Although many The Last of Us Part 2 players might be looking to find the answers for themselves, others are curious about the events of Naughty Dog’s latest. Without question, there has been a lot of secrecy surrounding the game and there are plenty of events to spoil.
One of the questions that players will have based on leaks, early glimpses, or their own experience with The Last of Us Part 2 is why Abby killed Joel in the game. It’s clear early on that she has some sort of vendetta against Joel and has been searching for him for a while before finding him at the Jackson, Wyoming settlement.
After years of searching, Abby runs into Joel (and his brother Tommy) unexpectedly while trying to find shelter from the Infected and a snowstorm. Unfortunately for Joel, this run-in seals his fate at Abby’s hands.
Because of how shocking Joel’s death in The Last of Us Part 2 is, many may be looking for immediate answers. Why did Abby kill Joel and why has she been looking for him so long.
Joel’s Connection to Abby in Last of Us Part 1
The answer is rooted in the events of The Last of Us Part 1, when Joel decides to prevent the Fireflies from operating on Ellie and potentially creating a cure. When Joel learns that Ellie will die during the operation he decides to save her but has to take her by force. He bursts into the operating room, kills the surgeons and Fireflies around Ellie, and then sneaks out of the hospital.
Among those Fireflies was Abby’s dad, who was killed by Joel. In a flashback shown during The Last of Us Part 2, players see Abby discover her dad has been killed. It is in that moment that her obsession with revenge begins.
Throughout the playable Abby portions of the game, players learn that her lust for revenge overtook everything in her. She ruins her relationship with Owen and many of her former Firefly friends, and she becomes dedicated to a “soldier’s lifestyle.” Abby eventually joins the Western Liberation Front in Seattle and has settled into a routine of sorts when she finds evidence that Joel might be in Wyoming.
She takes some of her WLF friends (or were also former Fireflies) and they plan to find Joel and kill him. Through that chance encounter, Joel falls right into their lap and Abby kills him. But not before Ellie finds out where the group is keeping Joel, which makes his death all the more heartbreaking.
In turn, this act by Abby fuels Ellie’s own quest for revenge and a new cycle of violence. Much like Abby, Ellie is consumed by her singular goal and she leaves a path of death and destruction in her wake.
The Last of Us Part 2 is available now for PS4.
