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Joel's death occurs in The Last of Us season 2, episode 2, which aired on April 20, 2025. The episode confirms that Joel is dead and shows how it happens. Abby shoots him in the leg, then beats him with a golf club inside a lodge just outside Jackson.
Ellie arrives during the attack but is held back by Abby's group and forced to watch Joel die on the floor. The final blow is shown as a strike to the neck with the broken end of the club. His body is later carried back to Jackson in a bag by Ellie, Jesse, and Dina. There is no indication that Joel survived. No twist is introduced. The show is clear—he died in front of Ellie, and she brought his body home.
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The episode doesn't use any hidden camera cuts or off-screen edits to leave ambiguity. The scene ends with Joel's bloodied face and limp body, then cuts to Ellie grieving. This matches what happens in The Last of Us Part II game, which the show closely follows. Joel's death is not a fake-out or a delay. His role in present-day events ends in this episode. From here on, the story will only include him through flashbacks or memories.
Pedro Pascal’s Joel will return in flashbacks, The Last of Us team confirms
Joel is dead in The Last of Us season 2's timeline, but the showrunners have confirmed that his presence will continue throughout the rest of the season. Episode 2, titled Through the Valley, aired on April 20, 2025, and showed Abby killing Joel after luring him into a trap.
The show did not leave his death open to interpretation. Ellie witnesses it, and Joel's body is brought back to Jackson. There is no version of this story where Joel survives physically. However, the series plans to include him in future episodes through flashbacks and memory sequences.
In The Last of Us podcast released after episode 2 aired, co-creator Craig Mazin said:
"This is not the last we will see of Joel."
He explained that while Joel's death ends his part in present events, there are still significant parts of his past with Ellie that haven't been shown.
Mazin mentioned that "there are some mysteries here" when referring to Joel and Ellie's strained relationship. Season 2 opens with Ellie avoiding him, and fans have not yet been shown what caused the distance between them. Those moments are expected to play out through flashbacks in later episodes.
The game The Last of Us Part II also uses this format. Joel appears in several memory scenes after his death, and the show follows the same structure.
These flashbacks will likely show the moments between seasons 1 and 2—scenes of Ellie learning guitar, their final conversations, and the tension that followed Joel's decision to save her at the Firefly hospital. Ashley Johnson's version of Through the Valley at the end of episode 2 hints at using past voices and memories as narrative tools.
Variety's interview with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann on April 20 also confirmed the continued emotional weight of Joel's presence. Mazin pointed out that "her face is the last thing he sees," describing Ellie's importance to Joel even in his final seconds.
The creators emphasized that Joel's memory will guide Ellie's actions for the rest of the season. Every choice she makes going forward will be shaped by what he meant to her and how he died.
Joel will not be resurrected or brought back through alternate means. His future lies in memory—Ellie's flashbacks, character recollections, and unresolved emotional threads. The season will continue to explore who he was, what he did, and how that shapes everyone left behind.
Watch The Last of Us on HBO.
