It was the golf club swing heard around the world. Even years after the release of The Last of Us Part II, the community hasn't really moved on. Honestly, how could we? Watching a beloved protagonist get taken out in the first two hours of a sequel is the kind of narrative gamble that either makes a masterpiece or ruins a franchise for people. If you’re looking for the short answer: Abby Anderson is who killed Joel in The Last of Us. But "who" is just the tip of the iceberg. The "why" is a messy, sprawling web of consequences that started way back in a hospital in Salt Lake City.
Joel Miller wasn't a hero in the traditional sense. He was a survivor. He did terrible things to keep himself and Ellie alive, and eventually, those things caught up to him. That’s the core of Naughty Dog’s storytelling—no one gets away clean.
The Face Behind the Club: Who is Abby Anderson?
Abby isn't some random bandit or a faceless NPC. She is a soldier for the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), but before that, she was just a daughter. Her father, Jerry Anderson, was the lead surgeon for the Fireflies. You remember him. He was the guy at the end of the first game who was prepared to kill Ellie to develop a cure. He was also the guy Joel shot in the head without a second thought to save her.
When Joel stepped into that operating room at St. Mary's Hospital, he didn't just save Ellie; he created a villain. Or, depending on how you look at it, he created a new protagonist. Abby spent years training, bulking up, and obsessing over finding the "man who killed the Fireflies." She didn't want justice; she wanted a specific kind of brutal, intimate revenge.
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Why Joel Had to Die for the Story to Live
A lot of fans felt betrayed. They felt Joel was "out of character" by helping a stranger and giving his name. But think about it. Joel had spent four years living in Jackson. He was soft—or at least, softer than he was in the Boston QZ. He was a guy who played guitar and traded coffee. He wasn't looking for a fight when he saved Abby from that horde of infected. He thought he was just being a neighbor.
The death of Joel wasn't just shock value. It was the catalyst for Ellie’s entire journey. Without that trauma, the game doesn't happen. It’s a story about the "cycle of violence," a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in game criticism but actually fits here. Joel killed Jerry. Abby killed Joel. Ellie killed... well, almost everyone Abby ever cared about. It's a domino effect that proves nobody is the "main character" in the eyes of their enemies.
The Brutality of the Scene
The actual moment who killed Joel in The Last of Us is agonizing to watch. It’s not a quick death. Abby uses a golf club, a choice that has since become a meme in the gaming community, but in the moment, it was sickening. Ellie is pinned to the floor, forced to watch. This is a crucial detail because it shifts the perspective. We don't just see Joel die; we see Ellie's world collapse.
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Naughty Dog director Neil Druckmann has mentioned in interviews that the scene was designed to make the player feel the same blinding rage as Ellie. They wanted you to hate Abby. They wanted you to want to hunt her down. That's why the mid-game switch—where you actually play as Abby—is so jarring. It forces you to walk in the shoes of the person you’ve spent ten hours trying to murder.
Common Misconceptions About Joel's Death
There's a lot of noise online about how this went down. Let's clear some stuff up.
- "Joel was too smart to get caught like that."
Again, Jackson changed him. He was part of a community. He went on regular patrols. He trusted the system. Plus, he was trapped in a basement during a blizzard with a group that had just helped him survive a massive surge of runners and clickers. - "Abby is a psychopath."
Is she? Or is she just Ellie from a different perspective? If we played a whole game about Abby and Jerry before the hospital incident, we would have cheered when she finally tracked down the "monster" who killed her dad. - "It was a retcon."
Actually, the surgeon in the first game was always a key figure, even if his character model was updated for the sequel to look more like the Jerry we see in flashbacks. The consequences were always baked into the ending of the first game.
The Lingering Impact on the Franchise
The death of Joel changed the DNA of The Last of Us. It shifted the focus from a "survive the zombies" story to a psychological study of grief. It also divided the fanbase in a way few games ever have. Even now, if you go to any gaming forum, mentioning Abby will start a heated debate.
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Some players refuse to acknowledge the second game as canon. Others find it to be the most moving piece of media they've ever experienced. Regardless of where you stand, the fact that we’re still talking about who killed Joel in The Last of Us proves that the writing hit a nerve. It wasn't a safe choice. It was a bold, divisive, and ultimately human one.
What Happens Next?
If you're still processing the ending or just starting your journey through the series, there are a few things you can do to get the full picture of this narrative.
- Replay the "Prologue" of Part II: Watch Joel’s face when he gives his name. You can see the moment he realizes something is wrong, but it’s too late. It’s a masterclass in facial animation.
- Look for the "Museum" Flashback: This happens after Joel's death. It provides the emotional context for why Ellie is so broken. She wasn't just losing a father figure; she was losing the chance to forgive him.
- Analyze the "Firefly Lab" Voice Logs: If you go back to the first game, listen to the recorders in the hospital. You’ll see that the Fireflies were desperate. They weren't necessarily the "good guys," which makes Joel's choice more complex.
- Watch the HBO Series: Season 2 is set to cover these events. Seeing how Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey handle this material will likely bring a whole new wave of discussion and heartbreak to the mainstream.
Joel's death wasn't an ending; it was a pivot. It forced us to realize that in this world, love is a dangerous thing because it makes you do things that have consequences you can't outrun. Whether you love Abby or hate her, she's the mirror image of the man we spent years admiring. That's the real tragedy of The Last of Us.
Next Steps for Fans:
To truly understand the weight of this event, go back and find the optional dialogue in Jackson during the opening of Part II. It highlights the strain between Joel and Ellie, making his sudden exit even more painful. If you're interested in the technical side, look up the "Grounded" documentary by Naughty Dog on YouTube, which details the writers' struggles with deciding how and when Joel should fall.