Is Pedro Pascal leaving The Last of Us? Does Joel come back in season 2?

21 April 2025, 20:18

Does Joel come back in The Last of Us season 2? Here's every flashback scene from the trailers. Picture: HBO

By Katie Louise Smith

Is Pedro Pascal leaving The Last of Us? Here's what happens in the games, and all the scenes we haven't yet seen from the trailers.

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If you've just watched The Last of Us without having any prior knowledge of what happens in the game, you've probably got a LOT of questions right now... First one being: Is Pedro Pascal leaving the show?

The Last of Us season 2 episode 2 leaves viewers devastated after an absolutely brutal death with completely changes the course of the entire show, as well as the lives of several characters.

But what happens next? Does Joel come back in The Last of Us? Here's every scene featuring Joel (and Ellie) from the trailers that we still haven't seen yet.

Read more: Is Joel really dead in The Last of Us? Pedro Pascal speaks out
Read more: The Last Of Us' Kaitlyn Dever had extra security on season 2 set because of Abby hatred

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for The Last of Us season 2!

WARNING: MAJOR THE LAST OF US SPOILERS AHEAD. Picture: HBO

The Last of Us season 2 trailers teases the moment Ellie confronts Joel about his lie. Picture: HBO

Is Joel really dead in The Last of Us season 2?

Yes, sadly, Joel Miller is really dead. He's officially gone, and just as she said she should, Abby was the one who killed him.

Just like what happens in the game, Abby brutally kills Joel after discovering his identity shortly after being rescued. She immediately turns on him, knowing he's the one who killed her father during the Firefly hospital massacre in Salt Lake City.

By the time Ellie arrives, it's already too late as Joel is lying on the floor covered in blood with very serious head injuries. Then with one final blow, Abby stabs Joel in the neck with a broken golf club as Ellie watches on. (That detail is somehow even more horrific than the game.)

At the end of the episode, we see Ellie, Jesse and Dina riding back to Jackson on their horses with Joel's body wrapped in sheets and being towed behind them.

Watch The Last of Us season 2 weeks ahead trailer

Does Joel come back? Is Pedro Pascal leaving The Last of Us?

Despite Joel's death, it doesn't seem like this is the last we've seen of Pedro Pascal on the HBO series. Per the trailers, there's still a handful of scenes we've still yet to see but these will all be flashbacks.

First up, there's the museum flashback (which takes place three years earlier) where Joel and Ellie visit the Wyoming Museum of Science and History as a surprise for her 16th birthday.

In the trailers, the duo can be seen walking through the forest, exploring the museum, and coming across the giant T-Rex statue, just the like the game.

The Last of Us season 2 will include Ellie and Joel's museum flashback scene. Picture: HBO

Second, there's the flashback that viewers believe to be the scene in which Joel kills Eugene. This one doesn't actually exist in the game – Eugene's character has been changed and expanded for the purpose of the show.

So far, we've been led to believe that Joel was forced to kill Eugene, presumably because he'd been infected. However, fans have theorised that Joel may have killed him in order to protect Ellie.

In the trailer, Eugene can be seen walking into the forest with Joel standing behind him pointing a gun at him.

The Last of Us season 2 will include a flashback showing how and why Joel killed Eugene. Picture: HBO

There's also several other scenes including one of Joel looking at Ellie's tattoo, one where he has a conversation with Gail, one where Ellie confronts him about lying to her about what happened at the hospital... And there's also a scene where Joel gives Ellie the guitar.

Seeing as that's all that's been teased in the trailers so far, we'll leave any other game spoilers out of this article.

Confirming that more scenes with Pedro and Joel are on the way, co-showrunner Craig Mazin told EW: "We've shown that we screw around with time. So characters are gone but not forgotten, and sometimes they are remembered in interesting ways."

Pedro added: "Something that I do feel like keeping secret is, how will those things play and where will they be placed, which I think is still a lovely thing to not know for people that watch the show."