The Last of Us Season 2, episode 3 is chock full of poignant moments, from the subtly altered opening credits to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) scattering coffee beans at the grave of Joel (Pedro Pascal).
But while most of the sadness in the episode is understandably reserved for Ellie, Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) also gets a tear-jerker of a scene — and it contains a throwback to where it all started.
What does Tommy say to Joel’s body?
Early on in the episode, Tommy visits a room where Joel is lying covered in a sheet after his brutal death. Tommy is passed a cloth by a Jackson resident that he dips in a bucket of water and uses to clean his brother’s body.
As he’s wiping Joel’s arm, Tommy notices his smashed watch, still on his wrist. He pauses and stares at the place where his brother’s face is covered by the sheet.
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“Give Sarah my love,” he says.
Who is Sarah, and what’s the deal with the watch?
It’s been a while since Season 1 aired, so you could be forgiven for not remembering who Sarah is, or why the watch is significant. The two are very much connected, though, and it all links back to the show’s very first episode.
Sarah (Nico Parker) is, of course, Joel’s daughter, who dies at the end of episode 1 after she’s shot by a soldier during the start of the cordyceps outbreak. Before she dies, one of the last things Sarah does is to get Joel’s watch fixed for his birthday (as well as procuring a copy of Curtis and Viper 2, one of Joel’s favourite films). This is the same watch — now broken — that Tommy sees on Joel’s wrist when he’s cleaning his body. It’s likely what makes him think of Joel’s daughter Sarah, also Tommy’s niece, prompting him to ask Joel to give her his love in death.
In a moving moment later in the episode, Ellie discovers Tommy has left Joel’s watch for her as a gift in their home.
New episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere on HBO and Max Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
