‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 3 Preview Released After Huge Character Death

The emotional fallout of The Last of Us’ most devastating death yet will continue to drive the season when the hit HBO video game-based series returns with a new episode Sunday.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2.

A new trailer for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 3, a title for which hasn’t yet been released, shows the Jackson Hole survivors grieving and struggling to pick up the pieces after “Through the Valley” left their home in ruins following a cordyceps horde attack and Joel (Pedro Pascal) was brutally murdered by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).

In the short 40-second clip, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) wakes in a hospital bed screaming and crying after witnessing Joel’s death, with other moments showing both her and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in moments of grief. The trailer also shows more of the Washington Liberation Front (W.L.F.), a militant organization based in Seattle, and teases Ellie’s quest for revenge, showing her and Dina (Isabela Merced) speaking at a table, Dina saying, “I know their names and I know where they’re from.”

Joel’s death, a moment that pulled directly from the Naughty Dog video game on which the show is based, albeit with some slight differences, will drive the story going forward. Co-creator Neil Druckman described Joel’s death to Variety as “the inciting incident for this story.”

“Is Ellie going to do exactly what Abby did, pursue her and hunt her down at any cost? What does this toxic grieving do to us?” executive producer Craig Mazin added in an interview with USA Today. “This is not a revenge story. It’s a story about grief and how people handle grief.”

The Last of Us also stars Rutina Wesley, Young Mazino, Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord, Danny Ramirez, and Jeffrey Wright. The series has already been renewed for a third season, which will continue to pull from the second installment of the video game series, The Last of Us Part II. Although it is confirmed that Joel will continue to appear throughout the remainder of Season 2 via flashbacks, it’s unclear if fans can expect to see him in Season 3.

New episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and are also available to stream on Max.