This article contains spoilers for the The Last of Us season two. Please do not read unless you have seen the first two episodes.

Brutal. How else could you describe that ending? Not only does a foundational character get tortured and killed, but the other most beloved character is forced to witness their final harrowing moments. In an episode of The Last of Us that ramped up the post-apocalyptic action to unseen levels – with a full-scale assault by a berserk horde of infected – the most intense scenes took place on the chilly, blood-spattered floor of a remote Wyoming ski lodge.

You could also call that ending brave, or even foolish. The fraught but loving relationship between fallible father figure Joel (Pedro Pascal) and his spiky surrogate daughter Ellie (Bella Ramsey) was the beating heart of season one. By killing off Joel in such a savage fashion, and further traumatising Ellie, you surely risk pushing the story too far into bleakness. That may become clearer in the weeks ahead. First, let’s break down how we got to the point where The Last of Us changed.

The morning after

Vengeful … Kaitlyn Dever as Abby. Photograph: HBO

An opening dream sequence serves as a reminder of why Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) is so vengeful. She relives the death of her father, the doctor Joel shot who was poised to operate on (and, in the process, kill) Ellie five years ago in Salt Lake City. We also get to spend a little more time with the group that agreed to help Abby on her revenge quest: Owen (Spencer Lord), Nora (Tati Gabrielle), Manny (Danny Ramirez) and Mel (Ariela Barer). From their ski lodge eyrie, they can see that Joel’s settlement of Jackson Hole is more fortified than they first thought. Perhaps understandably, considering Abby’s tense mood, they don’t seem to have celebrated New Year’s Eve with a big boozy blowout.

Down in Jackson Hole it is a different story, with hangovers rife. Ellie is in the process of being dragged out on patrol with the likable Jesse (Young Mazino), who mentions that a recent scouting party disturbed a buried mob of infected and no one knows for sure how many might be out there. To add to the ominous foreshadowing, Ellie tells Jesse that while her relationship with Joel may be complicated, it is built on an unshakeable foundation: “I’m still me, he’s still Joel, and nothing’s ever going to change that, ever.” At a hastily convened town meeting, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) runs through the emergency protocols if the town is attacked, which seem to boil down to “shelter underground or get up on a roof”. We’ll see how effective those plans might be shortly.

A storm brewing

Lured to the lodge … Joel and Isabela Merced as Dina. Photograph: HBO

Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon but Joel is already out on horseback patrol with Ellie’s crush Dina (Isabela Merced). If the pair are awkwardly discussing the dancefloor ruckus at the party the night before we don’t get to hear it: we only see them at range through Abby’s binoculars. Her hurried attempts to intercept them lead her down a slippery slope into a frozen field of infected. But soon the agitated horde – most of whom seem to have been preserved in the early stages of cordyceps infection – begins scrambling out of the slush to snack on Abby. After a claustrophobic crawl alongside a wire fence buckling under the weight of a hungry mob, she is set to be mauled when an unexpected saviour appears: Joel. Presumably he must have questions about this young woman who emerged from the snowstorm. But his admirable first instinct is to bundle her into the temporary refuge of a copper mine.

Roasted mushrooms, anyone?

Fighting back … Gabriel Luna as Tommy. Photograph: HBO

Now that a gigantic avalanche of infected is active they home in on a new target: Jackson Hole itself (led by the twitching cordyceps tendrils that have choked some of the settlement’s plumbing). As waves of infected smash against the stout wooden walls, Tommy leads the fightback by launching barrels of oil into the horde to create an impromptu moat of fire, apparently one of the most effective ways of putting down a mushroom-infested enemy. But the infected are now smart enough to seek out a weak point in the town’s defences, and before long a big boy bloater – last seen causing havoc back in episode five – has smashed through the wall.

With the infected rampaging down Main Street, it is absolute chaos. Tommy, now strapped up with a flamethrower, desperately tries to repel the horde, but the town seems close to being overrun. But when he sees the oversized bloater make a beeline for his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) – just how intelligent have the infected become? – Tommy goes all out to lure it away, coming dangerously close to death in the process. Then Maria sets the town’s hunting dogs free, and their throat-ripping counter-attack seem to turn the tide of battle. Phew.

A bloody reckoning

Rescue attempt … Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Photograph: HBO

After using their horses to outrun a mob of infected, Abby has lured Joel and Dina to the ski lodge under the pretext of getting help before joining the fight at Jackson Hole. But when her friends realise Joel has been delivered right to them, the temperature in the room changes palpably. The frostbitten Dina is given a knockout shot by Mel so she doesn’t have to see what happens next.

Abby, unmoved by the fact Joel just saved her, shotguns Joel in the knee and reminds him of his death tally back in Salt Lake City: 18 soldiers and one doctor. That Abby has nursed and rehearsed this revenge fantasy for years is clear from her scarily methodical approach. But while she is monologuing, Joel gets in one last act of defiance: “Oh, just shut the fuck up and do it already.” Then she starts beating him with a golf iron.

It is bloodthirsty stuff, made all the more upsetting when Ellie bursts in for a last-ditch rescue attempt. Even if Abby’s friends don’t seem thrilled by what’s happening, they are loyal enough to restrain Ellie so she – and we – are forced to see the climactic death blow from floor-level, helpless to do anything about it. After that, it feels as if the invaders cannot wait to bug out, obviously queasy about what their leader has done. They also leave Ellie alive, which might seem a tactical error. But while she swears her own revenge, the lasting image is of Ellie dragging herself over to Joel’s body for one final hug. She was born after the initial outbreak and has grown up immune. But now Ellie knows what it feels like for your world to end. What on earth happens next?

Notes and observations

“I knew I was going to die before they offered me the part …” Pedro Pascal, flanked by Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever, breaks down his pivotal scene in this fascinating (and surprisingly fun) Entertainment Weekly debrief video.

While Ellie and Jesse are sheltering from the storm we hear more about the late weed cultivator Eugene, who Joel apparently had to “put down” a year ago: he was a Vietnam vet who left the Fireflies because he was “tired of killing people”.

This episode was directed by Mark Mylod, veteran of Game of Thrones and Succession (where he oversaw another major character death). His next project is HBO’s Harry Potter TV reboot.

Through the Valley, the acoustic ballad that gave this episode its title and played out over the closing montage, was sung by Ashley Johnson. She provided the voice and motion-capture for Ellie in the video games – and also played Ellie’s mum, Anna, in a key flashback last season.

What did you think? Were you ready to say goodbye to Joel? How will the series adapt going forward? Have your say below, but please avoid spoilers from the game …