Summary
- New character Eugene in The Last of Us Season 2 might expose Joel’s secret about the lie he told Ellie.
- Eugene, played by Joe Pantoliano, is expected to have a significant impact on Joel and Ellie’s relationship.
- Fans theorize Eugene’s past as a Firefly could lead to uncovering the truth about Joel’s actions in the new season.
In the most recent trailer for the highly anticipated The Last of Us Season 2, fans got a quick look at one of the new characters that the series is fleshing out this time around, but there’s a possibility that this person could cause a lot of trouble for Joel’s massive secret. HBO’s critically acclaimed adaptation of the hit Naughty Dog video game series has pretty much stayed close to its source material throughout season one, but for The Last of Us Season 2, it seems as though its story is about to get a shake-up.
The show has made some notable deviations, especially so in the heartbreaking and beautifully told story in Season One’s episode “Long, Long Time,” which gave characters Bill and Frank a fleshed-out narrative that hit life-long The Last of Us fans right in the heart due to never meeting Frank in the game and not really knowing that much about Bill, other than being a grumpy survivalist. Now it seems as though Season 2 will revisit that route again and add some meat to a character who not only did players of the sequel never meet but also know next to nothing about. However, this newly fleshed-out additional character might tread on “some mighty thin ice” when it comes to exposing Joel’s darkest secret.
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The Last of Us Season 2’s Eugene Might Be the Catalyst for Exposing Joel’s Secret
Actor Joe Pantoliano, who has starred in films that include The Matrix, Memento, and more, has been confirmed to play the role of Eugene in The Last of Us Season 2. Even though details regarding Eugene’s role are still under lock and key, it seems as though he will have quite a big influence on Joel and Ellie’s bond. While previously talking about Eugene’s expanded role in the show, Neil Druckmann said, “The way this character comes in really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.” Now, fans believe that they might know exactly why Eugene has been brought onboard, and that’s to lift the lid on Joel’s secret about the lie he told Ellie.
In the finale episode of The Last of Us Season 1, viewers witnessed Joel going full Rambo on the Fireflies at the hospital in a bid to rescue Ellie from doctors who wanted to operate on her brain so they could find a cure for the virus. Sadly, this would have meant killing Ellie, and Joel wasn’t having any of that. After “saving” her, Joel tells Ellie a massive lie that the doctors weren’t able to create a vaccine, but Ellie seems to already have her suspicions. In the new The Last of Us Season 2 trailer, Eugene is shown with Joel behind him with a gun, and fans think that Joel found out that Eugene has learned the truth about his secret through his old Firefly contacts and will expose it.
“I’m betting that Eugene, being a former firefly, maybe finds out what happened at Salt Lake and Joel kills him to keep things quiet?” wondered one fan on Reddit, while another mirrored the theory by saying, “Maybe Eugene tips off him and Tommy to the fireflies or threatens to?”. Fans have already seen that Ellie finds out about Joel’s secret in the trailer where she says, “You swore”, so Joel’s story about how it’s exposed might have changed from the playable flashback sequence set in the hospital from the game and, instead, Ellie could learn the tragic truth from Eugene, in turn, possibly ending his life at the hands of Joel.
The Last of Us season 2 will be released via HBO on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
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The Last Of Us
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO Max
- Showrunner
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Craig Mazin
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Bella Ramsey
Ellie Williams
Source: Reddit