What Happened To Jesse In The Last Of Us Season 2 Finale

Jesse meets a grim fate in The Last of Us season 2 finale, but it’s a blink-and-miss-it moment in an intense, action-packed sequence, so it’s easy for the specifics to get lost in the chaos. The Last of Us season 2, episode 7 brings Ellie’s quest for revenge to a head. After returning from the hospital, Ellie heads out with Jesse to find Tommy, agreeing to abandon her mission and go home, so Dina can get the medical attention she needs. But secretly, Ellie is still planning to go after Abby and exact vengeance before leaving.

When Jesse goes to the marina to help Tommy, Ellie breaks away to infiltrate Abby’s aquarium hideout. There, she kills Abby’s friends Owen and Mel and fails to get a straight answer about Abby’s location. Jesse and Tommy find her there, traumatized by her own misdeeds, and finally convince her to head home. But just as they’re planning their route out of Seattle, Abby shows up at the theater and holds Tommy at gunpoint. As Ellie and Jesse race in to save him, Abby opens fire. What happens to Jesse in this scene?

Abby Shoots Jesse In The Last Of Us Season 2 Finale

Jesse Is Dead After Taking A Gunshot To The Head

As Ellie and Jesse burst into the theater lobby after hearing some commotion, they’re shocked to find that Abby has tracked them down and is holding Tommy hostage. Abby opens fire and Ellie ducks for cover. She looks over at Jesse and sees his lifeless body with a gunshot wound in his face. Unfortunately, Jesse is dead. He might come back in flashbacks in a future season of The Last of Us, but he won’t survive the gunshot wound.

So far, Ellie’s quest for revenge has yielded a lot of tragedy. Tommy has had to leave his wife and young son behind to protect her, Dina has taken an arrow to the leg, and her unborn child is in serious danger. But Jesse’s death is the worst consequence by far. Ellie came to Seattle because she couldn’t process the loss of a loved one, and now, it’s cost her another loved one.

What Happens To Jesse In The Last Of Us Part 2 Game

Jesse's Death In The TV Show Is Practically A Shot-For-Shot Recreation Of The Game

Jesse meets the exact same fate in The Last of Us Part II game as he does in the TV show. After he and Tommy take Ellie back to the theater and start planning their route home, Tommy is attacked by Abby. Ellie and Jesse run into the lobby, where Abby instinctively opens fire and Jesse catches a bullet in the head. Ellie is shocked to see her friend’s corpse and tosses away her gun and surrenders to Abby to save Tommy from meeting a similar fate. It’s an almost shot-for-shot recreation of the game.

The biggest difference between Jesse in the game and Jesse in the TV show is that the TV version of Jesse is mad at Ellie. In the game, Jesse is much more compassionate. He understands why Ellie ran off to pursue revenge and he just wants to make sure she’s okay. But in the TV show, he doesn’t miss an opportunity to chastise her for her recklessness and selfishness. It’s not really fair; as Ellie points out, the person she loved the most was beaten to death in front of her — she should be allowed to be a little irrational.

It’s uncanny how much the shot of Young Mazino’s Jesse lying dead resembles the shot of Jesse lying dead in the game. The gunshot wound is in the exact same place, he’s slumped on the floor in the same position, and his lifeless eyes even look the same. Jesse’s death only compounds Ellie’s hatred of Abby. Even after losing Jesse and nearly losing Tommy and Dina, Ellie won’t let go of her desire for revenge — but that’s a story for The Last of Us to cover in season 3 (or possibly even season 4).