couldn’t avoid the same feeling of helplessness the characters were feeling as they sat back and watched the fall of everything the community had built throughout the years.
Episode one and the first half of episode two took the time to focus on and build the Jackson community, introducing characters and the family aspect that hadn’t been in the game, making the ultimate downfall even more emotional to witness.The way it was stitched together with the heartbreaking scene happening on the mountain with Joel was a nice touch to make an already stressful sequence that much more so, but from a storytelling perspective, it was a brilliant way to make the audience realize just what they were in for withThe Last of Usseason two.
9Ellie Brings Joel Some Coffee Beans
“The Path” (Season 2, Episode 3)
This subtle moment began as one targeted only at those who had played the game before diving into the second season. The exact moment in whichEllie places coffee beans on Joel’s gravewasn’t directly in the game. However, coffee beans do play a role in the story for the players, who take the time to explore a specific location while traveling through the big open-world section on Seattle Day One of the second game.
This small and meaningful moment did a brilliant job of rubbing salt in the freshly opened wound of losing Joel the episode before. It was a surefire way to get gamers crying over coffee beans, and it absolutely worked.The Last of Us Part IIis heartbreaking in its own right without adding more moments to attack its audience on a deeply hurtful level, but this was far from the only new source of heartache the show chose to include.
8Ellie Wakes Up Traumatized
Trauma is a powerful and controlling thing. It can happen to anyone in any way, shape, or form and can be a challenging struggle to live with, to say the least.InThe Last of Us, Ellie’s traumacomes when she’s forced to watch Joel be beaten and, in the series, stabbed to death right before her eyes, but it becomes a bit of a combination of things as the story progresses.
Joel’s death affected Ellie in different ways throughoutThe Last of UsPart II. Players can read about her thoughts and feelings in the journal as the game enters new locations. Towards the end of the story, after the events of both Ellie and Abby’s primary sections, there’s a moment where she suffers a heartwrenching episode of PTSD that convinces her she needs to head back out after Abby. In the show, that moment comes in the form of her waking up in the hospital after she suffers what is presumed to be a collapsed lung during her first encounter with Abby. She slowly regains consciousness before somewhat realizing what being awake means and sees Joel lying on the floor as Abby plunges the golf club into his neck.Her screams and disassociation from where she was is absolutely soul-crushing.
7Ellie Kills Owen and Mel
“Convergence” (Season 2, Episode 7)
Mel isn’t a likable character inThe Last of Us Part II. In fact, she’s one of the most hated. She’s stuck-up, rude, and, honestly, just downright snobby at times, but as of this moment, the series has followed the coverage of her character fairly close to the game. She and Owen’s conversation at the aquarium is similar to that seen inPart IIbut with quite a significant change: Owen is shot in the chest while Mel attacks Ellie in retaliation and is stabbed in the throat as a result, and their deaths are far more visually brutal.
Ellie only realizes she’s killed a pregnant woman when Owen splutters this as his dying words to her while she’s holding a gun to his throat. When she discovers what she’s done, she reacts by struggling to catch her breath and trying not to throw up before Tommy and Jesse find her.The series decided to go a much more troubling route and have Mel reveal her pregnancy by asking Ellie to cut the baby from her stomach to try and save it, but she can’t. Instead, she can only watch as Mel dies, breaking down completely in the process as she comes to terms with the fact she just killed an innocent baby and two people she didn’t intend to kill had things gone to plan. Viewers don’t necessarily care much for Mel or Owen, at least not yet, butEllie’s reaction to spiraling further into a killeris what really leaves a mark with this scene.
6Eugene’s Dying Plea to Be With His Wife
“The Price” (Season 2, Episode 6)
Eugene is a character with little to no development in the second game. A look into his weed-growing side business, some letters, and a small amount of dialogue between Ellie and Dina are all players get when it comes to a look into his life in Jackson. However, the show took a much more personal approach by including him in a significant moment that further put the nail in the coffin of Ellie and Joel’s fractured relationship.
As Joel takes Ellie on her first patrol, they are informed of two Jackson residents who need assistance after encountering infected while on their route, one being Eugene, who they soon discover has been bitten. Joel and Ellie’s emotional scenes are hard enough to watch as they fall apart completely.But the most heartbreaking moment of this sequence is when Joel takes Eugene off to a secluded location with a beautiful view to kill him before the infection takes over, despite promising him and Ellie that he would take him back to say goodbye to his wife. Eugene’s plea to Joel to let him see Gail one last time is devastating. He tells him that he doesn’t need a view, just his wife and his last words to her, and begs him to let her be the last he sees, but to no avail. Showing his body being dragged behind the horse added unneeded emotional trauma asthose flashbacks to Joel’sbody behind Jesse, Ellie, and Dina in episode two came flooding back with a vengeance.
5Jesse’s Death
Joel’s death was a somewhat well-kept secret within the gaming community so that those unaware of what was about to unfold in the second season ofThe Last of Uswouldn’t be spoiled for those who hadn’t played the second game. However, not everybody escaped the shocking momentbefore heading into the second episode. Jesse’sdeath, however, was often overshadowed by what happened to Joel, so it came as a major shock for those who didn’t see it coming.
Jesse’s death came after a moment of moderate respite. Everyone who had come to Seattle was alive and somewhat well, plans were being made to head back home to Jackson, and Ellie and Jesse were back on better terms, and then bang. Two minutes. That’s all it took for something to go wrong and for Jesse to be lying on the ground with a bullet in his face.It hit the same way as the game, suddenly and with viewers too shocked and in disbelief to process what had actually happened in the blink of an eye. But if you think that’s sad, just wait until a certain little baby is born.
4Ellie Breaks Down While Clutching Joel’s Jacket
This scene hits on a deeply relatable and personal level for anyone familiar with the pain that comes with losing a loved one.Trying to hold on to anything that reminds you of them, whether a familiar sight in a passing moment or a physical item that smells like them. It’s a natural part of the grieving process, but it’s also unbearable at times.
InThe Last of Us Part II,players can spend as little or as much time as they want to wander around Joel’s house, looking at his belongings, photos, projects, and anything else they can find. There are nods to past memories with Ellie, which are revealed later on, as well as photos of his daughter Sarah, alongside his guitar and much more. But perhaps the most emotional moment comes when Ellie enters his bedroom and finds his revolver and broken watch before entering the walk-in closet and burying her face in his jacket.It’s a heartwrenching moment, arguably made even more so in the adaptation as Ellie completely breaks down, and her facade of “everything is fine” completely crumbles into dust as the tears fall freely. And the audience was right there with her.
3Tommy Says Goodbye to His Big Brother
Okay, this one was a gut punch of the highest magnitude.There was no need to rub as much salt and lemon juice in the wound as they did with those four simple words. “Give Sarah my love.” How could you, show, how could you?
In the aftermath of the Battle of Jackson, Tommy learns off-screen ofhis brother’s untimely and brutal death. During the opening of the third episode, as the residents of the community reel from the day’s overwhelming loss, Tommy walks into the town’s morgue and sits beside Joel. His body is covered, but his arm is showing as Tommy cleans his blood-stained skin before stopping and looking over to where Joel’s face is under the sheet before breaking the audience’s hearts with one short sentence. Again, how could you?
2Ellie and Joel’s Chat on the Porch
The placement of this moment may not sit right with some of those who played the game before watching the adaptation, given how much of an impact this moment had in the game. But there’s no denying the emotional weight of this scene in both the video game and TV versions of the story.
The dialogue may differ slightly, given that this originally isn’t where Ellie finds out the truth about what happened in Salt Lake City, but the premise is the same.This porch scene serves as the final conversation between Ellie and Joel. Knowing it’s the last moment between these two is a difficult pill to swallow in itself, but fully acknowledging the fact that when Ellie finallydecides she wants to forgiveand move past this and reconnect, Joel is murdered the next morning, ripping away that chance, is undeniably the hardest part to come to terms with.
1Joel’s Death
Joel’s death is, without a doubt, one of the most painful, shocking, and downright heartbreaking fictional deaths across all forms of media. From video games and comic books to television and movies, it’s up there as one of the most devastating of them all, and for good reason.
The game’s version was shocking and quite literally came out of nowhere. Players had an uneasy feeling from early on, anticipating something bad was going to happen, given the nature of the first game, but no one could have expected the direction it ultimately went in. If that wasn’t bad enough,reliving it in HBO’sThe Last of Uswas arguably even more distressing to watch, despite the gamers who knew it was coming. To top it all off, they added some new tidbits here and there to really cause a sting. Joel tried to get up. He tried to get up. When Ellie begged him, he tried to get up. Oh, and then Ellie crawled over to his body and held his hand like she did in the first season after he was stabbed. If there’s one thing this show is good at, it’s twisting the knife with subtle throwbacks to previous scenes they know will leave a mark, and this one was the cherry on top.
Keep Reading:15 Best Last of Us Plot Twists (So Far), Ranked
