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Mild spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 follow.

Though Critical Role fans know Ashley Johnson as Fearne Calloway (or Pike Trickfoot or Yasha Nydoorin, your call), the world of video games may know her best as the original Ellie, co-lead of Sony's Last of Us duology. Of course, Johnson didn't continue in the role for the HBO show (that honor went to breakout star Bella Ramsey), but that doesn't mean she wasn't involved. Case in point - the most recent episode of The Last of Us season 2, which features Johnson in an unseen, but deeply resonant role.

Airing on April 20, the second episode of The Last of Us's second season ended with a gut-wrenching, emotional turn, one we won't spoil here in case you haven't gotten to it yet. We're just bringing it up because, by the time the credits role, an appropriately emotional song was required to send the episode off, and the folks at HBO decided to go straight to the source to find one. What they ended up choosing was 'Through the Valley,' a song originally by Shawn James that was used in both the game and promotion for The Last of Us Part II. As Ellie, Johnson recorded the song for the game and, as revealed by Entertainment Weekly, rerecorded it for usage in the series's credits.

Johnson's involvement in this season of HBO's hit apocalyptic drama wasn't in front of the camera, but if you're familiar with the series so far, you'll know that fans have seen her before. In The Last of Us season one, Johnson appeared on screen as Ellie's mother, Anna, a role that was only mentioned in the games. Speaking to EW in an article published shortly after her appearance, Johnson said of the role:

"It's surreal and bizarre. To be able to give birth to the character and to also be the first character to fight to keep Ellie alive...Yeah, the layers of it are not lost on me."

Odds are that we won't be seeing any more of Anna after season 1 (though, hey, there are always flashbacks thta could happen), so it's great to know that the originator of the Ellie role can continue lending her talents to the HBO show that owes her so much.

Now, when is HBO going to adapt Bell's Hells?

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

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