*Spoilers ahead*

The hit HBO series, “The Last of Us” is back with its new second season, leaving viewers not only on the edge of their seats with anticipation, but emotionally devastated right off the bat.

The post-apocalyptic drama, based on the popular video game franchise of the same title developed by Naughty Dog, takes place twenty years into a pandemic caused by a fungal outbreak that is turning humans into creatures called “infected”. Joel (Pedro Pascal) is hired to transport 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who is immune to the infection, to the rebel group called the Fireflies’ main facility located in Salt Lake City. Season one, which aired in January of 2023, focused on the development of Joel and Ellie’s relationship with one another, all while they dealt with surviving their agonizing journey. Though they survived and made it to the facility, Joel finds out through the Fireflies leader Marlene (Merle Dandridge) that they plan to use Ellie’s immunity to the infection to find a cure, though this would result in them killing her to test her brain. The end of the first season has Joel deciding to save Ellie from this, killing Marlene and many others at the facility in the process.

“Future Days” starts off the new season with an introduction to new characters. At the beginning, we get introduced to Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a surviving Firefly from the Salt Lake City massacre. She and her fellow resistance members are gathered around graves of deceased Firefly members as they discuss a retaliation plan against Joel for what he has done to their people. The story then continues five years later where Joel and Ellie have settled down in the survivor colony in Jackson, Wyo. run by Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and his brother’s wife Maria (Rutina Wesley). There, we meet other characters such as Gail (Catherine O’Hara), a therapist who has been helping Joel confront the internal conflicts that his past decisions have dwelled on him, in addition to Dina (Isabela Merced), and her developing romantic relationship with Ellie.

The episode explores life for Joel and Ellie in the colony and interactions between the main characters and the colony members, while also hinting at the question of whether or not Joel’s idea to save Ellie in season one was acted out of selfishness. It ends with viewers seeing Abby and her fellow Fireflies arriving at the colony.

The next episode, titled “Through the Valley,” is where things truly take a dramatic turn, so prepare your tissues before you watch this one, unless you’re a fan of the video game who already knew what would happen, well then you came prepared!

Following the ending of the first episode, Abby and her team, fueled by revenge, take shelter in a lodge near Jackson as they scope out the area. Not only does this episode deal with a massive infected attack on Jackson itself, but also the devastating death of Joel.

After being lured to Abby’s lodge, Abby brutally kills him, an act that Ellie witnessed firsthand. At the end, Ellie, along with Jesse and Dina, bring his body back to Jackson, signaling the beginning of a new wave of revenge against Abby and her team for the rest of the season, and leaving viewers dealing with the grief from the loss of Joel.

Though fans of the game already knew of Joel’s eventual demise, fans of both took to social media to express their thoughts over the death of such an important character to the series thus far. On X/Twitter, user @HuinGuillaume said how, “The second episode of the Last of Us was as heartbreaking as the scene of Joel dying under the rage of Abby in the game was.”

Some expressed their distaste for the decision to kill off such an important character, regardless of the accuracy to the game and it being a crucial development to its story. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pascal said how even he was “in active denial,” towards his character’s death.

Co-creator of the series Craig Mazin also spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the importance behind grief in this type of post-apocalyptic environment. “Part of what makes The Last of Us relevant to those of us who aren’t living in a fungal apocalypse is that it portrays the shattering nature of loss. It talks about what is left behind when somebody is torn away from you. Then you start to wonder what price we all pay in our lives — all of us — for caring about people that much,” he said.

“The Last of Us” season two is streaming now on Max, with new episodes releasing every Sunday at 9 p.m ET. With seven episodes total, the finale is set to release on May 25.