WARNING: Spoilers For “The Last of Us” And Other HBO Shows
Now that a few days have gone by, postmortems have gone up, and tributes and tears have been shed, it is somewhat safe to openly talk about the last moments of “The Last of Us” Season Two, Episode Two. Although a large section of people knew about this ending for several years and have already cried and argued over it, the rest of the world now knows “The Last of Us” TV show has finally reached the point of “The Last of Us” video game where main character Joel Miller was murdered, in front of estranged and now vengeful surrogate daughter Ellie.
However, while this sort of twist broke the video game’s fandom, killing such a main character is almost par for the course on HBO. In fact, the death of Joel on HBO’s “The Last of Us“ now joins a Holy Trinity of HBO moments that shocked the TV world by killing a central character presumed untouchable, or at least someone no outsiders expected to die so early.
“Game of Thrones“ 01×09 – “Baelor”
After 14 years and several shocking deaths, the penultimate episode of “Game of Thrones“ Season One is still the landmark moment every TV show since has tried to live up to – including “The Last of Us“ itself.
Like with “The Last of Us,“ the death of the original “Game of Thrones“ lead character was a moment certain fans already knew about for years – in this case, those who read the original “A Song of Ice and Fire“ novels. Like with “The Last of Us,“ it was fairly difficult for “Game of Thrones“ newcomers to get to this point in the HBO show without getting spoiled by the story’s worst fans first. Then again, it was a very different time in 2011, when the idea of killing a major show’s main character before the end of Season One seemed downright implausible.
As such, even when Sean Bean’s Ned Stark was betrayed and sentenced to death in front of his two daughters, unassuming viewers still likely assumed something would save him and set up a cliffhanger for Season Two – all the way up until his head was chopped off.
Now that “The Last of Us“ has killed its own lead adult character in front of his own would-be daughter, it has done so in a rather different TV environment. Thanks to “Game of Thrones,“ the idea of a massive show killing its biggest star so early isn’t radical and unprecedented, although it still can’t be said everyone saw this coming.
In a way, “The Last of Us“ went several steps further than “Game of Thrones“ did; since the latter already had such a large ensemble cast by that point – with many more additions still to come – the loss of Ned could easily be absorbed eventually. On the other hand, “The Last of Us“ not only has a much smaller cast, but its entire story revolves around Joel and Ellie in a way that “Game of Thrones“ never revolved around Ned.
In hindsight, it was easy to joke that “Game of Thrones“ tapped its hand by casting Bean as Ned since his calling card is getting killed on screen, whether as a villain or a tragic figure. Perhaps “The Last of Us“ stumbled onto doing the same by casting Pedro Pascal as Joel, since his growing collection of deaths is starting to rival Bean’s – including other earlier than-anticipated deaths in “Game of Thrones“ itself and in movies like “Gladiator II.”
However, it couldn’t be said his latest death came from nowhere, as Joel sealed his fate last season – and the fate of his eventual killer, Abby, his adopted daughter Ellie, and the world at large – by killing the army that would have killed Ellie to cure an infected planet. In whatever way Joel might have had it coming or not, his death was less pointless and vile than that of the noble Ned, whose inability to play “the game“ got him killed by a far more cartoonishly evil young adversary than Abby.
By killing Ned right before its first season ended, “Game of Thrones“ cemented its foothold on television and pop culture then and there, and desensitized its viewers for many more brutal deaths and twists from there. Yet “The Last of Us“ had already cemented its foothold on television and pop culture with its first season, which gave old and new viewers two years to cement their bond with TV Joel and Ellie before shattering them apart – not eight weeks like with Ned.
“Game of Thrones“ killed Ned in what was essentially mid-to-late Act 1 of its overall story, whereas “The Last of Us” killed Joel midway through the overall story it has planned so far. But once the rest of “The Last of Us: Part II“ video game is adapted in the rest of the show’s Season Two and upcoming Season Three, it will reach the point where it has run out of story to adapt – and everyone who watched and endured the end of “Game of Thrones“ knows the dangers that can bring.
Once “Game of Thrones“ changed the game in its show and perhaps in all TV shows forever with “Baelor,“ there was still a lot of story and tragedy to come. For now, there is less of that ahead in a post-Joel “The Last of Us,“ – but eventually, the similarities between that and a post-Ned “Game of Thrones“ hopefully won’t continue forever.
“Succession“ 04×03 – “Connor’s Wedding”
Fantasy shows like “Game of Thrones“ and “The Last of Us“ are supposed to kill off plenty of characters, whether leading ones or not. A modern-day show like “Succession” isn’t supposed to have a body count, even in the world of super-rich and amoral characters who can get away with it. But that was just one of many reasons why its biggest death scene made shocking history.
Brian Cox’s Logan Roy was a character who survived a brush with death in the show’s pilot, never operated with full mental or physical health the rest of the series, and perhaps was always destined to die before the show ended. Nonetheless, absolutely no one ever expected him to die off-screen in mid-air during the third episode of the final season, especially roughly 20 minutes into the episode while his warring children were hearing the news on a yacht as it happened.
“The Last of Us“ tried to stun viewers in the same way by killing Joel in the second episode this season instead of saving it near the end of the season like “Game of Thrones“ did. Even so, those who knew “The Last of Us“ the most knew that was coming, just like those who knew “Game of Thrones“ the most in early 2011 knew Ned’s death was coming. Since “Succession” wasn’t based on a novel or video game, there was no way anyone knew Logan’s death was coming – or at least no one could ever guess it would come in this way.
What’s more, unlike when Ned and Joel were killed at the very end of their episodes, Logan died with about 40 more minutes left on-screen for his children and inner circle to go through the five stages of grief in real time, much like the audience. By design, it was very much like a death that could happen to anyone in real life – even the richest and most powerful man in the world – unlike the death of someone betrayed by a king or killed by a vengeful young woman in a world of the undead.
In a world long past “Game of Thrones“ in more ways than one, “Succession” didn’t blindside viewers in the exact same way Ned’s death did – especially since by then, Logan arguably wasn’t really the main or lead character compared to his children. Logan was nowhere near as noble as Ned and arguably left a more painful and destructive legacy than even Joel, so his death was less tragic than it was inevitable and perhaps long overdue. Yet the timing, the shock of it, and what it would lead to for the final episodes of the series left a far more searing legacy.
For many reasons, “Succession“ could fool everyone with such a stunning pivot a lot easier than “Game of Thrones“ and “The Last of Us“ did. Still, it went above and beyond to ensure nothing could be guessed at or given away too early, to the point where Logan’s eventual funeral was filmed with Cox on set to fool onlookers and paparazzi.
Compared to that, “The Last of Us“ did not try nearly as hard to surprise those who had never played the game. For one thing, airing such an episode on Easter Sunday was quite an ironic hint in hindsight, whether the date was chosen for that purpose or not. For another, the fact the opening credits revealed the director of the episode was Mark Mylod – the very man who directed “Connor’s Wedding“ – was truly an instant spoiler right then and there. And for one more thing, an ad for Max that aired right before the episode and showed off various past shocking HBO deaths and twists – including Ned’s death, Logan’s final words to his kids, and a closing clip of one of Joel and Ellie’s most emotional moments in Season One – was basically telegraphing the new addition to come an hour later.
HBO has made significant deaths a stock and trade before and after “Game of Thrones“ and “Succession,“ such as many a death on “The Sopranos“ and the finales of “The White Lotus,“ and killing the lead character of “Six Feet Under“ just a few episodes before a series finale that showed how every other main character died. However, the historic nature of “Game of Thrones’s“ first major death and the historical out-of-nowhere timing of “Succession’s“ only major death have made them the gold standard in HBO shock value. Now, “The Last of Us“ rounds out the trilogy regardless of where the aftermath goes, whether this season, next season, or any other season beyond.
Have you been enjoying this season of “The Last of Us?” Between that, “Game of Thrones” and “Succession,” which HBO show had the most shocking death for you? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account, and be sure to check out our latest Emmy predictions here. Please also be sure to subscribe to the Next Best Series Podcast where we are conducting a number of interviews with Emmy contenders throughout the awards season and discussing the race over the next couple of months.
