The Last of Us season 2 picks up five years after the events of season 1, following Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey) after they’ve settled back into the Jackson, Wyoming, community with Joel’s brother, Tommy Miller (Gabriel Luna). The April 13, 2025, premiere introduced quite a few new characters, including a young man named Jesse (Young Mazino).

If the show remains faithful to The Last of Us Part II video game source material, we know that Jesse will become an integral part of the story going forward. In Touch breaks down everything fans need to know about the character and who plays him.

[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II video game and The Last of Us season 2 episodes 1 and 2.]

Who Is Jesse in ‘The Last of Us’ TV Show?

Jesse appears in the first episode of The Last of Us season 2 as a friend of Ellie’s, Dina’s (Isabela Merced) on-off ex-boyfriend and a leader of the patrol groups in Jackson. Though Jesse is serious and stern when it comes to his job, he’s also a loyal friend and very kind-natured.

While fans didn’t see much of Jesse in the premiere, he played a bigger role in episode 2, as he and Ellie went out on patrol together. However, they had to take a break inside a gas station due to a heavy snowstorm, where Jesse told Ellie about his late patrol partner, Eugene. Ellie and Jesse get separated, but he later finds her at the lodge after Joel is killed by Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever). He helps Ellie and Dina wrap Joel’s body in cloth to bring him back to Jackson.

Who Plays Jesse in ‘The Last of Us’?

HBO announced in January 2024 that Young Mazino had been cast as Jesse, describing the character at the time as “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at a terrible cost.”

“Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him,” The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in a joint statement at the time. “We’re so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show.”

Young, whose real name is Christopher Young Kim, is most known for playing Paul in Netflix’s Golden Globe-winning series Beef.

Does Jesse Die in ‘The Last of Us’?

While Jesse’s fate has yet to be revealed in HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, we can predict what might happen to him in the show based on the video game. Much like in the show, in The Last of Us Part II, Jesse is a member of the Jackson community and works as a leader of the patrol groups. He’s a close friend of Ellie’s and an on-and-off ex-boyfriend of Dina’s.

After Joel’s death at the hands of Abby and her crew, Jesse accompanies Ellie, Dina and Tommy on their quest to find Abby and get revenge. Unfortunately, Abby kills Jesse when they cross paths in Seattle. It’s later revealed that Dina is pregnant with Jesse’s child, and she gives birth to a son named JJ, whom Ellie helps raise.