Despite being a no-show at last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), there are still people who believe that "The Last of Us 2" is in the pipeline, and the sequel might just feature the death of Joel in the hands of Ellie.

For the uninitiated, the current "The Last of Us" game ends with Joel and Ellie being captured by the Firefly patrol. When Ellie is brought to the hospital, Joel is told that she is being readied for a surgery. However, in order for a vaccine against Ellie's infection to work, the portion of her brain that has been infected must be removed, which will result to her death.

As Joel doesn't want Ellie to die, he kills everybody in the hospital and yanks Ellie out. Joel tells Ellie that the Fireflies actually already know a cure but only lies that a vaccine has yet to be developed.

According to Crossmap, the sequel may evolve from Ellie's desire to help mankind by sacrificing herself. However, with Joel killing those who could possibly develop the vaccine, Ellie's quest to sacrifice herself for the greater good is gone, and she might even kill Joel for it.

Meanwhile, in a related news, prior to the E3 last month, it was strongly speculated that "The Last of Us 2" would be unveiled at the event, albeit gamers are divided on whether they want a sequel or not for the game, thanks to its controversial ending. According to Crave Online last month, people inside and outside the game's developer, Naughty Dog, have claimed that a sequel to the game is certain, and the online publication believes that the game could have already been fully developed along with "Uncharted 4."

Prior to the E3 as well, reports also claimed that it that the game would certainly be unveiled, but warned the fans not celebrate just yet as "The Last of Us 2" won't be released earlier than 2018.

However, E3 opened and concluded without a mere mention of "The Last of Us 2."

Will "The Last of Us 2" really come out in 2018? If yes, will Ellie kill Joel? Without any confirmed news at this point in time, these questions will remain as questions until Naughty Dog releases a statement on when the game will be released and what its plot will be.