Here’s why Ellie left coffee beans on Joel’s grave in 'The Last of Us Season 2'

After last week’s gut-wrenching episode, The Last of Us returned with another emotional blow — this time laced with bittersweet nostalgia. In Season 2, Episode 3, Ellie’s path of vengeance pauses for a quiet, heartbreaking moment as she visits Joel’s grave. But in a beautiful departure from the video game, the series adds a small yet powerful detail: Ellie leaves behind a handful of coffee beans.
For those who’ve been following Joel and Ellie’s journey — both in the original video game and HBO’s masterful adaptation — the meaning is crystal clear. Coffee wasn’t just a beverage for Joel; it was a tiny slice of normalcy, a comfort he sorely missed in the post-apocalyptic world. His love for coffee often came up in lighter moments, from joking about the terrible smell of boiling coffee to openly lamenting how much he missed it. Joel was, without a doubt, a self-proclaimed coffeeholic.
By leaving coffee beans on his grave, Ellie doesn’t just mourn — she celebrates the simple joys Joel clung to and the small, warm memories they shared. It's a touching tribute, one that reflects not only her grief but her love and deep understanding of the man who became her surrogate father.
The video game presented Ellie’s visit to Joel’s grave as a raw, silent moment of mourning. But the showrunners, in a brilliant emotional pivot, chose to add this personal touch, offering both Ellie — and the audience — a sense of closure. Watching Ellie softly smile at the memory of Joel’s coffee obsession reminds us that in a world torn apart by devastation, it’s the little things that tether us to our humanity.
Fans of the game will also remember that Joel would go to great lengths — even trade valuable supplies — just to get a bag of coffee beans. It’s one of those quirks that made Joel so relatable and real, and Ellie’s gesture honors that perfectly.
In the brutal universe of The Last of Us, sometimes love, memory, and grief are best expressed not through words — but through a few simple coffee beans.