Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of “The Last of Us,” which aired April 27.
The lives of the “The Last of Us” characters will never be the same following Joel’s death.
Pedro Pascal’s character took his last breath in the second episode, the people of Jackson, including Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), are still reeling from his loss (not to mention the show’s bereft fans).
“Whenever you have that type of abrupt shift in your family dynamic, it changes your life,” Gabriel Luna told TODAY.com at a special screening of the show’s third episode hosted by Max and Complex.
Luna said that from now on, there is “an absolute, seismic shift in the way the rest of the family interacts with each other.”
While Ellie is set on a path of revenge, Tommy, Joel’s brother, is figuring out his next steps, including caring for Ellie.
The third episode begins with Tommy looking at Joel’s bloody body, before he starts to wipe his arm clean with a rag.
“Give Sarah my love,” Tommy tells his dead brother, referencing Joel’s late daughter, who dies in the show’s premiere.
Three months go by and Ellie is adamant about finding Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who killed Joel. She hopes to gather the town’s support.
However, Tommy tells Ellie that if they are going to assemble a group to help her in her quest, they have to assemble a council meeting and vote on it.
Unfortunately for her, Ellie’s request is voted down. Undeterred, she and Dina (Isabel Merced) forge forward with her plan to go to find Abby in Seattle.
Luna shared in a post-screening Q&A that Tommy “absolutely” voted yes to assemble a group to go to Seattle, adding, “I already told her I got her back.”
Tommy’s intentions for the rest of the season
So where does Tommy go from here? Luna said his character feels an even bigger sense of responsibility to protect Ellie.
“She’s mine now. She’s my responsibility The weight of of all that, the weight of the burden that she’s taken on, her pursuit of ‘justice’ and revenge is one that she doesn’t go on alone,” Luna said. “I can’t let her.”
Does Tommy know Joel killed all the Fireflies?
Luna believes that the question, “Who is the villain?” in the show is one that may be left unanswered so that the audience can address it for themselves.
“It’s always a matter of perspective. At some point, I’m the villain in the eyes of whoever may encounter me at any given point,” he said.
However, in Tommy’s eyes, he said, “It’s hard to say, because I never met those who brought my brother’s demise upon us.”
Luna believes that Tommy doesn’t know Joel killed the Fireflies in an attempt to save Ellie’s life.
“And that’s what’s tragic about it, because the fact that Joel kept that with him ‘til his death, and that Ellie is the only one on Earth to live with that is probably why most of these decisions end up being made,” he said.
Luna said he loves the ‘realism’ of the show
“We make choices and we pay the price. That’s just it. That’s just the whole nature of the whole story,” he said.
When it comes down to Joel’s ultimate death, Luna said “to take your main character and end that part of the story” is a “powerful” decision to make.
It’s also one that will propel the narrative forward.
“That’s life. People die. That’s the truth,” he said. “I love how unyielding our show is about that, and how brutally honest our show is about the way life unfolds for us sometimes, and how abrupt it can be, the shifts, the changes.”
