The Last of Us season 2 episode 5 ending explained: Is Joel back?
The Last of Us season 2 episode 5 premiered on Max on May 11, 2025. Taking fans into day two of Ellie and Dina's journey in Seattle, the season moves forward as the duo tries reaching out to Nora, Abby's friend, to get more information to track her down. However, the episode ends on a major note, which teases the return of another character.
Warning: Spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 episode 5 to follow. Reader discretion advised.
At the end of The Last of Us season 2 episode 5, fans get to see the return of Joel. However, it doesn't look like the show is going to continue his story, but rather it is setting up a flashback episode that will explore his relationship with Ellie between season 1 and season 2 next week.
The flashback itself is set up while Ellie finds Nora and starts torturing her for information.
What happens at the end of The Last of Us season 2 episode 5?
In The Last of Us season 2 episode 5, Ellie and Dina head out to find Nora as they finally track her location down. However, a few instances lead to Ellie and Dina having to split up, and Ellie then goes down to the W.L.F. hospital to confront Nora. She sneaks into the base and is then able to get the drop on Nora and points her gun at her.
When interrogating Nora for Abby's location, she tells Ellie that Joel got what he deserved, even if his screams still haunt her. She then throws water on Ellie and escapes, which leads to a chase across the base. However, Nora accidentally finds herself in the B2 section of the hospital and is heavily exposed to spores, which leads to her getting infected.
Ellie makes it down to B2 and discovers the spores herself for the first time. She also finds Nora trying to fight against the infection and starts asking her about Abby. However, Nora reiterates what Joel did to Ellie, and she replies to Nora, saying that she doesn't care. Ellie then picks up a metal pipe and starts torturing Nora to get Abby's location out of her, as the screen cuts to black.
The episode then ends with Ellie waking up in the morning as Joel knocks on her door, smiling at her. It looks like fans are going to get more Joel next week.
What are Spores in The Last of Us season 2?
The Last of Us season 2 episode 5 introduces spores, a concept which was originally in the game and was then replaced by the tendrils in the show. At the start of the episode, a W.L.F. meeting is shown where a squad leader called Elise is being questioned for letting her men die. While being questioned, Elise reveals that her men asked her to let them die.
When clearing out sections of the hospital, Elise's team discovered that they were having trouble breathing in the B2 section of the hospital. That's when they realized that this was due to the Cordyceps infection being in the air, which was causing them trouble breathing and also infecting them in real time. This is basically what spores.
Viewers get to see more of it when Ellie herself makes it to B2 and sees infected beings attached to the walls by mushrooms growing around them and them breathing out the spores.
Jesse and Tommy make it to Seattle
The Last of Us season 2 episode 5 also reveals that Jesse and Tommy are in Seattle as well. When Ellie and Dina head out to find Nora, they run into a pack of stalkers, which makes them having to retreat. However, the stalkers get the better of them, and as things start getting dire, Jesse comes from behind and gets the stalkers off of them.
The three then escape from the W.L.F. and run into the woods, where Jesse reveals that he and Tommy left for Seattle just a day after Ellie and Dina escaped. While Tommy was still out in Seattle, he was meant to rendezvous with Jesse in the morning. However, the three then run into a group of Seraphites, which leads to Dina getting shot with an arrow in her foot and Jesse having to escape with her.
The Last of Us season 2 episode is streaming right now.
