Naughty Dog has produced a lot of incredible, now-iconic video games. The Last of Us is somewhere near the top of that list, though the sequel - while a technical masterpiece - drew criticisms from fans due to one particularly harrowing plot beat.
We are, of course, talking about the death of Joel at the hands of Abby. She's the daughter of the surgeon he gunned down in cold blood at the end of the first game when he saved Ellie but robbed the world of a cure and Abby of her father.
In the game, Abby brutally murders Joel as Ellie watches, setting the game's lead on a revenge mission. However, players are also put in Abby's shoes and, as the story progresses, come to empathise with her and better understand why she killed Joel after he slaughtered the Fireflies in cold blood.
If you were expecting tonight's season 2 premiere of The Last of Us to get on with killing Joel, you'll likely be shocked that it didn't happen.
While we do see Abby vow revenge and share her plan to kill Joel slowly, the focus is primarily on the growing rift between Joel and Ellie and the fact that the infected appear to be getting smarter. There's also a big tease that shows strands of infection in Jackson's pipes, opening the door to them potentially invading the settlement in a future episode.
As the premiere ends, Ellie is mad at Joel after he intervenes when another townsperson refers to her and Dina with a homophobic slur. At the same time, Abby and her group are shown to have finally found Jackson. We know what's coming next, and while it's possible HBO decided to change things, that doesn't seem likely. How much time Pedro Pascal has left as Joel in The Last of Us now remains to be seen.
Why not get straight to his death in the premiere? After all, this was a pretty slow way to open the season. We'd guess that HBO has learned from AMC's mistake; when Glenn was viciously killed by Negan in The Walking Dead's season 7 premiere, viewership plummeted by the time episode 2 rolled around and never fully recovered.
In our The Last of Us season 2 review, we concluded with, "Pedro Pascal is a force to be reckoned with in The Last of Us, and with Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced matching him beat for beat, season 2 is a powerful, rousing triumph that cements this series as the best video game adaptation ever."
The Last of Us season 2's returning cast includes Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Rutina Wesley as Maria.
Other announced new additions include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. Catherine O’Hara also guest stars.
What did you think about The Last of Us's season 2 premiere?