Joel in The Last of Us was killed because of a deep-seated revenge motive. He was brutally murdered by Abby, the daughter of a Firefly doctor whom Joel had killed at the end of the first season to rescue Ellie. Joel's act, while saving Ellie from a fatal operation intended to create a cure, provoked Abby and her group to seek revenge. Joel's death serves as the inciting incident for the story in the second season, highlighting the brutal consequences of his earlier actions and setting the stage for the conflict and character motivations that follow. Abby's violent killing of Joel, witnessed by Ellie, underscores themes of vengeance and the cycle of violence in a harsh post- apocalyptic world.
