The Last of Us season 1 covered exactly the first of two The Last of Us video games. The plot was almost identical, scenes reproduced one-to-one, and the ending just as merciless. And now comes the big surprise: Season 2 will do things differently. Season 2 does not include the full The Last of Us – Part II.
We explain to you…
The Last of Us – Part II is too big to squeeze into a single Season 2
The good news is that Season 2 is definitely coming and leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are back.
In an interview with GQ UK, showrunner Craig Mazin reveals that they are out of the second game “more than one season” will do. In view of the richness of the story, it can be assumed that the second game will be divided into two seasons, i.e. season 2 and season 3. However, the fact that there will be two seasons has not been officially confirmed, nor has a third season.
HBO
The Last of Us – Season 1
With the great ratings and reviews of the first season, however, it is very likely that Mazin’s plan will be approved by HBO.
Warning, massive spoilers follow for the plot of The Last of Us – Part II and thus possibly also for the series.
If you don’t know the game, stop reading now!
The Last of Us: This is how the game can be divided into Season 2 and Season 3
In The Last of Us – Part II, we slip into the skin of the traumatized elliewho swears revenge after Joel’s death. On the other hand, we control Abbywho killed Joel because he in turn killed her father. A vicious cycle of revenge unfolds.
The Last of Us – Part II is told in three acts:
In the individual sections, the events and a few new characters roll over are introduced and told. Splitting the game into two seasons gives the creators a chance to tell the story with enough deliberation.
Naughty Dog
The Last of Us – Part II: Abby
Namely, the game forces us to make terrible decisions (against our will) since we know and understand both sides. The component of one’s own actions is omitted in the series. The presentation becomes all the more important.
The Last of Us – Part II is so morally complex and violent that too little character narration would quickly result in a dull revenge bloodbath. To meet the nagging revenge dilemmas, should Ellie and Abby’s story are told in parallel from the beginning of Season 2.
Instead of first telling Joel’s death from Ellie’s point of view and Ellie’s revenge in season 2 and going into more detail about Abby in season 3, the series can only benefit from the simultaneous portrayal of the inner workings of the enemies. The parallels between the two traumatized women and their inability to recognize the spiral of violence are ultimately the core of the game.
What the finale of TLoU Season 2 could look like
A fitting finale for season 2 would, according to the story, come in the middle of Ellie’s revenge campaign: Abby has just managed to get surgical tools for a wounded girl with the help of her friend Nora. A short time later, after brutal torture, Ellie kills Nora and learns the whereabouts of Abby’s hiding place.
Of course, Mazin and Druckmann could tell Ellie’s side first in Season 2 and Abby’s point of view and the grand finale in Season 3. But waiting for Season 3 would put much of the parable’s moral dilemma to naught.
The Last of Us: why non-gamers need to watch this series highlight too
The end times series The Last of Us is the live action adaptation of one of the most critically acclaimed video games of the last 10 years. Is the series with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey worth it for fans of the template? And how does it affect non-gamers?
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In the spoiler-free podcast review of the full first season of The Last of Us, we talk about the incredible closeness to the video game template and the differences to the zombie hit The Walking Dead, among other things.
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