WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for HBO’s The Last of Us.HBO’s The Last of Us gave away a tidbit of foreshadowing for a tragedy in season 2. The Last of Us season finale culminated in a major shootout and moral dilemma that will have a lasting effect on not only Joel and Ellie but also the audience that grew to love both characters throughout season 2 of the popular HBO show. The episode and season earned both critical and viewer acclaim, adding to HBO’s recent streak of success.
The Last of Us is a show where every detail matters, no matter how small. A common trend throughout the first season has been its foreshadowing toward The Last of Us season 2. Many of the side characters the series explored, be it original or from the game, have important parallels that tie in to Joel and Ellie’s future. Also, Joel keeps leaving hints that he’s a musician, which can be carefully deceiving in that they seem like small lines for brief comedic relief, when they really have a larger emotional weight to them.
Joel Asking Ellie About Playing Guitar Sets Up The Last Of Us Season 2
One of the most important and heartbreaking moments in The Last of Us: Part 2, is the execution of Joel, which comes as revenge for the massacre audiences saw in the season 1 finale. There’s a five-year time jump in between part 1 and part 2, and it’s revealed that within this time, Joel teaches Ellie to play guitar, which later becomes one of the few pure things she has to remember him by following his passing.
HBO’s The Last of Us made a careful effort to slowly display Joel’s singing and love for music, with scenes in episodes 3 and 4 where he and Ellie listen to music together on cassettes in the car. These subtle moments build on Joel’s character in an important way that will live on in Ellie as she grows into an adult. In a world where music isn’t common anymore, it’s bitter-sweet to hear it and to see its effect, from Bill and Frank in episode 3 to Joel and Ellie in the game.
Ellie Playing Guitar Becomes Tragic In The Last Of Us Season 2
After Joel’s death, Ellie frequently picks up the guitar he gave her and performs the same song, Future Days by Pearl Jam, that he sings to her. Each moment is incredibly touching, as it’s the perfect symbolism for the complex emotional core of the games. The father-daughter relationship the two of them develop is complicated, and never truly resolved after his passing, with Ellie’s guitar playing becoming an emotional catharsis for her that has resonated with The Last of Us audiences since.
