why did they kill off joel on the last of us

Joel was killed off in The Last of Us TV series because his death serves as the key inciting incident to drive the story of Season 2. He was brutally beaten and killed by Abby, a character seeking revenge for Joel's killing of her father, who was a Firefly surgeon. Joel's violent choice to save Ellie at the end of Season 1, by killing the Fireflies who wanted to sacrifice Ellie to find a cure, set off a chain of vengeance that led to his death. The showrunners chose to kill Joel early in the season to respect the inevitability of this plot point and to avoid prolonging the agony for fans anticipating it. They also wanted to show the full brutality of the act as it deeply impacts the characters and story going forward. Joel's death is not only pivotal narratively but reflects the harsh consequences of his previous actions in a world ruled by retribution and violence.