'The Last of Us': The song at the end of episode 2 has deeper meaning

You thought The Last of Us Season 1 was brutal? Season 2 just delivered one of the most harrowing episodes of TV in history. Sunday night, viewers witnessed the grim events that first rocked fans of the video game The Last of Us Part II back in the summer of 2020. 

But amid all the violence, grief, and pain of episode two, there was a song that plays over the end that hit like a shotgun blast to the knees. And fans of the game know it carries a lot of meaning. 

So, let's dig into it. 

Spoilers ahead. 

What song plays over the end of The Last of Us, Season 2, episode 2?

In the final minutes of this devastating episode, Abby's crew abandons the mountaintop chalet, leaving behind a wounded Ellie, who crawls over to Joel's body. As she cradles him, an acoustic guitar begins to play, and a female voice sings, "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." 

The voice should be familiar to fans of the game, as it's sung by Ashley Johnson, who voiced Ellie in both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. The song is Shawn James' "Through the Valley," covered by Johnson for the trailer for the sequel game.

In the trailer, viewable above, Ellie plays the song on her guitar. In the show, the non-diegetic song plays over the episode's conclusions for Ellie, Abby, and Tommy. 

As Abby's squad tromps through the snow, back to their base in Seattle, the lyrics continue, "I fear no evil, 'cause I'm blind to it all. And my mind and my gun, they comfort me. Because I know I'll kill my enemies when they come."

The carnage wrought on Jackson by the Infected is unveiled under the lyrics, "Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell on this earth forever more."

Then, the final heart-wrenching image, of Ellie on horseback with Jesse and Dina, as they drag Joel's body, swaddled in a sheet, through the snow back to Jackson. Johnson's voice sings over this tragic scene, "'Cause I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and I fear no evil, 'cause I'm blind. Oh, and I walk beside the still waters, and they restore my soul. But I know when I die, my soul is damned. But I know when I die, my soul is damned."

Then, the song fades away, and only the sound of the howling winds and the slow progress of horses and their cargo can be heard over the credits. 

What's the importance of "Through the Valley" in The Last of Us? 

Bella Ramsey plays Ellie in "The Last of Us." Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO

On a surface level, the lyrics seem to reflect on Joel's life, playing as a eulogy of sorts.

He was a man who relied on his wits and his gun, seeming fearless in the face of the evils of the Infected world. But something changed him when he met Ellie. She became more than cargo, more than a miracle cure. She became his daughter. When he made the fateful decision to annihilate the Fireflies to save her, he sealed his fate. He was damned. 

Alternatively, viewers could also look to the song as a warning from Joel to Ellie, melodically entreating a grieving girl not to follow in the path of Joel's violence or Abby's vengeance. But Ellie's never been much for listening to Joel.

"Through the Valley" is more than an Easter egg. 

Ashley Johnson in "The Last of Us." Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO

The track can be found on the album The Last of Us Part II: Covers and Rarities. Johnson not only voiced Ellie in the games, but also played Ellie's mom in Season 1 of the TV show. But there's a greater meaning at play behind why Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann picked Johnson's cover of "Through the Valley" for this TV moment. And it relates to how the song showed up in the game. 

The only way to hear "Through the Valley" in The Last of Us: Part II was to beat the game on Permadeath mode. That's a setting that means if your character dies, you're not booted back to the start of the level or your last save point to try again. You lose. In Permadeath setting, death is not a setback, it's the end. 

Thus, this song playing over this sequence underscores the cold new reality: Joel is dead, for good.

There's no going back to do things differently. He was doomed to die as soon as he killed the Fireflies. Even in the game, there was nothing you could do to save him.

But does that mean that's the last of Pedro Pascal we'll see in The Last of Us? Well, the show's done flashbacks before, and flashbacks popped up in the game. So while Joel is dead, Pascal might not be gone from this series just yet. 

The Last of Us Season 2 airs weekly, Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, on HBO and Max.

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