The Last of Us will delve into Ellie’s (played by Bella Ramsey) past this week before the final two episodes bring an end to her epic journey with Joel (Pedro Pascal) to find a cure to a deadly infection. HBO’s live-action version of the PlayStation game has already made some huge changes to the source material, but some fans believe the show’s biggest departure yet is still to come.
Warning – this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us TV series and video games.
A new theory has speculated that Joel could be killed off at the end of The Last of Us’ first season, years before he does in the games.
In the latest episode, Joel finally reunites with his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in Wyoming.
However, they don’t stay long, and he soon takes Ellie away again in search of a Firefly base in Colorado.
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The rebellion group seems to have vacated their stronghold, but the travelling pair come up against a group of raiders.
Last week’s episode concluded when Joel is stabbed while fleeing from the stragglers, and he later falls off his horse unconscious, leaving Ellie lost and afraid.
While this more or less matches up with the plot of the game, there’s speculation the series could be foreshadowing Joel’s early demise with his injuries.
Joel could succumb to his wounds this time or be left too weak to fight against another human or infected threat.
“Of course, there are only two episodes left after the Ellie and Riley backstory, which creates a lot of room for a nuanced look at Ellie’s future, and her realising how bleak this world really is.”
The idea of killing Joel so early in the narrative would fly in the face of everything players have come to expect from HBO’s series so far.
At the start of the second game, Joel is brutally murdered by Abbie (Laura Bailey) for killing her father, a Firefly surgeon, at the end of Part One.
What follows is a violent story of revenge as Ellie makes her way across the American wasteland to find Abbie’s group, hoping to make her suffer for killing her father figure.
However, this theory has proposed a completely different direction to the story which sees Joel dying much earlier than he does in the source material.
The drama has already expanded the story of the games considerably, such as giving a bigger role to Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) and introducing revolutionary leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey).
While the change would certainly be divisive, killing Joel at the end of the season could be the perfect way to keep fans on their toes and make sure Ellie’s story is front and centre.
The Last of Us continues Sundays on HBO and HBO Max in the USA and the following Monday on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK.
