In the second to last episode of Season 2, Ellie finds out about Joel’s lie — and brings viewers to tears.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 6. Liane Hentscher/HBO

Joel’s appearance on the latest episode of “The Last of Us” was an emotional one.

On the May 18 episode, Pedro Pascal returns as Joel after his character’s heartbreaking death in the second episode.

The second season’s sixth episode begins in 1983, as a young Joel attempts to protect his brother Tommy’s (Gabriel Luna) from their seemingly abusive father, Javier Miller (Tony Dalton).

The scene is a setup for the rest of the episode, which takes a look at Joel’s devotion to Ellie as his adoptive daughter and what it means to be a father.

What happens between Joel and Ellie in Season 2, Episode 6?

The episode is a series of flashbacks to explain what happened between Joel and Ellie in the lead-up to his death.

Flash forward to two months after Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) arrive in Jackson. It’s Ellie’s birthday and Joel surprises her with a vanilla cake and a guitar. Viewers also discover that Ellie burns her arm in an attempt to hide her bite mark and, as she jokingly says, “wear short sleeves again.”

The episode continues with time lapses that happen between one and two years, mostly on Ellie’s birthday and shows the lengths that Joel will go to celebrate her.

Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 6. Liane Hentscher/HBO

Among her gifts include seeing the remains of a natural history museum, which include a model of a life-size T-Rex, a functioning model of the solar system that Joel fixed and the chance to enter a capsule with a space helmet to pretend they were taking a trip to space.

On Ellie’s 17th birthday, Joel discovers Ellie with a girl in her room and her arm covered in tattoos. The tension begins between the two of them as Ellie decides she wants to live in the garage.

On the cusp of Ellie’s 19th birthday, she starts to harp on what happened in Seattle and confront Joel about the Fireflies. For her birthday present, Joel allows her to go on patrol and they encounter therapist Gail’s (Catherine O’Hara) Eugene (Joe Pantoliano), who was bitten by an infected.

Eugene asks to see his wife before the virus takes over him. Joel is ready to kill him, wanting to stick to their protocol. However, Ellie gives Eugene a test to see if he’s able to return to the camp and see Gail one last time and asks Joel not to kill him. He “promises” Ellie that they can take him back. However, viewers discover that Joel ends up killing Eugene without giving him the chance to see Gail one last time.

Joe Pantoliano as Eugene in “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 6. Liane Hentscher/HBO

How does Ellie find out Joel lied to her?

In the previous episode, before Nora (Tati Gabrielle) dies, she tells Ellie that Joel killed all the Fireflies, including Abby’s father, to which Ellie replied, “I know.”

In the sixth episode, Ellie already had doubts about what Joel told her about their time in Seattle. When she and Joel return with Eugene’s body, he tells Gail her husband took his own life.

However, Ellie calls him out on his lie and tells Gail the truth: Joel killed him.

“He begged to see you, he had time. Joel promised to take him to you. He promised us both,” Ellie tells Gail through tears. “And then Joel shot him in the head.”

Nine months go by and it’s New Year’s Eve, the night where Dina kisses Ellie on the dance floor. Joel tries to defend Ellie after a drunk Seth (Robert John Burke) insults them, but Ellie yells at Joel and tells him, “I don’t need your f—— help.”

Viewers previously saw this scene and how Ellie returned home that night and seemingly ignored Joel. However, Episode 6 shows that more happened that night. Instead, she goes up to the porch and confronts Joel about what happened with the Fireflies in Seattle.

“You lied to me,” she says. “But I think I knew already. I knew this whole time.”

Ellie says she needs the truth or they’re “done,” which prompts her to ask questions about the raid, if there were others who were immune, if she could have been the cure and if he killed everyone, including Marlene. Joel wordlessly answers all her questions by shaking his head or nodding.

“Making a cure would have killed you,” Joel says.

“Then I was supposed to die! That was my purpose! My life would have f—— mattered, but you took that from me. You took it from everyone,” Ellie yells back.

Joel acknowledges that he did lie and kill to save her, and that he will “pay the price, because you’re going to turn away from me.”

He says if given the chance, he would do it all again. Ellie tells him, “Because you’re selfish.”

He has a different take. He did it “because I love you in a way you can’t understand.”

“Maybe you never will, but if that day should come. If you should ever have one of your own, well then, I hope you do a little better than me,” Joel says, echoing the words his father told him in the beginning of the episode.

It’s assumed that Ellie would continue to be furious with Joel, but viewers are surprised by her response.

“I don’t think I can ever forgive you for this,” she says, “But I would like to try.”

The emotional scene confirms that Joel had told Ellie the truth before his death, and she was willing to eventually forgive him.

Fans react to Joel and Ellie’s final scene

After the episode aired, fans were reeling from the emotional scene between Joel and Ellie.

“The whole porch scene was such a masterclass of acting by both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. They did such an incredible job with bringing this scene to life. Joel’s love for Ellie will always leave me in tears,” one person tweeted.

“ok so where’s his emmy, golden globe, critics choice, and all the other f—— awards this man deserves for this performance,” another fan commented on X.

Countless others quoted Joel’s “Because I love you” phrase, adding dramatic gifs and clips.

Others also took a moment to shine the light on other scenes that showed Joel being a proud parent.

“JOEL CRYING OUT OF HAPPINESS BECAUSE HIS DAUGHTER IS HAPPY, THE SINGLE TEAR HERE WRECKED ME #TheLastOfUs,” one person tweeted.

One person asked what many are thinking ahead of the Season 2 finale: “that wasn’t the last time we’ll ever see pedro pascal as joel miller right…right guys.”