It was the golf swing heard 'round the world. Honestly, if you were anywhere near the internet in the summer of 2020, you couldn't escape it. The Joel death Last of Us 2 game moment didn't just leak; it exploded, tearing the gaming community right down the middle. Even years later, in 2026, people are still arguing in Reddit threads and YouTube comments about whether Naughty Dog made a brilliant narrative choice or a massive mistake.
But look, if you’re just getting into the series now—maybe because of the HBO show or the Remastered version—you might be wondering what the big deal is. Why did it hurt so much? And more importantly, how did it actually happen?
The Moment Everything Changed
The game starts off feeling sorta normal. You’re back in Jackson, Wyoming. It’s snowy, peaceful, and Joel is actually being a "dad" again. He even gives Ellie a guitar and sings to her. It’s sweet. It’s also a total setup.
About two hours into the game, Joel and his brother Tommy are out on patrol when a massive blizzard hits. They end up saving a stranger named Abby from a horde of infected. In any other game, this would be the start of a beautiful friendship. But this isn't any other game.
Joel and Tommy follow Abby back to a nearby lodge where her group is staying. They’re outnumbered, but Joel—who usually smells a trap from a mile away—walks right into the room. Tommy introduces them. "I'm Tommy, this is my brother Joel."
The room goes cold. You can feel the air leave the lungs of everyone in that scene.
Abby doesn't hesitate. She shoots Joel in the leg with a shotgun. What follows is arguably the most brutal, uncomfortable sequence in modern gaming. While Tommy is knocked out, Abby uses a golf club to systematically beat Joel. It’s not a quick death. It’s torture.
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The worst part? Ellie finds them. She’s pinned to the floor, forced to watch as Abby delivers the final blow. Joel dies right there, in front of the girl he risked everything to save.
Why did Abby kill Joel?
If you only played the first game, this feels like a random act of cruelty. But The Last of Us Part II is obsessed with the idea that every action has a reaction.
Basically, Abby is the daughter of Jerry Anderson. If that name doesn't ring a bell, he was the lead Firefly surgeon at the end of the first game—the guy Joel killed to get Ellie off the operating table.
For Joel, saving Ellie was an act of love.
For Abby, it was the day a madman murdered her father and stole the world’s only chance at a cure.
Abby’s motivation was pure revenge. She spent four years training, obsessing, and hunting Joel down. She didn't care about the vaccine anymore; she just wanted the man who broke her world to feel the same pain.
The Controversy: Did Joel Get "Nerfed"?
One of the biggest complaints from fans is that Joel acted "out of character." The Joel from the first game was a paranoid survivalist. He didn't give out his name to strangers. He didn't walk into rooms full of armed people he didn't know.
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Critics argue that Naughty Dog made Joel "soft" or "dumb" just to move the plot forward. On the flip side, defenders say Joel had spent four years living in a civilized community. He’d been welcoming survivors into Jackson for a long time. Maybe he finally let his guard down. Maybe he just got old.
The Fallout and the "Cycle of Violence"
The Joel death Last of Us 2 game scene isn't just there for shock value—though it definitely has plenty of that. It’s the engine that drives the entire 25-hour experience.
The game forces you into Ellie's shoes as she goes on a murderous rampage through Seattle to find Abby. You kill Abby's friends. You kill her dog. You become the monster you think Abby is.
Then, the game pulls a massive "gotcha" move. It resets the clock and makes you play as Abby for ten hours. You see her side. You realize she has friends, she loves people, and she’s just as haunted by her actions as Ellie is.
It’s a gutsy move. A lot of players hated it. They didn't want to empathize with the person who killed their favorite character. But that’s the point. The game wants you to feel that conflict. It wants you to realize that in a world without heroes, everyone is someone else's villain.
Key Details You Might Have Missed
- The Watch: After Joel dies, Ellie continues to wear his broken watch. It’s a constant visual reminder of the "time" they lost.
- The Final Conversation: We later learn through flashbacks that Joel and Ellie were actually on the verge of reconciling. They had a huge fight about the hospital lie, but the night before he died, Ellie told him she’d like to try and forgive him. That makes his death ten times more tragic.
- The Lettering: If you look closely at the grave in Jackson, you’ll see the town really did love him. He wasn't just a smuggler; he was a protector.
How to Process the Story Now
If you're struggling with Joel's fate, you aren't alone. It’s supposed to feel unfair. It’s supposed to make you angry. Here is how most fans eventually find peace with it:
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Accept the theme of consequences.
Joel did something "bad" for a "good" reason at the end of the first game. The sequel is just the bill coming due. You can't kill a room full of people and expect no one to come looking for you.
Look at the flashbacks.
The game is actually packed with Joel content. The museum flashback is widely considered one of the best moments in the entire franchise. Even though he’s gone in the present, his presence is everywhere.
Focus on Ellie’s growth.
By the end of the game, Ellie has to choose between finishing her revenge or letting go. If she kills Abby, she loses the last bit of "Joel" inside her—the part that was capable of love. By letting Abby go, she finally starts to heal.
If you're playing through for the first time, don't rush the Abby chapters. It’s easy to want to speed-run them to get back to Ellie, but you’ll miss the nuance that makes the ending work. Pay attention to the letters and artifacts you find; they fill in the gaps of what Joel’s life was like in those quiet years in Jackson. Understanding who he became in the end makes the journey of letting him go much easier.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check out the Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II documentary. It features Troy Baker (Joel's actor) and Neil Druckmann discussing the exact moment they decided Joel had to die and how they handled the backlash from the cast and crew. It gives a lot of much-needed context to the creative "why" behind the golf club.