The following article contains major spoilers for both The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2 and the video game The Last of Us Part 2.
The Last of Us’ latest episode had a very special voice cameo from Ellie’s original voice actor, Ashley Johnson, and it even has a connection to The Last of Us Part 2.
As reported by EW, there is a certain song that plays after Abby kills Joel and his body is being brought back to Jackson, and it’s actually a rendition of Shawn James’ ‘Through the Valley’ that is sung by Johnson. Fans may recall that Johnson recorded a version of this song for the PSX 2016 reveal trailer for The Last of Us Part 2, and it turns out the song that appeared in this episode is a mix between that and a “slightly updated version” she recorded not too long ago.
EW spoke to The Last of Us co-showrunner, Craig Mazin, and he shared the process of bringing this song back for one of the most important and tragic episodes of the entire series.
“I always loved the song,” Mazin said. “I remember that release trailer and what it did to my brain and my heart. We also not only have a connection to Ashley because she created Ellie in the game, but [because] she plays Ellie’s mom. It is an interesting thing in a moment like this, when your only parent is taken from you [and] the parent you’ve never met, the one you don’t even know about, is there watching.”
Yes, this isn’t the first time Johnson has appeared in The Last of US on HBO as she played Ellie’s mother in the finale of Season 1.
Moving back to the song, Mazin continued to share that there is an even deeper meaning to the song choice.
“I can make an argument that for every single line of that song, as it is contrasted against what you’re seeing, it’s not true,” Mazin shared. “Almost every single thing is this desire to be true, but none of it’s true.”
For those unfamiliar, the lyrcs to ‘Through the Valley’ begin, “I walk through the valley of the shadow of death / And I fear no evil because I’m blind to it all / And my mind and my gun they comfort me / Because I know I’ll kill my enemies when they come.”
“Your gun’s not going to save you,” Mazin says of of The Last of Us. “You won’t kill all your enemies when they come, and you will fear what’s around you.”
The next batch of lyrics goes like this, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life / And I will dwell on this earth forevermore / Said, I walk beside the still waters and they restore my soul / But I can’t walk on the path of the right because I’m wrong.”
“The still waters will not keep you alive, forevermore. It’s like this hopeless prayer that we dashed to pieces,” Mazin says.
Thankfully, this is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that is this song as ‘Through the Valley’ ends with, “But I know when I die my soul is damned.”
“Well, maybe that’s not true either,” Mazin said.
For more, check out our review of this monumental episode, Pedro Pascal’s reaction to Joel’s death on screen, why we thought Season 2’s changes to Abby weakened this moment, and our comparison of the TV show to the game.
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Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.