the last of us episode 6 is punctuated by joel suffering from panic attacks something that doesnt ever happen in the games and the creators have explained indepth why they made the changenow before we explain any further heres your spoiler warning for the last of us episodes 5 and 6 if you arent caught up turn back now so we dont ruin anything for youimage credit hboin the last of us hbo podcast hosted by video game joel actor troy baker cocreators neil druckmann and craig mazin explain that joels panic attacks are directly connected to the tragic events of episode 5as if theres any possible way youve forgotten what happened to brothers sam keivonn woodard and henry lamar johnson in the last of us episode 5 heres a very brief recap sam is bitten and infected during a struggle with a horde of infected and is killed by henry who then turns his gun on himself to joel and ellies horror pretty grim stuffwell in episode 6 we see joel clutching at his chest and struggling to steady his breathing a couple of times throughout the episode and while there are about a million very solid reasons for someone to be experiencing severe anxiety in the world of the last of us druckmann and mazin have confirmed that joels panic attacks are specifically about sam and henry and how their deaths impacted his confidence in his ability to keep ellie safewe wanted to explore the impact of whats happened to joel in the wake of henry and sam despite time having passed significantly and its shown when he exits the cabin and seizes his chest the duo said thanks collider whats happening is joel is having a panic attack and he doesnt know why its your body telling you that youre in terrible danger but you dont understand why this episode is about joel coming to terms with how terrified he is that shes going to die and its going to be his fault if youve been paying attention youll see as many times joel has helped her hes failed her and those are the things he dwells on like a lot of us if you have core trauma the way joel does the things you do well are discounted but you will magnify your failures and tragedies until they threaten to subsume youin case you needed any more justification for this relatively minor diversion from the games you should know a little detail in the last of us part 1 actually made joels condition canon for more on the latest episode of the last of us check out the major changes from the game and what those part 2 easter eggs might mean