"Is he coming back for season 3?" - Fans question Joel's future as Pedro Pascal wraps up final episode of The Last of Us season 2

The Last of Us season 2 premiered on April 13, 2025, and will conclude its seven-episode run on May 25, 2025. The show's second installment is created and written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It's adapted from The Last of Us II video game, released by Naughty Dog in June 2020, for the PlayStation 4.

The Last of Us season 2 episode 2 showcased the dramatic death of its protagonist, Joel Miller, played by Pedro Pascal. He returned in episode 6 through flashback scenes that shed light on Joel and Ellie's strained relationship before his death. Following episode 6's release, fans have been wondering if Pascal will reprise his role (through flashbacks) in the show's third season.

One X user echoed the feeling by posting:

"Is he coming back in season 3?"

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Fans of the post-apocalyptic series were gutted by Joel's death and expressed their happiness at seeing him in the penultimate episode.

"We will miss you sweet❤️Pedro! It was good to see you in the episode yesterday! What an episode where LOL, Happiness and the Saddest moments were put together in one Episode! You are Amazing along with Bella , the Entire Cast, Producers and rest of the Staff!," said another.

"Not ready to say goodbye to Joel ... this hurts more than I expected," remarked one user.

"We've been overexposed to Pedro for the last few years, but he's a good actor. He's literally Joel Miller though - Impossible to see anyone else having acted the role," wrote aanother.

His impact was so strong that many fans stopped watching the series after Pascal's departure. Furthermore, The Last of Us season 2 has suffered a ratings hit in the wake of Joel's death.

"This show lowkey sucks without him," said one X user.

"He made the show worth watching honestly," commented another.

"This show is over lol. The rest of the cast might as well say their goodbye's aswell," wrote one user.

A look at Joel Miller's role in The Last of Us season 2

In the five years between the end of season 1 and the start of season 2, Joel and Ellie grow distant, in part, due to Ellie's need for independence. More importantly, their relationship suffers because Joel had lied to her about the events at the Salt Lake City hospital at the end of season 1.

He saved Ellie's life by killing the Fireflies who wanted to create a vaccine by using Ellie's brain cells, which would have led to her death. Joel comes clean to her after the New Year's Eve party in episode 1. Furious, Ellie tells him that he took away her life's purpose, but Joel insists that he doesn't regret his actions, as he loves her. Ellie responds that despite her unwillingness to forgive him, she wants to try to mend their relationship.

However, they don't get much time to reconcile as one of the deceased Fireflies' daughter, Abby, tracks down Joel's location to exact her revenge. She arrives at the settlement in Jackson, Wyoming, with her gang and stabs Joel to death in Ellie's presence in The Last of Us season 2 episode 2.

Everything to know about The Last of Us season 3

The Last of Us season 3 was greenlit by HBO on April 9, 2025, days ahead of the season 2 premiere, as per Deadline. Showrunner Craig Mazin revealed his plans for the third season during an interview with Collider on May 18, 2025.

"I think there's a decent chance that Season 3 will be longer than Season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different. The thing about Joel’s death is that it’s so impactful. It’s such a narrative nuclear bomb that it’s hard to wander away from it."

He continued:

"But certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth."

Furthermore, actress Catherine O'Hara, who plays Gail Lynden in The Last of Us season 2, told Variety on May 19, 2025, that the third installment will focus on the "Abby story." As of this writing, it's not clear if Pascal will return in season 3 to continue Joel's story through flashbacks.

Also Read: The Last of Us season 2 episode 6 ending explained: Did Joel kill Eugene?

Viewers can watch all episodes of The Last of Us season 2 on HBO Max.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by Bhargav