IGN

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.

Your wallet will be breathing a sigh of relief today as a treasure trove of gaming steals crash down on every platform under the sun. Whether you’re questing through Hyrule or organising zoo habitats, these slashed prices prove that epic adventures don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. From slice‑and‑dice shooters to heart‑warming Japanese RPGs, there’s a gem waiting to level up your collection.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I’m celebrating the 20th birthday of the needlessly verbose Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. A solo/multi and 1st/3rd-person hybrid, UC2 was an important series milestone that added melee combat, fatality moves, and a character class system of Light, Medium, or Heavy. My overriding memory of it was the Great Scott moment of unlocking a playable Raiden from Mortal Kombat and then using him as the conduit to dispense 1.21 gigawatts of pain at my mates.

The Google Streamer 4K is on sale for the first time ever. Right now you can pick one up for just $79.99 on Amazon as well as other retailers. The Google Streamer is one of the best Android-based 4K streaming devices out there right now. It’s also much more affordable than other similar options like the Apple TV, Roku Ultra, and Nvidia Shield TV Pro while offering up-to-date features like smart hub functionality and Thread compatibitility.

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Big spoilers follow for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2, “Through the Valley,” as well as the games on which the show is based.

Well, pretty much ever since the TV show adaptation of The Last of Us was first announced, fans have been wondering if and when Joel would suffer the same fate in live-action that he did in The Last of Us Part 2. And now we have our answer: In Season 2’s second episode, Pedro Pascal’s Joel was brutally killed by Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, all while Bella Ramsey’s Ellie looked on in horror.

And now Pascal is speaking out about the ultimately inevitable death of Joel in both the “Making of The Last of Us” segment that followed the episode on HBO and Max, as well as in an interview with EW.

The actor, who will soon be starring in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, says that he always knew Joel was doomed. In other words, the plan was never to deviate from the source material on that story point.

“It was just a matter of how and when,” he says in the EW report.

“It’s not like they said, ‘Hey, we kill you at the beginning of Season 2,’ but it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let’s say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for Season 1,” adds Pascal.

As fans of the game series know, Dever’s Abby has been on a mission of vengeance against Joel because he killed her father while rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies (as seen in the Season 1 finale). When she accidentally runs into Joel (and is rescued by him) during a siege of the infected in the latest episode, her thirst for blood is not diminished and she beats him with a golf club before delivering the final death blow in front of Ellie.

“I knew that Joel was going to die right from Season 1,” says Ramsey in the “Making of” segment. “But reading it in the script, I knew that it was coming as I was reading the episode, and I was dreading getting to that bit. And I cried, actually sobbed my little heart out. It was the first time I’ve ever cried from reading a piece of writing.”

Pascal says that he doesn’t think about what’s happened to Joel all that much because it makes him sad.

“I’m in active denial,” Pascal says. “I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over. I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us.”

Prosthetics designer Barrie Gower recalls that early in production meetings for the episode, co-creator Craig Mazin told him Joel’s beaten and battered make-up was “the most important” of the season. “Don’t screw it up,” Mazin said.

And according to Pascal, the effect of Joel’s bloodied look was clear on the cast and crew when he walked onto the set to shoot the character’s final living moments.

“Walking around like the visual representation of your last breaths, it was really interesting to step into a room and see the reaction in people’s faces,” says the actor. “And it wasn’t one of revulsion; it was heartbreak.”

But as EW confirms, Pascal will return in flashbacks this season. (Trailers have already given this impression.) How often he’ll return remains to be seen of course, but no matter what, Joel is now dead and the show’s characters — and actors — must move on from this point.

“If we’ve done our jobs right, you’ll feel Joel there a lot,” Mazin tells EW.

Persona is quickly becoming one of the biggest RPG series out there, with fan demand and support only growing with each passing year. The series is best known for its deep narratives, excellent turn-based combat, and beloved characters. However, it’s hard not to argue that the Persona franchise has grown as much as it has thanks to its music.

When it comes to purchasing video game soundtracks, what better way to enjoy them than on vinyl? Many of the Persona soundtracks were quite hard to obtain on vinyl previously, whether due to high prices or limited availability. Now, however, iam8bit and Atlus have teamed up once more to create brand-new, moderately priced releases that you can now pre-order at IGN Store.

Check Out The Persona Vinyl Collection at IGN Store!

First up, you can pre-order the entire Persona 3 Reload soundtrack on Vinyl with the 4xLP release, featuring Holographic Broken Glass Vinyl. Additionally, the entire Persona Q – Shadow of the Labyrinth soundtrack can be pre-ordered as a 4xLP as well.

Next, three brand-new vinyl releases are available to pre-order. iam8bit unveiled Megamix versions of Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4, and Persona 5. These new releases pack in the very best tracks from each of these games into one 1xLP vinyl for only $29.99.

Finally, you can pre-order the 3xLP release for Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. As the fighting game spin-off of Persona 4, you can expect a much heavier and fun spin on iconic tracks like Reach Out To The Truth.

Each of these Persona vinyl are quickly selling at IGN Store, so be sure to secure your treasure while you still can!

Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.

While My Hero Academia’s eighth and final season arrives later this year, we’re not saying goodbye to Class 1-A or the world of Quirks. New movies and spin-offs from studio Bones and Toho Animation will hopefully continue to fill the void. The fourth original movie based on the shonen franchise, My Hero Academia: You’re Next arrived in theaters soon after author Kōhei Horikoshi published the manga’s final chapter. It quickly became the franchise’s highest-grossing movie and currently holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It may have taken a bit longer than most recent theatrical releases, but My Hero Academia: You’re Next has finally arrived on both Crunchyroll and Netflix. To celebrate, Crunchyroll is also offering limited time deals on all things My Hero Academia, from manga to figurines.

Where to Stream My Hero Academia: You’re Next

The Nvidia GeForce 5060 Ti graphics card made its debut on April 16 as the least expensive Blackwell GPU on the market. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another “paper” launch with actual retail units nowhere to be found, at least without a serious markup. Fortunately, if you’re hunting for a complete prebuilt gaming PC equipped with this new GPU, then your prospects are much brighter. Not only are there plenty of prebuilt gaming PCs currently available, they’re actually reasonably priced as well. The two least expensive models we’ve seen so far are both on Skytech models at Amazon. They start at $1,249.99, which is a solid price for a current-generation 1080p/1440p gaming rig.

Skytech GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Gaming PCs From $1,249.99

GameStop is currently running a big Double Pro Week Sale starting now and running through April 26 on new and pre-owned video games, consoles, accessories, toys, collectibles and more. You’ll need to be a Pro member to be eligible, but fortunately GameStop is offering a discount on the membership itself. Right now you can get a 1 year Pro subscription for only $20 (normally $25) after you apply a $5 off coupon code “FIVEOFFPRO” during checkout.

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A pair of penguins huddle together on the vast Antarctic tundra and prepare to make a crucial exchange. Mother penguin lowers her feet to reveal an egg tucked within the folds of her feathers, which slowly rolls onto the frigid ground between them. Father penguin has been training for this. He springs into action, using his long, skinny beak to gather the egg up into his own feathers for warmth. The entire swap only takes a matter of seconds. Any longer, and the gestating baby inside the egg will freeze and die.

For James Cameron, executive producer of National Geographic’s new miniseries Secrets of the Penguins, it’s moments like these that give audiences a true glimpse into the unfamiliar, almost alien world that these emperor penguins call home.

“They’re living right on the edge of what is possible in nature, in the harshest environment in the world,” Cameron told IGN.

For a limited time, Walmart has dropped the price on an excellent higher-end Sony TV. Right now you can pick up a massive 75″ Sony Bravia XR X93L 4K Mini-LED Smart TV for just $1198 with free shipping. That’s $2,000 off one of the best Sony non-OLED TVs and hundreds (even thousands) of dollars cheaper than getting a 75″ OLED TV. It’s also sold and shipped by Walmart direct, not a marketplace vendor.

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