The brutal death of Joel Miller at the hands of Abby Anderson in The Last of Us Part 2 remains one of gaming’s most shocking and divisive moments, fundamentally altering the trajectory of a beloved franchise and igniting passionate debates among players worldwide. This pivotal scene, occurring within the game’s opening hours, serves as the emotional catalyst for Ellie’s subsequent quest for vengeance and forces players to confront uncomfortable questions about justice, perspective, and the far-reaching consequences of seemingly justified actions.
While many players viewed Joel as the hero of the original game, his decision to massacre the Fireflies and deny humanity a potential cure carried profound implications that would eventually catch up to him. The path that led to Joel’s skull being crushed by Abby’s golf club wasn’t simply bad luck or a random act of cruelty, but rather the culmination of a cycle of violence and retribution that The Last of Us Part 2 examines with unflinching detail and moral complexity.
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The Last of Us Part 2 Salt Lake City Massacre: Seeds of Vengeance
Joel Miller’s fate was effectively sealed during the climactic moments of The Last of Us, though players wouldn’t understand the full ramifications until the sequel. After traversing a post-apocalyptic America and forming a profound father-daughter bond with Ellie, Joel discovered the devastating truth at the Salt Lake City Firefly hospital: creating a vaccine from Ellie’s unique immunity would require removing the Cordyceps growth from her brain, killing her in the process. Faced with losing another daughter figure after the traumatic loss of Sarah, Joel made his fateful choice – he slaughtered the Firefly medical team, killed their leader Marlene, and escaped with the unconscious Ellie.
Among the medical personnel killed that day was Dr. Jerry Anderson, the head surgeon preparing to operate on Ellie. Though presented as a relatively minor character in the first game, The Last of Us Part 2 reveals the profound significance of this death through the eyes of his daughter, Abby Anderson. For Abby, Joel wasn’t the protective father figure beloved by players but a monstrous murderer who robbed the world of a potential cure and, more personally, stole her father from her. The game’s narrative masterfully recontextualizes Joel’s actions, forcing players to confront his choices from a radically different perspective.
In the years following the Salt Lake City massacre, Abby dedicated herself to building the physical strength and combat skills needed for revenge, transforming her body and mind into weapons focused on a single purpose. While Joel settled into a seemingly peaceful life in Jackson, Wyoming, Abby’s trauma and rage festered, culminating in her relentless pursuit of the man who destroyed her world. This parallel character development – Joel softening while Abby hardened – creates the perfect storm that eventually brings them together with catastrophic results.
From Survivor to Community Member: Joel’s Fatal Evolution
The Joel Miller who died in 2038 was markedly different from the hardened survivor introduced in the original game. After settling in Jackson with Ellie and Tommy, Joel gradually integrated into community life, contributing through patrols and helping to build a semblance of normalcy within the walled settlement. This environment of relative safety and human connection subtly transformed him, eroding the ruthless survival instincts that had kept him alive for decades after Outbreak Day.
This evolution manifests tragically during the fateful blizzard when Joel and Tommy encounter Abby’s group while on patrol. The younger Joel – the smuggler, the hunter, the man who once ran over a pleading survivor pretending to be injured – would likely have never stopped to help Abby or revealed his identity to a group of armed strangers. But years of community living had rounded his edges, making him more willing to trust and assist others in apparent need.
The bitter irony of Joel’s death lies in how his hard-won humanity ultimately contributed to his downfall. As he helped rescue Abby from infected pursuers and accepted shelter from her group during the storm, Joel displayed the very compassion and decency that had been largely absent during his darkest years as a hunter and smuggler. This growth, viewed in isolation, represents a positive character arc – but in the brutal world of The Last of Us, such evolution proved fatal.
Even in his final moments, after realizing Abby’s identity and purpose, Joel maintained this transformed demeanor. Unlike the desperate, pleading deaths of many characters throughout the series, Joel faced his execution with stoic resignation, making no excuses for his actions. When Abby asked if he had any last words, his silence spoke volumes – not out of fear, but from an understanding that this moment was the inevitable consequence of choices he had made and would make again.
The Surgeon’s Daughter: Understanding Abby’s Mission
Abby Anderson’s quest for vengeance represents the other side of the emotional coin that drives The Last of Us Part 2’s narrative. While players initially experience her as a heartless villain for killing Joel, the game gradually reveals the profound depth of her motivation and the legitimacy of her grievance. As the daughter of Dr. Jerry Anderson, Abby experienced Joel’s rampage through the Firefly hospital not as a heroic rescue but as a selfish act that robbed the world of hope and her of a father.
Dr. Anderson wasn’t just any Firefly – he was the lead surgeon who had dedicated his life to finding a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Through flashbacks, the game shows Jerry as a compassionate man who agonized over the ethical implications of sacrificing Ellie but ultimately believed the potential to save humanity justified this terrible cost. For Abby, Joel didn’t just kill her father; he destroyed humanity’s best chance for salvation and the purpose that had given meaning to their lives in the apocalypse.
The five years between her father’s death and her revenge were shaped entirely by this trauma. Abby transformed herself physically, building muscle and combat skills with singular focus. She found purpose within the WLF (Washington Liberation Front) military structure, but her personal mission never wavered. When intelligence about Joel’s whereabouts finally surfaced, nothing could deter her from completing her quest – not a raging blizzard, not hostile territory, not even the potential consequences from her own faction.
What makes Abby’s character particularly complex is that her revenge, while brutal, stems from the same protective instinct that drove Joel’s actions in Salt Lake City. Both chose violence to avenge someone they loved, creating a disturbing symmetry between perpetrator and avenger. This parallel undermines simplistic moral judgments about either character, illustrating the game’s central theme that perspectives and justifications shift dramatically depending on whose story is being told.
| Character | Action | Motivation | Perspective on Joel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joel Miller | Massacred Firefly hospital, killed Jerry Anderson | Protecting Ellie from being sacrificed for a potential cure | Hero saving a loved one at any cost |
| Abby Anderson | Killed Joel Miller | Avenging her father’s murder and humanity’s lost chance for a cure | Villain who selfishly robbed the world of hope |
| Ellie Williams | Pursued revenge against Abby | Avenging Joel’s brutal murder | Flawed father figure who gave his life for her |
| Tommy Miller | Assisted in hunting Abby | Avenging his brother’s murder | Brother who deserved justice |
| WLF Members | Assisted Abby in killing Joel | Loyalty to Abby and hatred of Firefly killers | Notorious murderer deserving punishment |
| Jackson Community | Mourned Joel’s death | Loss of a community member | Valued protector and community contributor |
Living on Borrowed Time: Joel’s Past and Final Reckoning
Long before his encounter with Abby, Joel himself acknowledged that he was living on borrowed time. Throughout the first game and its sequel, various characters allude to Joel’s dark past – years spent as a hunter, ambushing innocent travelers and taking their supplies by force. These actions, while never fully detailed, paint a picture of a man who crossed moral lines repeatedly in the name of survival. Joel carried these ghosts with him to Jackson, where his nightmares and reluctance to discuss his past hint at the psychological burden of his actions.
This history created a man who, by his own admission to his brother Tommy, had “been on both sides” of violent ambushes. Joel understood the brutality of the post-apocalyptic world precisely because he had contributed to it. This self-awareness manifested in his fatalistic outlook – not a death wish, but a recognition that his violent past made violent retribution almost inevitable. The night before his death, during his final meaningful conversation with Ellie, Joel reaffirmed that he would make the same choice again at the hospital, regardless of the consequences. This unflinching conviction defines Joel’s character but also seals his fate.
From a narrative perspective, Joel’s death serves multiple purposes beyond simply motivating Ellie’s revenge journey. It forces players to confront the reality that in this world, actions have consequences that can’t be escaped through good intentions or protagonist status. It establishes a cycle of violence and retribution that becomes the central theme of the game. Most importantly, it transforms our understanding of the first game’s supposedly happy ending, revealing it as merely a temporary reprieve in an ongoing tragedy.
Joel’s final appearance in the No Return mode, while non-canonical, offers players a bittersweet opportunity to step back into his shoes. Though using Abby’s animation set in a narrative irony, this mode allows players to experience an alternate reality where Joel continues to survive against impossible odds. For many players still processing his controversial death, this mode provides emotional closure while acknowledging the finality of his story in the main narrative.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Abby find Joel in Jackson after five years?
Abby’s search for Joel wasn’t random but the result of persistent intelligence gathering over several years. After joining the WLF (Washington Liberation Front) in Seattle, she maintained connections with former Firefly members who continued tracking rumors about Joel’s whereabouts. The breakthrough came when Tommy Miller’s name surfaced in connection with a settlement in Jackson, Wyoming. Given the known relationship between the brothers, this provided Abby with a crucial lead. According to conversations overheard during Ellie’s infiltration of the WLF base later in the game, a patrol encountered a Jackson trader who confirmed both Tommy and Joel resided there.
Armed with this information, Abby convinced a small team to accompany her on the dangerous journey to Wyoming. The blizzard that forced Joel and Tommy to help Abby was coincidental, but her presence in that area was the culmination of years of determined investigation. This explanation highlights how Joel’s relative comfort in his new life contrasted sharply with Abby’s unrelenting focus on finding him, underscoring the game’s theme that past actions inevitably catch up to their perpetrators.
Would Joel have survived if Ellie had arrived earlier during his confrontation with Abby?
While it’s tempting to think Ellie could have saved Joel had she arrived earlier at the Baldwin mansion, the narrative and gameplay evidence suggest otherwise. By the time Ellie tracked Joel’s location, Abby’s group had already subdued and restrained both Joel and Tommy. Considering the tactical situation – Ellie alone against at least eight armed WLF soldiers in an unfamiliar building – earlier arrival would likely have resulted in Ellie’s capture or death rather than Joel’s rescue. Game director Neil Druckmann has confirmed in interviews that this moment was designed specifically to demonstrate how even the most beloved characters aren’t protected by plot armor in this universe.
From a storytelling perspective, Joel’s death was necessary to examine the consequences of his actions and establish the cycle of violence theme central to the narrative. While alternative scenarios make for interesting speculation, the game deliberately presents Joel’s death as unavoidable – the inevitable result of his choices in Salt Lake City. This finality serves the thematic purpose of showing how violence begets violence regardless of justification, a lesson Ellie herself struggles with throughout her subsequent revenge journey.
