The Last of Us‘ Season 2 finale featured several shocking deaths. One of the most talked-about scenes from the finale occurred in the aquarium. Ellie holds two of Abby’s friends, Owen and a pregnant Mel, at gunpoint. When Owen reaches for a gun, Ellie shoots him dead. However, the bullet also strikes Mel in the neck. A horrified Ellie holds Mel as she and the baby die.

Owen and Mel are also killed in the video game. However, there is another death that the show’s creators did not include in the The Last of Us Season 2 finale

Why did The Last of Us creators cut a scene from the Season 2 finale?

In the game, Ellie first kills Alice the dog upon entering the aquarium. When the video game shifts to Abby’s POV, gamers can play as Abby with Alice by her side. Co-showrunner Craig Mazin joked that since he killed dogs in his previous show, Chernobyl, he couldn’t do it again for The Last of Us.

“You get one dog-murdering episode a lifetime,” Mazin said in a press conference via GamesRadar+. “There are two cardinal rules in Hollywood. One, don’t spend your own money. Two, don’t kill the dog.”

The real reason behind eliminating the dog’s death revolved around live-action violence and how it comes off much worse than animation.

“We had a situation where a number of horrible things were happening,” Mazin said. “Plus, because it’s live-action, the nature of violence becomes much more graphic. It’s more graphic. Because it’s not like there’s an animation between you and it; it’s people. And it’s very disturbing.”

Co-showrunner Neil Druckmann also noted that the show already had a run of violent scenes, including Ellie’s near-lynching on Seraphite Island, Owen’s murder, and Mel’s death.

“In our conversation, we’re like, this is probably one too many,” Druckmann said about cutting Alice’s death from the show.

The Last of Us Season 2 is now streaming on HBO Max.