The Last of Us Season 2 concluded with the expected combination of violence and horror characteristic of the grim HBO series. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) pursued her quest to find Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), pushing away Jesse (Young Mazino) and temporarily falling into the hands of the ruthless Seraphites. The most memorable moments likely include Ellie’s potential realization about the futility of relentless violence or the final, shocking confrontation.

**Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 7, now streaming on MAX**

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 7 tracks Ellie entering a conflict between the Wolves and Seraphites in search of Abby. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of a Seraphite executioner, Ellie infiltrates the aquarium where Abby’s companions hide. She finds Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord) engaged in a debate over Abby’s new directives. Ellie brandishes her gun, demanding Abby’s location on a map. Owen reaches for his weapon, prompting Ellie to shoot him reflexively. As a result, both Owen and Mel, with a fatal shot to her jugular, perish.

This is when the harsh truth of relentless revenge overpowers Ellie. Mel is expecting a child. The dying Mel pleads with Ellie to perform an emergency Cesarean section before she succumbs, but a paralyzed Ellie cannot act. Following Mel’s death, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Jesse find Ellie. They guide her back to the theater where Dina (Isabela Merced) awaits. Ellie’s pursuit of vengeance ends; they plan to return home.

Except they’re not! Ellie and Jesse hear Tommy scuffling with someone in the theater lobby and they run, guns ready, into the fray. Abby is there and she shoots Jesse, killing him. Holding Tommy at gunpoint, she demands Ellie come out with her hands up. The sequence ends with Abby pointing her gun at Ellie, complaining that she let the girl live only for her to waste it, and then seemingly shooting our heroine. The gun goes off, the show cuts to black, and then we flashback three days earlier, to the W.L.F. HQ.

So what the heck is going on? Is Tommy really dead? Is Ellie dead? How is Mel’s death different from the video game? Why are The Last of Us showrunners so brutal? Here’s everything you need to know about the end of The Last of Us Season 2 on HBO…

The Last of Us Season 2 Ending Explained: Is Jesse Dead? Why was Mel’s Death Changed From the Game? Why Does It End on that Cliffhanger?

DECIDER recently sat in on a virtual press conference with The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann in which they answered for their crimes — er, explained some of those brutal decisions.

Much of the violence we see in The Last of Us Season 2 finale is pulled directly from the video games. Jesse is also killed by Abby in The Last of Us II and the showrunners brushed off the suggestion that they might have spared his life in the HBO show. “His fate was always sealed,” Druckmann said.

Mazin added that Jesse’s death is going to have a major impact on Ellie’s romance with Dina. “It’s an interesting situation because Jesse dies in part because of Ellie,” Mazin said. “But Ellie doesn’t pull the trigger. Abby does.”

“So now the question is, who does she blame? I’m a big believer that once you start asking, ‘Who do I blame?’, you’re already down the wrong path,” Mazin said. “Jesse’s death is going to change things for her, but how we play that out, we have to wait and see.” 

Mel’s death, on the other hand, plays out quite differently from how it does in the video game. In The Last of Us II, she attacks Ellie and Ellie kills her in self defense. In the show, Mel’s death is “a true collateral damage moment,” according to Mazin. “And then I decided to make it worse.”

Everything with the reveal of Mel’s pregnant belly as she dies is new to the HBO show. It’s designed not only to break Ellie, but force the audience to reappraise what we think of the heroine. “If you’re rooting for Ellie, it’ll make you feel dirty,” Druckmann said.

When asked why they ended the season on a cliffhanger, the showrunners revealed they hashed out different endings, but Druckmann said, “Whatever we entertained didn’t stick for very long. This always felt like the natural end point for the season.“

But it’s not the natural end point for the show…

Will There Be a The Last of Us Season 3?

Yes, HBO has already confirmed that they will be making The Last of Us Season 3. In fact, The Last of Us Season 3 will continue to adapt the events of The Last of Us II. That video game not only follows the story of Joel and Ellie, but puts the player in Abby’s shoes.

“There is another side to this story that we have yet to really delve into,” Craig Mazin said during the press conference. “There’s no question that Abby is the hero of her story. Kaitlyn Dever is the hero of a story always, you know? I mean, if you have Kaitlyn Dever, you use a Kaitlyn Dever.”

The final sequence in The Last of Us Season 2 flashes back to Seattle Day 1, but we’re seeing Abby’s version of what happened. The Last of Us Season 3 will tackle Abby’s story.

The showrunners also teased that they will provide answers to several questions fans might have. “What is going on? How did that war start? How did the Seraphites start? Who is the prophet? What happened to her? What does Isaac want? What’s happening at the end of Episode 7? What is this explosion? What is all of it?” Mazin said. “And all of that will become clear.“