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Spoiler warning: this article covers Jesse’s fate in The Last of Us Part II and in the HBO series’ season-two finale.
In the television series, Abby shoots Jesse in the head in the season-two finale, as he and Ellie run into the theater lobby to rescue Tommy. Co-creator Neil Druckmann told TheWrap that the team never seriously considered changing this outcome: “That one, I don’t think we ever entertained an alternative. His fate was always sealed.” In the game, The Last of Us Part II, Jesse also dies abruptly during Abby’s attack on the theater. The show adapts the game but changes how the story is told, so the two versions should be read separately.
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What happens to Jesse in the show
The moment is the season-two finale, episode 7 of the series. Jesse (played by Young Mazino, according to the official season-two announcement from Warner Bros. Discovery) is moving through the theater with Ellie toward Tommy. As they enter the lobby, Abby shoots Jesse in the head. He dies at that moment, with no further scene dedicated to him. Details of the staging come from TheWrap’s finale report, which also carries the creators’ and cast members’ comments on the scene.
Who Jesse is to the story
Jesse is not an anonymous casualty of the finale. In the show, he is:
#1 Best Overall
- Eine intensive, von starken Charakteren getragene Geschichte, durch das Erfolgsstudio Naughty Dog perfekt inszeniert
- Langerwartete Fortsetzung von "The Last of Us" kommt endlich auf PS4
- Dank modernster Motion-Capturing werden die Emotionen noch realistischer transportiert
- Unberechenbare Begegnungen mit Feinden durch das erstklassige KI-System
- Ellie’s friend
- Dina’s former partner
- The father of Dina’s unborn child
Shortly before his death, Jesse learns about the pregnancy. TheWrap describes him as having seemingly made amends with Ellie after she brought Dina into danger. That reconciliation is what makes the shooting land so hard: it removes a man who had just begun to repair a relationship, and it leaves Ellie and Dina to live with the consequences without him.
The television and game versions compared
The show is adapted from The Last of Us Part II, but the two versions do not match in every detail. Druckmann has said the two media can show things the other cannot, which is why the adaptation makes changes. The table below separates what each version establishes.
| Element | Television series (season 2) | Video game (The Last of Us Part II) |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse’s death | Shot in the head by Abby as he and Ellie enter the theater lobby to rescue Tommy | Dies abruptly during Abby’s attack on the theater |
| Context before death | Learns of Dina’s pregnancy; appears to have made amends with Ellie | Not stated in the sources used for this article |
| Actor | Young Mazino | Not stated in the sources used for this article |
| Creators’ stance on alternatives | Druckmann says the team never entertained an alternative fate | Not stated in the sources used for this article |
The adaptation rationale is described in the Television Academy interview with Craig Mazin. Mazin describes the task as using what television does well while adapting the source events into a different medium. For a broader account of how the franchise was moved from console to screen, see Sony Interactive Entertainment’s feature on the adaptation.
Rank #2
- Five years later An intense, harrowing and emotional adventure awaits Ellie and Joel return for an epic journey in the sequel to the critically acclaimed game by Naughty Dog.
- Experience the escalating moral conflicts created by Ellies relentless pursuit of vengeance. The cycle of violence left in her wake will challenge your notions of right versus wrong, good versus evil, and hero versus villain.
- Set out on Ellies journey, taking her from the peaceful mountains and forests of Jackson to the lush, overgrown ruins of greater Seattle. Encounter new survivor groups, unfamiliar and treacherous environments, and terrifying evolutions of the infected.
- New and evolved gameplay systems deliver upon the life-or-death stakes of Ellies journey through the hostile world. Feel her desperate struggle for survival through improved features such as high-intensity melee combat, fluid movement, and dynamic stealth.
What the creators have said about Jesse’s fate
Druckmann on writing characters toward their fate
In a Game Informer interview published March 26, 2025, Druckmann described a writing principle rather than an explanation of Jesse specifically. Writers, he said, should care deeply about their characters but should not give them plot armor. The fate that serves the story is the one to accept. In his words: “You have to love them enough to respect that whatever fate is in store for them to tell the best story you can, that’s what in store for them and you have to lean into that.”
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Druckmann on Jesse’s death in the series
In a TheWrap interview published May 28, 2025, Druckmann said the creators never seriously entertained an alternative for Jesse. The quote is his comment on the decision, reported by TheWrap; it is not a line spoken in the episode.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the death reads as necessary
“Necessary” is best understood as the article’s interpretation of the story’s logic, not a fact that every viewer must accept. The argument rests on three narrative effects.
Rank #3
It ends an attempt at repair
Jesse’s arc is the one place in the finale where the story offers a path back from the damage Ellie caused. Once he is dead, that path closes. Dina is left with a child and no partner, and Ellie is left with a guilt that no reconciliation can now address. The death makes the consequences of earlier choices concrete instead of abstract.
It shows that violence reaches beyond its targets
Druckmann has described The Last of Us Part II as a story about hate. In that frame, Jesse’s death is one of many losses produced by a cycle of revenge. It is not a twist for its own sake. The people who die are not only the ones who were targeted, and the story asks viewers to notice that.
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Where the argument is weaker
- The claim depends on reading the finale as a continuation of the game’s themes. Viewers who see the death as shock value rather than character logic will reach a different conclusion.
- The creators’ statements explain their approach, but they do not prove that no other ending could have worked.
- Because the show differs from the game in detail, an argument built on the game’s structure does not automatically transfer to the series.
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