There is no denying that The Last of Us has already cemented itself as a modern-day classic with the post-apocalyptic game series becoming one of the most successful and highest-earning of all time.

With the Naughty Dog title going on to inspire a HBO television adaptation as well as a sequel, board game and much more, The Last of Us has quite literally captured the world’s heart so it is no wonder that fans want to immerse themselves in the world even more.

As fans will know, the first game begins with a look at Joel’s life before the apocalypse begins as we see him living a seemingly normal life with his daughter, Sarah.

Fans will also know that his life is soon turned upside down but, before that, The Last of Us doesn’t explicitly state where Sarah’s mother and Joel’s wife is.

However, it seems as though the mystery has finally been solved.

At the beginning of The Last of Us, even though the world is quickly being destroyed around you, Sarah can take the time to explore the house and eagle-eyed fans have noticed that there is no indication of a woman being part of the family.

One fan took to r/thelastofus and kicked off the conversation.

“Replaying Part 1, I just came across the only dialogue that mentions this person, revealing she and Joel were married for a short time,” they wrote.

“For some reason I’ve always assumed she left, but Joel refusing to tell Ellie more could as well mean either that, or that she died when Sarah was young. So, what are your views on this, any theories?”

Luckily, it seems as though user DeanoThelasTofus has all the answers.

“The strongest implication is that they married young and split up not long after Sarah’s birth,” they explained.

“At the start of the game there are no photographs or anything else depicting Sarah’s mother, which indicates a bad breakup of which Joel wanted no reminders.

Since Sarah lives with Joel, it’s likely there is zero contact with her mother.

If her mother had died, it’s likely there would be artefacts to her memory in the house.

The cold-hearted, emotionless Joel we see in the game is a product of what happens to Sarah at the end of the intro.

Before that, he’s just a normal dad trying to make ends meet for the sake of his daughter. If his marriage had been good but his wife died, he would want Sarah to know who she was, what she looked like.”

Not only that but in a Q&A posted to Reddit a few years back, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann responded to one fan asking about Sarah’s mum.

“The backstory was that she left Joel after Sarah was born,” he confirmed.

“Not someone he looked up to to keep a picture around.”