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Major spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 ahead. Be warned.

"People are going to be upset," says The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin about Joel's shocking death, "That's sometimes how good drama goes."

Well Craig, you got that right. When Joel (Pedro Pascal) was brutally slain by a golf club-wielding Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) in The Last of Us season 2, episode 3, people did get pretty damn upset. If it helps, though, at least take consolation in the fact that Pedro Pascal knew that this was going to happen since he was cast in the role. At least, that's how Mazin tells it.

Speaking with USAToday, Mazin recalled some of his earliest conversations with Reed Richards, Din Djarin, and Beloved Internet Father Pascal. 

"Loss is kind of how this story functions," Mazin says, "So this was largely preordained [...] When I talked to Pedro the first time, I said, 'This is how this will go.' I wanted him to know that we're not going to do this for seven seasons with you in that spot. We're going to do a season, and if it goes well and there's a second season, this will happen."

To Mazin's point, Joel's death in season 2 mirrors his death in The Last of Us Part 2 game almost beat-for-beat (not a pun, I swear), so almost anyone who played the game could have the same knowledge that Pascal had heading into the role. And as Mazin quite poeticaly stated, loss really is how so much of The Last of Us function. It's a story centered on relationships in a world that so horrifically cuts them short.

"This was something that was always meant to happen," Mazin tells his interviewer, "So much of the first season was, in a weird way, leading to this moment. And it's upsetting."

Well acknowledging it helps a bit, Mr. Mazin, but don't think we've entirely forgiven you yet. No one forced you to keep from making season 2 a Joel & Ellie baking show.

The Last of Us season 2 is streaming now on Max.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.