The series stars The Mandalorian and Narcos veteran Pedro Pascal as the grizzled survivor Joel, while Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey plays the teen Ellie. The games' Merle Dandridge plays the resistance leader Marlene, while Gabriel Luna (True Detective) and Anna Torv (Fringe) respectively play Joel's brother Tommy and the smuggler Tess. Nick Offerman also has a guest role. The high-level plot largely mimics that of the first game — Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie to an organization searching for a cure to the brain infection that ravaged humanity, but the journey becomes far more complicated