The TV show makes a few key changes to Joel’s death. In the game, Joel is on patrol with Tommy, not Dina, and Joel cuts Abby off before she starts her rehearsed speech about her late father. In the TV show, Abby delivers the final death blow by stabbing Joel in the neck with the broken putter, not by bashing in his skull. But the most devastating change that the TV show makes is a small but incredibly powerful alteration to Ellie’s role in the scene.
In The Last Of Us Season 2, Ellie Is Still Conscious After Joel's Death
Ellie Gets Knocked Out In The Game
The TV show makes a few key changes to Joel’s death. In the game, Joel is on patrol with Tommy, not Dina, and Joel cuts Abby off before she starts her rehearsed speech about her late father. In the TV show, Abby delivers the final death blow by stabbing Joel in the neck with the broken putter, not by bashing in his skull. But the most devastating change that the TV show makes is a small but incredibly powerful alteration to Ellie’s role in the scene.
In The Last Of Us Season 2, Ellie Is Still Conscious After Joel's Death
Ellie Gets Knocked Out In The Game
In the game, just like in the TV show, Ellie goes looking for Joel after he goes missing on patrol. She tracks him down to the chalet where Abby and her friends are staying, sneaks into the building, and goes into the basement, where she finds Abby ruthlessly beating Joel to a pulp. Before she can stop Abby, Ellie is attacked by Abby’s friends, held down on the floor, and forced to watch as Abby tortures her father to death. But after Owen tells Abby to end it and she finally kills Joel, the series makes a slight change.
Seeing Ellie's Immediate Reaction To Joel's Death Makes It Even More Tragic
It Forces Us To Sit With Her Intense Grief
I wouldn’t have thought the TV show could make Joel’s death even sadder than the game, but by staying with Ellie in the moments after the killing and forcing us to sit with her intense grief, the showrunners managed it. In the game, Ashley Johnson gives a really powerful performance of Ellie feeling broken and defeated at the sight of Joel’s body, but she only gets to play it for a few seconds before she gets kicked in the head and knocked out cold.
Bella Ramsey nails the concoction of emotions: the shock, the horror, the confusion, the overwhelming sadness.
Ellie Lying With Joel's Body Creates A Heartbreaking Visual Parallel With Season 1
It's Similar To When She Lies With Him While He's Recovering From His Stab Wound
The Last of Us often uses mirror images to create poignant visual parallels. Sam and Henry’s relationship as a protector and protectee mirrors that of Joel and Ellie. The first game is bookended by images of Joel carrying Sarah through the chaos of the apocalypse and Joel carrying Ellie out of the hospital. This use of visual mirroring has carried over into the TV adaptation. The image of Ellie lying with Joel’s body after he’s killed in season 2, episode 2 creates a heartbreaking visual parallel with a similar scene from season 1.
The Last of Us airs new episodes on HBO and Max every Sunday.