The Last of Us finale featured a huge Part 2 cameo in a very deliberate moment

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Last of Us episode 9, and The Last of Us Part 2 game. If you’re not up to date, bookmark this page for later.

The Last of Us finished with an emotional final episode as Joel's (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) hunt for the cure came to a violent end. However, amidst all of the drama, you might have missed a major The Last of Us Part 2 cameo in one of the episode’s final scenes.

As Joel enters the operating theater where Ellie is being prepped for surgery, he opens fire on the doctor. Game fans will know this moment has a huge impact on the storyline going forward into the second game and The Last of Us season 2.

But you may not have noticed who was playing one of the nurses in the background of this shot. A closer look at the credits revealed this was none other than Laura Bailey, the actor who played Abby Anderson in The Last of Us Part 2 game. Sharing a link to the moment alongside a winking emoji on Twitter, Bailey confirmed the cameo.

And at a press conference held with the show’s creators ahead of the episode’s release, co-showrunner Neil Druckmann addressed the moment too. He told Inverse and other media: "For those that know who she plays in the next story, it's very much related to that operating room."

We don’t want to get too heavily into game spoilers here for those not super familiar with the story. However, what happens in the operating theater plays a huge part in Abby’s backstory and the events that happen in Part 2.

The Last of Us season 1 featured several appearances from the actors in the games, including Troy Baker as James, Ashley Johnson as Anna, and Merle Dandridge reprising her role as Marlene.

For more on the show’s final episode, we’ve broken down The Last of Us ending explained, what it taught us about Ellie’s immunity, and all the major changes from the games.