Pedro Pascal Compares That Brutal ‘The Last of Us' Scene and His ‘Game of Thrones' Ending -

For most mortal men, death is where it all ends. Whether it be a descent into nothingness, a boat ride across the River Styx or an ascension to the Pearly gates, it comes but once. However, that is not for Pedro Pascal and the characters he plays. “I get killed a lot,” Pascal tells Entertainment Weekly comically in a recent interview. “I like to die.” And he is quite right. With his characters meeting their ends in projects over the years, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Equalizer 2, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle — he does get killed alot. And Pascal’s latest project is no different, with Joel Miller, Pascal’s character in HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2, meeting a similar fate.

When Season 2 premiered recently, audiences were made aware that Joel’s life was under threat from Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a former Firefly and the daughter of the doctor Joel so ruthlessly shot in the previous season. Abby’s vengeance came swiftly, with Joel’s head meeting a golf club wielded by the former firefly in Season 2, Episode 2. Death isn’t new to Pascal’s characters on HBO, having met a gruesome end as Prince Oberyn Martell in the critically acclaimed series, Game of Thrones. Speaking in an interview with The Last of Us costars Dever and Bella Ramsey (Ellie), he compares the death of Joel to Oberyn’s. “I think this is the best one,” he says. “No, it’s in competition, I think, with Game of Thrones. It has to be. I love the golf club. I’m going to start golf.” To his assertions, Dever responds in jest, “You going to bridge the gap in this relationship and make it right?”

Pedro Pascal Always Knew How It’d End for Joel

The Last of Us is based on the video game series of the same name with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann serving as creators and showrunners. Prior to taking on the role as Joel Miller, Pascal revealed he was aware of Joel’s fate on the show. “It was part of the deal. “They’re like, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to die’ And I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll take it!'” he jokes. Pascal goes on to add:

“I just think that the series is based on very specific source material, and so that was always a part of the presentation of the idea that we would go all in on season 1, shoot for 11-12 months in Alberta, and then it would take a totally different shape the second season. And this is why it was like that.”

Coming prior to the Season 2 premiere, The Last of Us was renewed for Season 3, cementing the faith Max has in the show and its ability to perform. With a nearly perfect 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 2, one can understand the confidence the show has generated. It was a devastating blow for Ellie, the demise of Joel despite their differences in recent times. Vengeance is most certainly on her mind now, and it would be interesting to see where that road leads.

The first two episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 are now streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the series and watch The Last of Us on Max.

The Last Of Us

Release Date: January 15, 2023
Network: HBO
Showrunner: Craig Mazin
Directors: Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
Writers: Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin