I can’t judge they did it. Even earlier play 1 of The Last of Us was released, anyone who had played some Last of Us video games looked astatine a singular lawsuit successful the 2nd game arsenic a large TV question mark. Could that hap connected TV? How would radical react? Surely, it would beryllium changed successful immoderate mode due to the fact that determination was simply nary way. Well, Sunday’s 2nd occurrence of The Last of Us play two not lone had that infinitesimal successful it, it had it hap astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the game, which is astir arsenic shocking arsenic the infinitesimal itself. Almost.
We’re talking, of course, astir the decease of Joel. Yes, we’re atrocious to pass you, but that really happened. You thought you were watching a Pedro Pascal amusement and present Pedro Pascal’s quality is dead. It’s an lawsuit that’s going to acceptable the signifier for everything that follows this play and next.
Of course, we’re getting a small up of ourselves. Joel’s decease came astatine the extremity of an already unthinkable occurrence featuring the biggest and scariest enactment scenes to day successful The Last of Us. You don’t privation to hide each that simply due to the fact that of the ending. So let’s get backmost to Joel successful a bit.

Just to hammer location that, yes, it’s going to happen, the 2nd occurrence started with the aforesaid quality arsenic the archetypal one: Abby. She’s successful a hospital, terrified, erstwhile she sees herself and tells the different her not to spell into the room. Someone’s brains are connected the floor. Abby wakes up from the nightmare connected the level too. She and her squad recovered a compartment extracurricular of Jackson and now, successful the daylight, announcement conscionable however large it is. They recognize that infiltrating the city, arsenic good arsenic uncovering Joel, volition beryllium each but impossible. Nevertheless, Abby wants to property on, adjacent though the remainder of the radical secretly decides they request to person her to spell backmost to Seattle.
Down successful Jackson, Jesse wakes up Ellie to spell connected patrol and razzes her astir kissing his ex the nighttime before. It’s a tense greeting due to the fact that idiosyncratic discovered that the infected person a caller instrumentality wherever they enactment a fistful of bodies connected apical of the snow, hiding dozens beneath it. That means the full municipality is connected alert and Tommy holds a gathering to spell implicit their elaborate exigency plans. It’s a bully portion of communicative and a bully spot of exposition because, well, they’re going to request it.
After each but ignoring an apology from Seth, the homophobic commenter from the party, Ellie says she wants to spell retired connected patrol with Joel. This is unusual due to the fact that past we saw them, they weren’t talking. Now though, she implies they’ve buried the hatchet and are sick of everyone prying into their business. (No spoilers but… retrieve this.) Unfortunately, Jesse says Joel has already near with Dina. He wanted to spell with her, but decided to fto her sleep.

And truthful it’s Jesse and Ellie heading retired unneurotic arsenic the radical of Jackson marque preparations for the worst. There’s besides a immense tempest unreality connected the skyline excessively but Jesse says he’s not disquieted astir it. That changes quickly, though, and Jackson calls everyone retired connected patrol backmost to the city. However, Joel and Dina don’t reply and Ellie and Jesse accidental they’re excessively acold to get back. They structure successful an aged 7-11. There, we larn much astir Gail’s hubby Eugene, who Joel killed, and helium seems similar helium was a beauteous chill guy.
Abby is keeping ticker connected everything going connected erstwhile she sees 2 radical connected horses. She goes down to analyse but slips and falls down the broadside of a mountain. She winds up successful a tract precisely similar the 1 Jesse described earlier, but much, overmuch bigger. Jesse said 7 bodies were hiding different 30. Here, determination are astir apt 70 bodies connected the aboveground so, yeah. This is bad. Abby isn’t alert of this though truthful is terrified erstwhile the crushed starts to illness and infected commencement to determination out. Hundreds. Thousands. Who knows? But the contention is connected and adjacent though Abby is intelligibly a villain astatine this constituent connected the show, we find ourselves cheering for her to get away.
This full pursuit is wildly entertaining and aggravated arsenic Abby narrowly avoids seizure a fewer times, earlier yet uncovering herself stuck betwixt a gathering and a chain-link obstruction littered with infected. She’s astir to beryllium eaten, crushed, oregon some erstwhile idiosyncratic comes retired of obscurity and saves her. It’s Joel.
Here’s a bully infinitesimal to say: really? What are the likelihood of this happening? Jackson has truthful galore citizens and for Abby to beryllium retired successful the surrounding country and conscionable truthful hap to tally into the 1 idiosyncratic she has traveled crossed the state for feels mode excessively easy. Or, if you look astatine it different way, possibly this was karma yet coming for Joel. The world’s mode to close the wrongs of his actions. It’s surely thing to deliberation about.

Joel saves Abby, and arsenic they and Dina effort to fig retired a spot to go, Abby suggests the adjacent compartment wherever her friends are. Clever girl. Off they spell arsenic a massive, monolithic horde of infected chases them. Eventually, different horde joins the pursuit and things look bleak. But that’s erstwhile things chopped to Jackson and radical moving connected the pipes. The surviving plants we saw astatine the extremity of past week look to consciousness this is wherever the radical are and, well, retired of nowhere, the hordes alteration direction. They springiness up connected Joel, Dina, and Abby and caput the different way.
This is besides astir erstwhile Tommy realizes Joel and Dina haven’t radioed backmost successful truthful Jesse and Ellie, who person been successful Eugene’s 7-11, determine to acceptable disconnected into the tempest similar Han Solo connected Hoth, hopeless to find their friends astatine immoderate the cost.
The idiosyncratic who saw the surviving plants runs to archer Tommy astir it, but that’s besides erstwhile the lookout sees thousands upon thousands moving toward the city. They ringing the bell. It’s clip to instrumentality exigency measures arsenic everything atrocious that could hap each happens astatine precisely the aforesaid time. Almost similar it’s expected to.
What follows is, without a doubt, the biggest enactment country successful The Last of Us history. (Which, we admit, isn’t a agelong history, but this is inactive a immense measurement supra everything else.) Thousands of infected hammer connected the walls of Jackson arsenic radical sprout them, driblet barrels of gasoline that go bombs, and conscionable effort to survive. I’m not going to get into each detail, but it’s an unthinkable scene, particularly Tommy’s combat with the Bloater erstwhile helium unleashes an full occurrence thrower connected it.

On a mean show, you wouldn’t beryllium capable to apical a country similar that. But, connected The Last of Us, arsenic epic arsenic the penetration country is, it’s astir to beryllium eclipsed by what happens erstwhile Joel and Dina got backmost to Abby’s cabin. Her friends instrumentality her and the strangers successful and everything is nice… until Abby reveals the man’s sanction is Joel. Instantly, the full vibe changes. The power goes from “kind” to “evil,” and the radical starts to transportation retired a program they person intelligibly been talking astir for years.
They enactment Dina to slumber and Abby starts in. She’s fixed this code a cardinal times successful her caput and it shows. She wants Joel to dilatory recognize who she is and wherefore they’re there. It gets taken up a notch erstwhile she shoots him successful the limb and has him wrapped successful a tourniquet. She doesn’t privation him to bleed excessively much. She wants him to suffer.
Abby explains that she’s the girl of the doc Joel killed successful the infirmary and that helium killed 18 different radical beyond that. As she goes on, Joel dilatory starts to recognize there’s nary mode retired of this. He accepts his destiny and tries to get her to termination him quickly. Abby refuses. She beats him with a play club, conscionable similar successful the game. It’s sinister. It’s intense. And, it’s besides benignant of deserved. Yes, Joel saved Ellie, but astatine what cost? Nineteen lives? Millions much if they made a cure? Since he’s the prima of the show, we’re expected to consciousness sympathy for him, but measurement backmost and deliberation astir the different constituent of presumption for a minute. It’s a classic Last of Us motivation dilemma.
Ellie sees tracks successful the snowfall and follows them to the cabin. Inside, she rapidly realizes what’s happening and tries to intervene. She gets a slash oregon 2 successful earlier she’s restrained and forced to look astatine the bloody messiness connected the level she knows is Joel. She screams astatine him to get up but helium can’t. He’s each but gone. Then, Abby takes the play nine that she snapped successful 2 aft beating him truthful severely and stabs him successful the neck. Joel is dead. Ellie vows she’s going to termination everyone determination but they permission her live anyway. That’s their code.

Back successful Jackson, the horde has been defeated, but the demolition and casualties are beyond measure. We spot the radical of Jackson commencement to regroup. Abby and her friends statesman their travel backmost to Seattle, and Jesse and Dina bring Ellie, and Joel’s body, backmost to town.
This was an occurrence of The Last of Us that nary of america volition ever forget. If you played the crippled and knew Joel was going to die, you can’t judge you got to spot it connected TV. If you didn’t play the game, you astir apt inactive don’t judge that it really happened. It did happen. Pedro Pascal conscionable died connected the amusement you watched for Pedro Pascal. What does that mean for Ellie, the radical of Jackson, Abby, and others? We’ll find retired passim the remainder of the play and next.
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