The Last Of Us 2: 11 Perfect Theories That'll Blow Your Mind

By far the biggest theory that circulated after the first trailer was that Joel was actually dead, and was only a figment of Ellie's imagination.

Fuelled in part by the decision to avoid showing the character's face as well as the fact that he appeared to not have aged in the years between games, players are convinced that the character will only show up as a hallucination in the sequel.

If the new game is going to focus on Anna though and show her story, it's doubtful that Naughty Dog would kill off both parental figures. The developers love wringing out family drama and tragedies as much as possible, so having Joel's parentage be challenged by her real mother (whether alive or dead), would be the logical next step for these characters.

Joel has stopped at nothing so far to protect his adopted daughter, so how would his selfish quest to maintain this relationship play out if Ellie's real mother was to enter the picture?