All the major deaths in The Last of Us, ranked by most heartbreaking
HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us was a huge success in its first season, receiving critical acclaim and breaking viewership records. It also had us ugly-crying at its many deaths.
The first season of The Last of Us has come and gone, proving to be one of the best video game adaptations of all time. The live-action series was created by Neil Druckmann (the game’s co-creator) and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) who, without a doubt, were the perfect people for the job.
The nine-episode season exceeded expectations, bringing action, heartbreak, and many surprises. Of course, this is a post-apocalyptic world with infected people roaming around ready to attack, so we expected many deaths going into the show. What we didn’t exactly expect was how incredibly emotional The Last of Us would shape up to be.
Fans of the video game by Naughty Dog already know just how upsetting the storyline can get (and will get in The Last of Us season 2) and many of the scenes will stick with us for a while to come.
Now that the first season is behind us, we’re breaking down the 10 major deaths, ranking them from least to most heartbreaking.
10. David
Picking the least heartbreaking major death in The Last of Us season 1 is easy because, well, David’s (Scott Shepherd) death isn’t that emotional. Frankly, it’s satisfying and much-needed after he comes for Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
The twisted pastor is introduced in episode 8 when Ellie goes out to find food while Joel (Pedro Pascal) is still unconscious. She’s confronted by David and another man named James (played by the Joel voice actor from the games, Troy Baker), who right off the bat doesn’t seem trustworthy. As Ellie gets to know David, she finds out he’s basically a cult leader and he has some sickening habits. Like eating humans.
David has Ellie imprisoned but fortunately, she’s able to escape, though they must play a game of cat and mouse first. David is sadistic and cruel, and despite his claims he wants to work with Ellie, we know he just wants to kill her and feed her to the others in his group. Ellie’s able to get the upper hand and hits David repeatedly with a meat cleaver, making sure he’s dead for good. Though the death scene is gratifying, it’s also a bit heartbreaking only because of what it means for Ellie’s loss of innocence.
9. Kathleen
Another villain we get to say goodbye to in a satisfying death scene is Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), the leader of a rebel group in Kansas City. She’s got a messed up past that we get to learn about in episode 5, which is the only real reason her death is unfortunate. Despite how cut-throat she is, it’s also easy to empathize with her once we get some background.
When we meet her in The Last of Us, she’s hunting a character named Henry (Lamar Johnson) for betraying her trust. Because Henry needed medicine for his deaf little brother Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard), who had leukemia, he decided to turn Kathleen’s brother into FEDRA, ultimately getting him killed.
Considering all of this, it’s easy to see both sides of the story and understand why Kathleen is the way she is. But because we’re rooting for Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, Kathleen has to go. We didn’t necessarily want her dead, but she’s ultimately attacked and killed by infected in an epic battle scene that’s extremely entertaining.
In another life, we might’ve been on Kathleen’s side, and maybe her death would be more heartbreaking.