Who is Eugene in The Last of Us season two? Character explained as fans left confused

*Warning - this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II game and The Last of Us season two, episode one*

The premiere episode of The Last of Us introduced a brand new character, which has resulted in a good deal of confusion among viewers.

It's no surprise that some fans were left scratching their heads over this name drop as it is not someone who was seen or mentioned in season one. While they were a character from the original game, they were never actually seen and it seems the HBO adaptations has significantly changed their fate.

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After the episode aired, one viewer posted on social media: "I'm still a bit confused by The Last of Us... Joel and Eugene. What is that all about? I'm so confused by that part. Is that canon in the game? I don't fully recall that being canon." Another added: "Van someone explain who the f*** is Eugene? Did he appear on season one? I don't remember."

So who is Eugene? What happened to him in the game as opposed to the show? What is his relationship to Joel? Here's everything you need to know.

Simply put, in both the game and the show, Eugene is one of the residents of Jackson, the town that Joel's brother Tommy begins to repopulate. After the events of the first series, Joel and Ellie move there and start to rebuild their lives.

However, in the first episode of show's second season, Catherine O'Hara makes a guest appearance as another brand new character, Gail. She undertakes a therapy session with Joel and makes two ground-breaking reveals.

First, she says that she was Eugene's wife. Second, she declares that Joel shot and killed Eugene although she also admits he 'didn't have a choice'. This is a wild deviation from what happened in the game.

In the game's sequel, the player never meets Eugene. However, while they control Ellie on patrol with Dina, the pair talk at length about him. Through their conversations and the player's interactions with the environment, we discover that in the game's story, he was a former Firefly who fought alongside Tommy.

He doesn't have a wife, at least, not in Jackson. He left his family to join the Fireflies and actually died of natural causes after suffering a stroke. In the game, Ellie and Dina discuss how Eugene is the only person they know to have had a natural death and they talk about his fate in an aspirational manner.

The show does keep in the fact that he is known for growing marijuana. In the game, Ellie and Dina actually come across his hideout where is weed farm is and help themselves to a sample.

Eugene is set to appear in a future episode of season two. However, it's not known if it will be just a flashback segment or an entire episode. He is set to be played by Joe Pantoliano.

Viewers will recognise Pantoliano from previous roles such as in The Matrix, The Sopranos, Memento and the Bad Boys movies. O'Hara has teased his upcoming appearance by simply saying: "I've never had to cry so much for so many takes. It was killer."

The Last of Us season two airs on Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic and streaming on NOW.