THE LAST OF US SEASON 2 Finale Deaths, Explained

Ellie Kills Owen When He Reaches for His Gun in the Aquarium

Ellie hunts Abby to the Seattle Aquarium in The Last of Us season two finale, but instead, she finds two of Abby’s Firefly friends, Owen and Mel. Charing at them, gun blazing, she then demands that they reveal Abby’s location to her after overhearing them discussing Abby’s plans, and Owen pretends to agree to her demands. But at the last minute, Owen leaps for his gun instead of showing Ellie where Abby’s location is on the map. Ellie shoots him dead without thinking, leading to his death.

Ellie Inadvertently Murders Mel, Leading to the Death of Her Baby

Alas, even though it’s clear Ellie did not want to kill Mel when she shot Owen, she couldn’t control her bullet. Ellie knicks Mel’s neck, sending blood gushing from the pregnant woman’s neck. Mel’s death in The Last of Us season two is truly harrowing. As she begins to die, she begs Ellie to cut her baby out of her and try to get it a chance at life. Ellie picks up her knife and pleads with Mel to help her make the cuts, but Mel, still asking if the baby is out and muttering nonsensically, dies before they get the chance. Ellie kills both Mel and the baby in her quest for revenge on Abby.

Jesse Meets His End

We are SO sad for Jesse to have died. Jesse was a beautiful character on The Last of Us season two, and he had a strong moral compass and a real sense of goodness to him. We were also totally looking forward to the gorgeously queer vision of Dina, Jesse, and Ellie raising Dina and Jesse’s child together in an unconventional, but lovely family. But it was not to be.

During the final scenes, Abby shot Jesse on sight when he and Ellie charged into the theater after they heard Tommy yelling. Jesse’s death was quick and unceremonious, a sad end for one of our favorite characters on The Last of Us. But the show’s MO is to be incredibly brutal, and so we can’t say we feel surprised. RIP Jesse! We miss you already.

Is Tommy Dead After The Last of Us Season 2 Finale?

But what about Tommy? Abby attacked Tommy in The Last of Us season two’s finale, but he appeared to still be alive after Jesse’s death. Still, Abby pulls the trigger toward the end of the scene, and we can’t quite tell who she shoots at. Tommy isn’t dead yet on The Last of Us, but we wouldn’t say things are looking particularly good for him.

Ellie Does Not Kill Nora, Confirms the Finale

One death that doesn’t happen in The Last of Us season two’s finale is that of Nora. In episode six, Ellie chases Nora, Abby’s friend, into a room full of Infected spores. Ellie then proceeds to torture Nora with a pipe in an effort to get information about Abby’s location. In The Last of Us season two finale, we learn that Nora isn’t dead, though. Ellie mercilessly tortured her and left her to become an Infected. It’s a fate worse than death.

Shimmer Is Still Alive!

In much happier news, we’ll conclude this The Last of Us finale deaths piece by noting that one character we can leave off the death roll is Shimmer. Not that Ellie asked, but Jesse confirms in the episode that Shimmer is alive and well. Phew! In The Last of Us—Part II game, Shimmer does actually die in Seattle. We’re not sure if Shimmer’s dispensation here means that her death is now off the table or not. But we’ll take it for now. We don’t think we could take horse death on top of everything else.

The Last of Us season two is now airing in full on HBO and HBO Max.