This article discusses events of “The Last of Us” season 2, episode 7 and the video game series, so proceed with caution unless you’re immune to spoilers.

Did “The Last of Us” just become a show that killed both of its two central characters within the span of a seven-episode season? The season 2 finale certainly wants viewers to think so when Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) turns her weapon at Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and a gunshot cuts the screen to black.  

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Fans of Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us Part II” video game already knew that Joel Miller’s (Pedro Pascal) death was coming, and “The Last of Us” season 2, episode 2 — titled “Through the Valley” — delivered an even more devastating version of his death than anticipated, thanks to some tactically added details. Now, the finale’s cliffhanger strongly suggests that Joel’s surrogate daughter and current main protagonist has joined the show’s list of dead main characters.  

It all starts with Ellie confronting Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer) at the Seattle Waterfront Aquarium in search of information about Abby’s whereabouts. When Owen pulls a gun, Ellie shoots him in retaliation and the bullet fatally wounds Mel, too. Losing a bunch of friends to a mysterious assailant prompts Abby to track down the culprit. As she storms the Jackson crew’s theater base, she kills Jesse (Young Mazino) and wounds Tommy (Gabriel Luna), thinking he’s the attacker. When Ellie admits the truth, she angrily turns to shoot her.  

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That, as far as “The Last of Us” season 2 is concerned, is that. After the gunshot, all we get is a glimpse of Abby’s home base — the WLF headquarters at the SoundView Stadium – indicating a viewpoint change. So, is Ellie dead? Is the show all about Abby now?

Even a show as relentless as “The Last of Us” would hesitate to kill a protagonist who’s only partway through her revenge arc, especially when said death doesn’t happen in the source material. Because of this, the overwhelming odds are that Ellie may be injured but still very much alive … especially since HBO has already confirmed that “The Last of Us” season 3 is coming. In Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us Part II,” Ellie survives the events of the game, and the story still has so many iconic Ellie-centric scenes in store that fans (and Neil Druckmann) would likely revolt if the show just threw it all away by killing her. Besides, it would leave future seasons seriously short of source material to adapt. 

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In the game, Abby and a Seraphite ally called Lev storm the Jackson crew’s theater base, which triggers the first physical confrontation between her and Ellie. As such, chances are that Ellie not only survives the gunshot, but we also get to see the show’s version of the pair’s vicious backstage battle sequence. That being said, don’t expect to see Ellie any time soon when “The Last of Us” season 3 arrives. The story of the game spends extended amounts of time showing what Abby does while Ellie is sneaking around trying to find her — and the reveal that the clock resets to “Seattle Day One” during the SoundView Stadium reveal is a pretty obvious hint that this is exactly what season 3 intends to do, as well.   

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The gunshot is an efficient cliffhanger, but there may be other pragmatic reasons behind it. One is the aforementioned viewpoint change. In “The Last of Us Part II,” the switch happens after the theater fight between Abby and Ellie. TV and video games play by different rules, and considering the show’s pacing, the season 2 finale would have been far too early for a tense battle between the two. We’ll get it, no doubt — but in order to raise the stakes, the show will likely want to give Abby more screen time first, which may have prompted some tinkering with the narrative. My guess is that season 3 will focus entirely on Abby the same way season 2 does on Ellie, and the theater fight will be the season finale.  

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While I personally doubt it, there’s also a chance that the show really does follow through with the gunshot tease, in which case Ellie is likely wounded and needs help. Should that happen, the show will almost certainly give extra attention to other members of Team Jackson. “The Last of Us” season 2 improves Ellie and Dina’s (Isabela Merced) romance, which arguably gives Dina more room to breathe as a character. Tommy (Gabriel Luna), with his action hero sequences and other added scenes, has also been more prominent in season 2 than he is in the game. There’s every chance that the show continues elevating these characters beyond the source material, one way or another. After all, original moments like Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank’s (Murray Bartlett) season 1 standout episode “Long, Long Time” and the battle of Jackson in “Through the Valley” have given the show some of its most impressive moments.  

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