‘The Last of Us’: Joel Murdering That Doctor may Be the Key to Season 2’s Plot

After nine tense, emotionally devastating episodes, HBO subscribers finally know how hard it is to be a fan of The Last of Us. Up until “Look for the Light,” Joel (Pedro Pascal) has been justified in his various murders. He’s killed violent revolutionaries and FEDRA agents all to protect his surrogate daughter and humanity’s last hope for a cure, Ellie (Bella Ramsey). That changed in Episode 9, an installment that follows Joel as he goes on an arguably unforgivable rampage. But for all the blood he’s shed, there’s really only one murder that will come back to haunt him. Major spoilers ahead.

In “Look for the Light,” Joel and Ellie finally find the Fireflies, and Joel learns the truth about his escorting mission. The Fireflies can make a vaccine for the Cordyceps brain infection using Ellie’s immunity. But in order to do so, they have to kill Ellie.

Joel has already lost one daughter to this apocalypse. Without consulting Ellie, he decides that he won’t lose another, even if saving his surrogate child means dooming the world to this infection. As Joel rampages through the hospital, he kills indiscriminately. Anyone who stands between him and Ellie is a fair target. That’s true even of Ellie’s surgeon. When he stands up to Joel, arguing that they need to perform this operation, Joel barely hesitates before shooting him in the head. It’s a huge moment. Up until this point, nearly everyone Joel has murdered has been armed. But killing one of the few remaining medical professionals in this bleak world is a whole other level of inexcusable.

We’ve already covered the outrage around Joel’s rampage. However, there’s another reason why fans need to remember this surgeon’s death: there’s a very real chance that this murder could lead to Joel’s death in Season 2.

It all comes back to the video games. In The Last of Us Part II, players learn that Jerry, the surgeon Joel (voiced by Troy Baker) killed, had a daughter named Abby (voiced by Laura Bailey). Early in the second game, Abby and her band of buddies from the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) hide from a group of Infected with Joel and his brother Tommy (voiced by Jeffrey Pierce). Once she realizes who Joel is, Abby takes her revenge. She beats Joel to death with a golf club as Ellie (voiced by Ashley Johnson) is forced to helplessly watch.

The rest of the game toggles between Ellie and Abby. As Ellie tracks down Abby, hellbent on avenging her late father figure, Abby tries to move forward. Part II becomes a saga about the toxicity of revenge. If The Last of Us Season 2 plans to tell Part II‘s story, we’re only a couple of years away from witnessing Joel’s death.

That’s not the only thematically important clue hiding in Episode 9’s hospital scene. As we’ve covered before, one of the nurses working with Jerry the surgeon was played by none other than Abby’s voice actor, Laura Bailey. It’s a smart nod to the games, especially in this episode. “Look for the Light” started with Ellie’s voice actor Ashley Johnson giving birth to the series version of Ellie. Since Johnson is now canonically Ellie’s mom, it’s only fitting that Bailey witnessed a pivotal moment for her character. Unfortunately, that moment involves a doctor’s death.

Even the existence of Bailey and her nursing peers is a callback to the games. In the first game, the hospital scene unfolds exactly as it does in the game. After Joel barges into the operating room to save Ellie, Jerry stands up to him, demanding that he stop. The cut scene then ends, and the player is given control of Joel, forcing them to murder the surgeon. But because this franchise loves ethical dilemmas and making you feel bad, it also gives players the ability to murder the nurses cowering for their lives. Killing the nurses doesn’t change the ending in any way. Instead of a plot point, the option becomes a test of the player’s morality. Could they keep a level head? Or were they so invested in being Joel and protecting Ellie that they murdered more innocent bystanders than were “necessary”?

Of course, The Last of Us series could never fully replicate this interactive experience. But know that for some fans of the game, the fact that Joel let the nurses live cut extra deep.