Warning! This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 2 and The Last of Us Part II game.Joel may have died inThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 2, but Pedro Pascal will return in future episodes of the video game adaptation. Theending ofThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 2saw Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) brutally murder Joel with a golf club and pool cue. It was a death as surprising as it was tragic, and many viewers who haven’t played the video games were shocked that Joel died as soon as he did. There are, after all, still five episodes left inThe Last of Usseason 2, andThe Last of Usseason 3has already been confirmed.
Joel’s death has also caused a bit of confusion surroundingThe Last of Usseason 2. The rest of the season will followEllie’s quest for revenge against Abby, but Joel is dead, and it wasn’t entirely clear howThe Last of Uswould handle Pedro Pascal’s absence. Joel is the heart of the story, and his relationship with Ellie is arguably the most intriguing part of the series. Luckily, though Joel is dead, Pedro Pascal isn’t done withThe Last of Us. Joel will reappear, though it’ll take a few flashbacks to see him again.
Pedro Pascal Will Return In The Last Of Us Season 2 Through Flashbacks
The Last Of Us Part II Featured Several Flashbacks To Ellie’s Time With Joel Between Games
Luckily, though Joel died, Pedro Pascal will return in future episodes ofThe Last of Usseason 2.Pascal appears in four ofThe Last of Usseason 2’s seven episodes, meaning Joel still has two more appearances left to make.Joel’s future appearances will take the form of flashbacks that Ellie remembers to fill in some of the gaps left by the time jump between seasons ofThe Last of Us. Some of the trailer footage forThe Last of Usseason 2 included Joel during scenes from one of the manyflashbacks inThe Last of Us Part IIgame.
SinceThe Last of Usseason 2 is only adapting the first part ofThe Last of Us Part II, we already have a good idea of which flashbacks will be featured in coming episodes.One flashback will likely take place shortly after Joel’s rampage at the Firefly hospital and see him taking Ellie to a science museum so she can learn about space travel. Without delving too far into spoilers, other flashbacks will continue to examine Joel and Ellie’s relationship over the five-year time jump and the fallout of Joel’s decision at theend ofThe Last of Usseason 1.
Could Pedro Pascal Appear In Future Seasons Of The Last Of Us After Joel’s Death?
There Are Some Flashbacks To Joel That Would Only Make Sense Later In The Last Of Us' Story
There’s even more good news beyond Pedro Pascal’s imminent return inThe Last of Usseason 2. As previously mentioned,The Last of Usseason 2 will only adapt a portion of the game it’s based on.Because Joel appeared in flashbacks throughoutThe Last of UsPart II, Pedro Pascal will almost certainly appear inThe Last of Usseason 3, also in flashbacks. The show could diverge from the games' timeline in some ways, but there are some flashbacks that work best in the story’s final moments that will likely remain where they are chronologically.
For example, the final flashback inThe Last of Us Part IItook place in the game’s epilogue and featured a conversation Ellie and Joel had shortly after the dance in Jackson featured inThe Last of Usseason 2’s premiere. That flashback saw Ellie express a desire to learn to forgive Joel, and it worked as a poignant way to cap off Ellie’s revenge quest against Abby. There are also a few other flashbacks that likely weren’t filmed for season 2, so it looks likeThe Last of Uswill include Pedro Pascal’s Joel for quite some time.
