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The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama television series developed by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, based on the Naughty Dog video games. Several decades after a fungal infection infects humans to make them zombie-like, the first two seasons of the show track Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traveling across the US.
The second season, adapted from The Last of Us Part II, follows Ellie and others in Jackson, Wyoming, including Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Ellie’s friends Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino), as they journey to Seattle to track down Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who will feature in season 3.
Season 2 of The Last of Us aired in April and May 2025, adapting the first half of the 2020 game. The Last of Us Part II is set 25 years after the outbreak.
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The season showcases impactful scenes of grief, remembrance, and struggle, portraying the harsh realities of survival. Here is a list of the seven most emotional moments from The Last of Us season 2.
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Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.
The loss of Joel and 6 other emotional moments from The Last of Us season 2
1) The shattering loss of Joel
Joel's passing was one of the saddest, most surprising, and heartbreaking deaths. The game accomplished it quickly and shockingly, catching gamers off guard. Although there was a sense of unease from the beginning, due to the tone of the initial game, no one would have been able to anticipate the direction that the story would go.
Seeing Joel die in HBO's The Last of Us was worse, even for players who already saw it. Interpolating subtle new details to create maximum emotional impact, the show had Joel struggling to stand when Ellie pleaded with him to, and Ellie crawling over to clasp his hand, recreating a poignant scene from the first season.
The show builds emotional impact through subtle references, and this scene is especially heartbreaking.
2) Ellie and Joel’s porch conversation
Some fans who played the game before watching the adaptation might feel that the timing of this moment doesn’t quite land the same way, considering how impactful it was in the original. However, there is no denying the emotional power this scene carries in both the video game and the TV series.
Though the dialogue varies a bit, since this isn’t exactly when Ellie learns the truth about Salt Lake City, the core idea remains unchanged. This porch scene marks the final conversation between Ellie and Joel, and just knowing it is their last interaction is hard to accept.
What makes it even more heartbreaking is that the very next morning, just as Ellie chooses to forgive and reconnect with Joel, he is killed, shattering any hope of reconciliation. That loss is the toughest reality to face in the show The Last of Us season 2.
3) Tommy’s farewell to Joel
This moment delivered an emotional blow, intensified by the four words: "Give Sarah my love." It added another layer of emotional weight to the scene.
After the Battle of Jackson, Tommy finds out off-screen about his brother’s brutal and sudden death. At the start of episode 3, as the community mourns their massive loss, Tommy enters the town morgue and sits beside Joel’s covered body.
He carefully cleans the blood from Joel’s exposed arm, then pauses and looks toward his face beneath the sheet before delivering that heartbreaking line in The Last of Us.
4) Ellie’s breakdown holding Joel’s jacket
In The Last of Us Part II, players can slowly explore Joel’s house, finding personal items like photos of Sarah, his guitar, and memories of Ellie. The most powerful moment is when Ellie discovers his revolver and broken watch, then hides in the closet, burying her face in his jacket.
In the adaptation, this scene is even more intense as Ellie finally breaks down, her emotional walls crumbling as tears fall, and the audience feels every bit of her pain.
5) Jesse’s sudden death
Joel’s death was largely kept under wraps within the gaming community to avoid spoiling The Last of Us season 2 for those who hadn’t played the sequel. Still, not everyone managed to avoid the shock before the second episode aired.
In contrast, Jesse’s death often flew under the radar, overshadowed by Joel’s fate, so it came as a huge surprise to many who did not expect it.
Jesse’s death followed a brief moment of calm. Everyone in Seattle was alive and relatively safe, plans were underway to return to Jackson, and Ellie and Jesse had mended their relationship—then suddenly, everything changed.
In just two minutes, things went horribly wrong, and Jesse was dead with a bullet to the face. The shock mirrored the game’s suddenness, leaving viewers stunned and struggling to grasp what had happened so quickly.
6) Eugene’s final request
Eugene is a character with minimal development in the second game. Players get glimpses of his weed-growing side business, some letters, and brief dialogue between Ellie and Dina, but little insight into his personal life in Jackson.
The Last of Us season 2, however, takes a more intimate approach by involving him in a key moment that deepens the fracture between Ellie and Joel.
During Ellie’s first patrol with Joel, they discover that Eugene has been bitten by an infected. The emotional tension is high, but the most heartbreaking moment comes when Joel takes Eugene to a remote spot with a beautiful view to end his life before the infection spreads.
Despite Eugene’s desperate plea to say goodbye to his wife, Joel refuses. Watching Eugene’s body being dragged behind the horse adds extra emotional weight, bringing back painful memories of Joel’s fate from episode 2.
7) Ellie’s killing of Owen and Mel
Mel is one of the most disliked characters in The Last of Us Part II—rude and often downright snobby.
The show follows her storyline closely, but with a major change during her confrontation with Owen and Ellie at the aquarium: Owen is shot in the chest, Mel attacks Ellie and is stabbed in the throat, and their deaths are portrayed in a far more brutal and graphic way.
Ellie only realizes Mel was pregnant when Owen gasps it out as his dying words while Ellie holds a gun to him. Struggling to breathe and fight nausea, Ellie breaks down after Tommy and Jesse find her.
The series takes a darker turn when Mel asks Ellie to remove the baby from her stomach in a desperate attempt to save it, something Ellie can’t do.
Watching Mel die, Ellie fully collapses under the weight of killing an innocent baby and two people she never intended to harm, marking a haunting moment that lingers long after, even if viewers don’t yet sympathize with Mel or Owen.
Interested viewers can watch The Last of Us season 2 on HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video.
