'The Last of Us' Episode 1: Did Joel's daughter Sarah die during the premiere?

'The Last of Us' started on a devastating note and saw Joel trying to save his daughter from the virus outbreak
UPDATED JAN 16, 2023
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Nico Parker as Sarah in 'The Last of Us' (HBO)
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Nico Parker as Sarah in 'The Last of Us' (HBO)

Spoilers for 'The Last of Us' Episode 1

The Last of Us’ is considered to be one of the greatest video game series of all time and it doesn’t come as a shock that HBO wanted to take a chance on adapting the game into a live-action TV show. It’s never easy to adapt a video game because a lot of people would compare it with the game and they might not like what they see in the live-action adaptation. However, the series premiere of ‘The Last of Us’ has finally broken the curse and come out with an episode that stays true to the source material and gives viewers a moment that shocked everyone.

It’s no surprise that HBO has been touting ‘The Last of Us’ as the biggest show of the year and the premiere is everything that a fan or a viewer could have asked for. The premiere starts with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) leading a happy life. They both love each other and continue to take care of each other. In the opening moments of the episode, we see Sarah fixing his dad’s favorite watch and gifting that same watch to her father on his birthday. However, things change quite drastically when an unknown virus infects people and turns them into a zombie. As a result, Joel, Sarah, and Joel’s younger brother, Tommy, try to flee the Hometown on the Outbreak day.

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A still from 'The Last of Us' (HBO)
A still from 'The Last of Us' (HBO)

They try to take the freeway but it was blocked because of too many cars. So, Joel asks his brother to go north and if everything turns out to be right, they will escape to Mexico. However, their dream is short-lived because chaos ensues on the streets and infected people are preying on others. The trio tries to flee the scene, but they get into an accident after an airplane crashes in the middle of the road and their car just rolls over in the middle of the road. Joel and Tommy are okay, but Sarah gets injured on her ankle. Joel picks up Sarah in his arms and escapes while Tommy says that he will meet them by the river.

However, Joel and Sarah are stopped by one of the army men who get the order of killing the duo because Sarah is injured. They believe that Sarah is infected and will turn into a zombie. Joel tries to save his child from the army man but falls to the ground. The army shoots and unfortunately, Sarah dies. The first episode of the series and viewers are already reaching out for tissues because of such a devastating moment.

A still from 'The Last of Us' (HBO)
A still from 'The Last of Us' (HBO)

Joel couldn’t believe that he was unable to save his daughter and had to leave her behind so that she could rest in peace. He literally threw her while holding back tears because he realized that she was not coming back. So, the show has just begun and we are already feeling how devastating it is going to be with all the deaths and the uncomfortable moments. The makers did a wonderful job in pulling off its first big shocker in the premiere episode.

‘The Last of Us’ will return to HBO with a new episode next week.

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