Why Those New Photos From ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Have Fans So Concerned

Joel Miller’s hair tells a story. Maybe not one you want to hear, but it does explain where we are heading with season 2 of The Last of Us.

Spoilers ahead for the video game The Last of Us: Part Two.

The first season of The Last of Us introduced us to Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey). Staying pretty true to the first game (with a little embellishment, like episode 3, “Long, Long Time”), the season ended with fans a little worried about how true to the source material the series would remain.

The official Max account shared images from the next season of the series, set to debut in 2025, captioned with “Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in The Last Of Us season 2, now in production.”

Fans of the game saw Joel’s hair and all cried “NO” at the same time. Which might not be how the creators of the series wanted us to react, but if you know what happens to Joel Miller in the game, you get it. And his hair being longer doesn’t bode well for our favorite apocalypse dad.

Part two of the game is set five years later and starts with Joel Miller a little more distinguished. (He has grayer hair and it is longer.) When a young woman named Abby comes seeking revenge for the death of her father, Joel doesn’t make it out of this fight alive.

What happens to Joel in the game?

Abby was the daughter of the Firefly surgeon that Joel kills to try and save Ellie at the end of the first game, and Abby is determined to kill Joel for what he did. Unfortunately, she succeeds. Abby manages to capture Joel with her team and his death isn’t exactly quick.

They shoot, beat, and murder Joel, ending his life by hitting him with a golf club (hence why the fans make golf jokes). Now, there might be some time before this happens, if it does, in the show, but in the game, Joel’s death occurs pretty early on.

His death is what spurs Ellie into action and is the driving force for all of the second game. So without it, I don’t think that storyline would work, and the series has already cast characters from The Last Of Us: Part Two for the second season.

Will Pedro Pascal’s Joel meet a swinging end?

We don’t know exactly how faithful to the game the show is going to be moving forward. We could have a whole season with Pedro Pascal’s Joel before Abby comes into play, but she has been cast. Kaitlyn Dever was announced as Abby back in January. Maybe she shows up at the very end of the season and the beginning of season 3 is when Joel becomes the golf ball.

Oh god, I am so not ready to say goodbye to hot dad Joel.