00:00Episode two of this season of The Last of Us was huge, not just in sheer scale, but in emotional
00:06damage to the viewers. But did you catch this especially heartbreaking moment? Spoilers ahead.
00:11As Ellie embraces Joel's body, we cut to a crane shot of them, showing emptiness on all sides.
00:17Ellie's alone in the world again. Simultaneously, we hear a 2012 Sean James song, Through the Valley,
00:23also the episode title, sung by Ashley Johnson. Johnson played Ellie in the video games and also
00:28played Ellie's mom, Anna, in the season one finale. It feels especially heartbreaking that as Ellie is
00:34mourning her father figure, we hear the voice of her mother. This metatextual moment also connects
00:39the video game to the TV show, something the show doesn't do often. But as co-showrunner Craig Mazin
00:45explains, if there's a moment where you are free for the universes to touch, it's this one. Because
00:50this is a shared experience now with everyone. We're sort of saying everyone who played the game
00:55and now everyone who hasn't, we have lived through this. It's true, we're all devastated that Joel is
01:00dead. Ellie will never be the same, but will she seek vengeance for Joel the way Abby did her father?
01:06Let us know what you thought of this episode in the comments below.
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