"The Path" is the third episode of the second season, and the twelfth episode overall, of HBO's The Last of Us. Directed by Peter Hoar and written by series co-creator Craig Mazin, the episode aired on HBO on April 27, 2025.
Synopsis[]
After Dina shares crucial information, Ellie prepares to petition the town council, even while she struggles with her deep emotional scars. On the outskirts of Seattle, a religious sect attempts to flee a war—raising questions on what lies ahead.
Cast and characters[]
Main cast
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Young Mazino as Jesse
Guest starring
- Rutina Wesley as Maria Miller
- Robert John Burke as Seth
- Danny Ramirez as Manny
- Michael Abbott Jr. as Jacob
- Catherine O'Hara as Gail Lynden
Co-starring
- Gillian Barber as councilwoman
- Makena Whitlock as Constance
- Kelsey Lopes as the mortician
- Billy Wickman as Seraphite scout
- Wonser De-Gbon as nurse
- Casey Manderson as doctor
- Haig Sutherland as Scott
- Erica Pappas as Rachel
- Hiro Kanagawa as Carlisle
- Sarah Gore as Amy-Beth
Plot[]
Mourning[]
In the aftermath of the attack on Jackson, a morgue attendant tends to Joel's corpse. Tommy arrives and trades places. Taking note of Joel's long-broken watch, he tearfully whispers to his brother, "Give Sarah my love." In the hospital, a nurse tries to comfort Ellie as she wakes up, only for Ellie to suffer a trauma-induced flashback to Joel's death, and she is forcefully sedated.
Three months later, Jackson is in the midst of rebuilding, as Jesse assists Tommy on a construction project. A doctor evaluates Ellie and gives her a clean bill of health in preparation for her discharge, but Ellie is forced to check in with Gail before she can depart. Ellie bluntly brushes off Gail's attempt to inquire about her and Joel's last interaction, claiming the last time they spoke was at the New Year's Eve party, although they almost interacted when she saw him on the porch. Gail brings up her own last conversation with Joel, asking what he meant when he said he "saved" her. Ellie claims ignorance and cheerfully offers in therapy-speak that she will have to live with her unfinished business with Joel. Gail clears Ellie to leave, despite clearly not believing her―and as Ellie walks out of the hospital, her smile slowly fades as she stops pretending to be fine. Ellie returns to her and Joel's house, where she observes the various tributes the townspeople have left. She wanders through the empty house, stopping in each room and quietly taking in Joel's absence. Finding a box of his belongings in his room, she discovers his revolver and quickly pockets it. In his closet, she finds his jacket and finally breaks down crying as she tries to smell his scent in the fabric.
Hearing Dina arrive, Ellie wipes away her tears and meets Dina at the dinner table. Dina reveals she has brought cookies as a peace offering, because she had lied to Ellie at the hospital: she actually knows the names of the group that killed Joel and where they came from. Ellie angrily claims she cost them valuable time in withholding this information, but Dina points out the town was in no shape to send a party to track Joel's killers in the aftermath of the attack, and it would make more sense to track them to their destination later. She lays out what she remembers: the two men were "Manny" and "Owen," one of the girls was named "Nora," and the girl who killed Joel was "Abby"; the group were wearing patches depicting a wolf's head with the phrase "WLF", which Dina identifies as standing for "Washington Liberation Front", a Seattle-based group of anti-FEDRA fighters that Eugene told her about. She assumes, based on their relative obscurity, that they are a small group, and thus easy enough for them to handle. Tommy at first rejects Ellie's proposal to go after Abby's group, pointing out the town is still recovering. Ellie argues that Joel would do the same for Tommy, but Tommy retorts that Joel would have gone to such lengths to rescue him, not to avenge him, reminding Ellie that he was Joel's brother. He tells her they will need to go through a formal process of proposing a mission to Maria, which will come to a vote at a council meeting, promising she will have his backing when it comes to it.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the woods, a group from an unidentified religious sect make their way along a trail. Their leader gives a whistling signal to a scout at the rear, and receives a response. His daughter, Constance, correctly translates it, to which the man promises to properly teach her to whistle later. Constance asks why "she", a "prophet", will not just keep them safe as opposed to going to their destination. The leader explains the prophet, who is deceased, is not magic, and just someone who sees the truth of the world, and so they keep her alive by following her words, but they keep themselves safe. Constance asks if she can carry one of the hammers he has on him, to which he agrees. He notes that "distance" will keep her safer from war than a hammer. The scout suddenly whistles a warning signal, and the group flees from the path to take cover. Constance asks if they are facing demons, to which her father replies "Wolves."
Lone wolf[]
The night before the council vote, Jesse trains Ellie, encouraging her to use her injured side more while fighting, so that she can get her body back into shape. Ellie inquires if Jesse, now a member of the council, will vote in her favor, but he refuses to say. Before leaving, however, he advises her to write down her thoughts and read them out loud at the meeting, claiming people will not vote for "angry".
Ellie attends the meeting, where she quietly fumes as Rachel claims sympathy but reiterates the argument that they are still recovering and in no position to send an away team of 16 patrolmen. Seth, who has quietly observed Ellie's anger, unexpectedly speaks up to reject Carlisle's claim that they should show mercy, claiming they should be going after Joel's killers. With the air clear, it is Ellie's turn to speak, as she gives a pre-written speech stating that Joel's death was as much an attack on Jackson as it was on his family, and that going after his killers will not be about revenge but justice. Her speech earns some approving murmurs from the crowd, but the council votes against the proposal 8-3.
Gail watches a youth baseball league game while drinking beers as Tommy arrives. They discuss Ellie's speech, agreeing that she was lying and will likely take matters into her own hands regardless of the council's vote. Tommy expresses his fear that Ellie will go down Joel's path of violence, but Gail notes that Ellie would have gone down that path without Joel's influence. She expresses sympathy to Tommy's concern for her, as he has essentially inherited Ellie from Joel, but warns that some people cannot be saved.
Ellie's attempt to pack for her solo mission to Seattle is interrupted by Dina, who criticizes her for not asking for her help and being so ill-prepared. She reveals she has already prepared a route they can take, which will take them through the Snoqualmie Pass from which they can approach Seattle from the East. Revealing a packing list, which includes first aid and provisions, she takes stock of Ellie's weapons, warning her to get a proper holster to carry the handgun as opposed to the back of her pants, a scoped rifle, something to keep Shimmer dry, and proper shoes. At the gate, they are met by Seth, whom Ellie angrily realizes was helping Dina prepare. Seth trades Ellie's old rifle for a better one, and briefs them on the supplies he provided before sending them away, with the two sharing a brief handshake before Ellie and Dina depart through the gate. On their way, they stop at the graveyard, where Ellie mourns Joel and leaves some coffee beans as a tribute.
Journey to Seattle[]
Ellie and Dina travel to Seattle riding Shimmer, while keeping themselves entertained with travel games. At one point, Dina asks Ellie to tell her the story of the first person she killed: Ellie claims her first one was "too fucked up" but shares the story of shooting Bryan in Kansas City. Stopping to camp after a sudden downpour, Dina inquires about their kiss on New Year's Eve. Ellie brushes it off as Dina being high and Ellie herself being drunk, claiming it did not mean anything, but Dina asks how she would rate it. Ellie gives it a "6" on a 1-10 scale, to Dina's disbelief. Dina admits that she and Jesse had reconnected in the months since, and asks if Jesse seems to be "sad", admitting her concern that if he is not just sad as a person, then perhaps it is her that is making him sad. As Ellie tries to sleep, Dina admits that she wasn't that high.
Their journey through the Snoqualmie Pass is interrupted when they find the dead body of a scout from the religious group, though neither recognize their symbol. Ellie takes stock of the wounds, noting whoever killed him could not have been FEDRA due to different calibre bullets. Dina ventures off the path to look around, only to come running back and vomit. Ellie investigates and is horrified to discover the rotting corpses of the rest of the group, including Constance, whose youth haunts her. They ponder if Abby's crew could have been responsible, noting the barbarity to do such a thing to children.
Arriving on the outskirts of Seattle, they find it seemingly quiet, and speculate that fighting the WLF will be no trouble. Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, Manny sits at the Space Needle and is asked to give an all-clear signal, which he does. The group he is signalling turns out to be an entire convoy of armored vehicles, followed closely by a heavily-armed militia.
Reception[]
The episode received mostly positive reviews from viewers. Praise was given for the slow-burning nature of the episode, allowing the aftermath of Joel's death to be processed and some appreciated the further expansion of Jackson's community. The cliffhanger at the end revealing the extent of the WLF's power in contrast to Ellie and Dina's optimism also recieved praise. Bella Ramsey's acting was also widely supported.
However, reviewers who had played the game were conversely critical of the episode's slow nature, arguing it came across as filler given the game skipped over much of the content shown to take the player straight to Seattle. Consequently, the episode has a 7.4 rating out of 10 on IMDb across 12,000 reviews, making it the lowest rated episode of the TV series so far.[1]
Transcript[]
- Main article: The Path/Transcript
Behind the scenes[]
Featured music[]
Production[]
- Rutina Wesley initially thought that Maria would vote "no" on Ellie's proposal, but changed her mind when Craig Mazin pointed out that she would agree with Ellie's claim that finding Joel's killer would allow justice for the whole town.[2]
Easter eggs and references[]
- A mentioned character in this episode, Ezra, is a reference to a mentioned character from the video game The Last of Us Part II, who was also a member of the Seraphites.
- Curtis and Viper, a fictional film series, is mentioned a second time in the episode as a direct reference to The Last of Us Part II.
- Ellie leaves coffee beans as an offering at Joel's grave, referencing their disagreement over coffee in "Please Hold to My Hand".
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Official stills[]
Videos[]
External links[]
- "The Path" at IMDb
References[]
- ↑ "The Last of Us" season 2 episode 3: The Path, IMDB, (Accessed May 4, 2025).
- ↑ The Last of Us Season 2 - Inside Episode 3 - Max
| Season 1 | "When You're Lost in the Darkness" · "Infected" · "Long, Long Time" · "Please Hold to My Hand" · "Endure and Survive" · "Kin" · "Left Behind" · "When We Are in Need" · "Look for the Light" |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | "Future Days" · "Through the Valley" · "The Path" · "Day One" · "Feel Her Love" · "The Price" · "Convergence" |
| Season 3 | TBA |