Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Last of Us season 1 finale.

The ending of The Last of Us was just the beginning for Merle Dandridge.

The actress, known for roles on Station 19, The Flight Attendant, and Greenleaf, auditioned for the 2013 video game with material written for the grand finish: Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies rebel group, has to inform Joel, the smuggler she hired to transport a young girl immune to the plague that's decimated the world, that he now must let the teen die in order to save humanity. This was the first time Dandridge met Neil Druckmann, one of the game's creators, as well as Troy Baker, the actor who originated Joel.