What I Think Happens After Joel's Death In The Last Of Us (As A Non-Gamer)

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 2, episode 2!

Since I have never played The Last of Us’ games, I have no idea where season 2’s story is heading after Joel’s death, but I do have some predictions. It’s difficult to avoid spoilers for a franchise as big as The Last of Us today, so I didn’t go into seasons 1 and 2 completely blind about what would happen to certain characters. However, heading into The Last of Us season 2, the only major spoiler that I knew beforehand was that Joel would be brutally murdered, and that a significant portion of gamers hated Abby for killing him.

Considering Pedro Pascal and Joel have been huge draws for the HBO adaptation, I thought The Last of Us might save his death until season 2’s ending. However, Joel’s death happened much sooner at the end of episode 2, leaving me without any known upcoming plot details for this season or the already-confirmed The Last of Us season 3. Still, given the themes of the franchise and what’s already been set up by The Last of Us season 2, episode 2’s ending, I have some theories about what will happen to Ellie, Abby, Dina, and Tommy in the show’s future.

Ellie Will Follow Abby To Seattle But Won't End Up Killing Her

I Think Ellie Will End The Cycle Of Violence & Revenge

Following Joel’s death, it’s plain to see that The Last of Us season 2 is sending Ellie on a dark path fueled by revenge, hatred, pain, and guilt. Ellie and Joel’s relationship had been strained over the five years after The Last of Us season 1’s ending, but they both still cared about each other in a father-daughter type of dynamic. As such, the pain of watching Joel be cruelly murdered while trying to get up for her is going to make her reaction to his death that much more intense.

Abby didn’t just take Joel away from Ellie, she took away Ellie’s ability to reconnect with him and fix their relationship. She’s going to continue carrying the guilt of not mending their relationship with her, and Ellie will fuel that anger and pain into something tangible: a mission to kill Abby. Just like how Abby dealt with the pain of Joel murdering her father by tracking him down and killing him, I believe The Last of Us will similarly send Ellie on a path of dedicating her life to getting revenge on the person who killed Joel.

We know that Abby and her friends will be headed back to Seattle after Joel’s death. Since the destruction of Jackson, Wyoming by The Last of Us season 2, season 2’s infected horde might make supporting such a large population more difficult, I think Ellie will choose to lighten the load by setting out for Seattle. The preview for The Last of Us season 2, episode 3 already shows Ellie training in fighting and building up her strength, so I believe she’ll still spend at least a few weeks or months in Jackson before going northwest.

While I have no idea what the timeline looks like for The Last of Us: Part II game, the fact that HBO is splitting the story into two seasons suggests it’ll cover a long period of time. I think it might take Ellie until close to The Last of Us season 2’s ending to find and confront Abby’s group, with season 3 focusing on the real showdown between the two. Since Ellie is essentially heading on the same path that Abby was on before killing Joel, I assume that Ellie will eventually have the upper hand on Abby in Seattle.

However, I don’t think Ellie will go through with killing Abby. One of The Last of Us’ major themes is the relationship between violence, pain, grief, and revenge, and how that becomes a cruel cycle in a lawless apocalyptic world. Abby succumbed to her hatred and rage when she killed Joel, but Joel’s relationship with Ellie has taught her to embrace love and forgiveness. If Ellie kills Abby, she won't be honoring Joel’s memory. Joel would never want that. In the end, I think she’ll spare Abby, ending that cycle of violence and cruelty as an outlet for grief and pain.

Ellie & Dina Will Get Together, But Dina Will Die Before Ellie Faces Abby

Ellie Will Likely Face Another Brutal Tragedy Before She Has The Chance To Kill Abby

After the pair kissed in The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, it looks like the series is setting up Ellie and Dina to become a couple in future episodes. While Ellie will likely isolate herself as she grieves Joel and puts all her focus toward getting revenge on Abby, Dina will be dealing with her own traumas after being drugged by Abby’s group. They might push each other away at first, but I think that Ellie and Dina will officially start dating before The Last of Us season 2 ends.

However, with tragedy being almost inevitable in The Last of Us’ world, there has to be one more major setback before Ellie finally confronts Abby. Sadly, I think that’ll be Dina. Ellie and Dina will likely travel to Seattle together to confront Abby, but either on the way to Seattle or once they’ve already gotten there, I predict that Dina will die. Whether she’s killed by one of The Last of Us’ infected variants or by another person, I think Dina’s death will fuel Ellie’s anger at Abby further, but ultimately still guide her toward forgiveness.

Jackson, Wyoming Will Be Inhospitable & Tommy Will Die While Protecting His Wife & Son

I Predict Tommy Will Sacrifice Himself To Save The Next Generation

I also predict that Jackson, Wyoming won’t be able to fully recover from the infected attack they just experienced in The Last of Us season 2, episode 2. Whether certain families move onward or they find that Jackson has simply become inhospitable, I think Joel’s brother Tommy will have to pack up his family and move around the same time that Ellie heads for Seattle.

Sadly, I predict that while Tommy is trying to leave Jackson or while he’s settling in a new location, he’ll die trying to protect his wife, Maria, and their son, Benjamin, from infected. As tragic as Tommy’s death would be, I think he’ll become more focused on saving the next generation of humanity over himself, which includes Ellie and his son. It would be thematically fitting if, toward the end of The Last of Us’ story, Ellie and Benjamin were the ones carrying on the legacies of Joel and Tommy while working to save humanity.

Ellie Will Sacrifice Herself To Help Create A Vaccine For The Infection

Ellie Might Still Survive Creating The Cure

Though Joel slaughtered the Fireflies in order to save Ellie from being sacrificed in The Last of Us’ season 1 finale, I think she’ll eventually still opt to give her life to create a vaccine to protect against the infected. Ellie has spent years contending with her immunity and the bigger purpose behind why she’s been able to survive while everyone around her has died. After sparing Abby, I think Ellie will continue to make sacrifices by trying to give her life to save the future of humanity.

If my prediction is correct, then Ellie will help create a vaccine against The Last of Us’ infection. However, I’m not sold on the idea that she’ll die. The Fireflies thought they needed to kill Ellie to investigate the source of her immunity and try to extract it for a cure, but their method may not have been the only way to accomplish a vaccine. I believe Ellie will agree to be sacrificed and potentially die to create the vaccine, but she’ll ultimately live, ushering in a new era of hope in The Last of Us’ apocalyptic world.