Custom Image of Joel in The Last of Us

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.

A handful of new character posters have dropped for The Last of Us season 2, and Pedro Pascal’s poster hints at a massive spoiler for Joel’s story. These new posters have confirmed the release date for The Last of Us season 2. HBO already confirmed that the season would premiere in April in the latest trailer, but these posters confirm that the new season will debut on Sunday, April 13. The character posters feature season 1’s familiar stars, Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, as well as a new addition to the main cast: Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever.

At first glance, these posters just seem to be minimalist pictures of the main characters, but there are a lot of little details. Joel is walking on the broken watch his daughter Sarah gave him, Ellie is walking on the guitar Joel will teach her how to play, and Abby is walking on the Firefly pendant that ties her to her late father. The tagline, “Every path has a price,” applies to everyone’s stories: Ellie and Abby’s concurrent paths to vengeance will yield devastating personal costs, while Joel’s path of saving Ellie and preventing the cure will cost him everything.

Pedro Pascal’s The Last Of Us Season 2 Poster Hints At Joel’s Tragic Fate

Ellie & Abby Are Both Looking Forward, But Joel Is Looking Back

Character posters for The Last of Us season 2

The key difference between Joel’s poster and Ellie and Abby’s posters is his perspective. While Ellie and Abby are looking forward, Joel is looking back. This hints at his story; while Ellie and Abby are marching into the future, Joel is haunted by his past. Ellie is looking forward to finding Abby in Seattle and exacting revenge. Abby is looking forward to achieving redemption and inner peace after her own quest for revenge didn’t make her feel any better.

While Ellie and Abby are marching into the future, Joel is haunted by his past.

But Joel is looking over his shoulder. Ever since he massacred the Fireflies, he’s known that his days were numbered. He knew that one day, someone connected to the Fireflies — or any of the other enemies he made over the past 20 years — would track him down and kill him. The fact that Joel is looking back while Ellie and Abby look forward is a subtle but unmistakable hint that he’ll die early on in the season.

How The Last Of Us Season 2’s New Posters Reveal Each Main Character’s Motivation

The Path Each Character Is Walking On Highlights Their Motivation

Joel (Pedro Pascal) playing the guitar in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Ellie (Bella Ramsey) playing the guitar for Dina in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Maria Miller (Rutina Wesley) and Tommy Miller (Gabriel Luna) touching foreheads in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Close-up of an unnamed character (Catherine O'Hara) in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser A wounded, chained, and malnourished man in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Joel (Pedro Pascal) playing the guitar in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Ellie (Bella Ramsey) playing the guitar for Dina in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Maria Miller (Rutina Wesley) and Tommy Miller (Gabriel Luna) touching foreheads in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Close-up of an unnamed character (Catherine O'Hara) in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser A wounded, chained, and malnourished man in The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser

The path that each character is walking on in the new posters for The Last of Us season 2 hints at their motivation. The broken watch on Joel’s poster suggests that his primary motivation is to keep his daughter safe. The guitar on Ellie’s poster suggests that her motivation is to do right by Joel (although she spends most of the story chasing the wrong way to go about it). The Firefly pendant on Abby’s poster suggests that she’s motivated by avenging her father, and later by living up to her father’s legacy.