After The Last of Us TV series was renewed for a second season at HBO it had gamers wondering how they would manage bringing The Last of Us Part II into live-action. The first season of the show was able to fit all of the first game into its nine episodes, but the scope of the 2020 sequel is much bigger by comparison as it has a non-linear narrative and multiple POVs. To mark the celebration of the annual “Outbreak Day,” HBO debuted the first full teaser trailer for The Last of Us season 2, and in the process have seemingly answered this major question. Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II video game will follow.
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Central to The Last of Us Part II game’s narrative are two paths that players follow, playing as Ellie on her quest for revenge and playing as Abby, a new character that is navigating a different conflict in Seattle. Though the first hour of the game goes back and forth between the two characters, most of the game is playing from the perspective of Ellie. The Last of Us Part II has a crucial point about halfway through where the game stops and switches to Abby’s perspective, forcing players to take on the role of the character that has been the subject of Ellie’s bloodlust this entire time. To make things even more agonizing, a major boss fight while playing as Abby forces you to confront and attack Ellie herself. All that in mind, gamers have been wondering, how will The Last of Us season 2 handle the dual narrative and where in the story will it end?
Now, having all that context about the game, we can look to what was revealed in the trailer for season 2. Based on the footage presented we can surmise at least two things: 1. It appears that The Last of Us season 2 may only cover up to the events of “Seattle Day 1” as seen in The Last of Us Part II; 2. The TV series will bring in elements of Abby’s storyline to be told simultaneously with what is happening with Ellie. So even though some non-linear elements may still be present (Ellie confronting Joel on his porch is seen in the trailer and is like a dagger to the heart for players), it appears The Last of Us show will be unfolding the story as it happens for viewers rather than deliberately keeping them in the dark.
We can surmise this about The Last of US season 2 from two major shots in the trailer, the first showing Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby standing by a grave with a pendant on it (a clue that the new season will go into her backstory), but also we see Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac in a key moment. As those that player the game will know, Isaac isn’t introduced into The Last of Us Part II until much later, well after switching to Abby’s POV, so revealing not only his presence but showing him in THAT location at least implies a major chunk of Abby’s story will be told, and will seemingly be done alongside Ellie’s.
Yet another another major clue that the trailer revealed about how far The Last of Us season 2 will get into the plot of The Last of Us Part II is that there’s a substantial amount of footage which shows what Ellie and Dina get up to during the events of “Seattle Day 1.” This includes not only them in the record store, but moments of the pair running through the dilapidated subway system of Seattle. This sequence in The Last of Us Part II game coincides with the conclusion of the Seattle Day 1 section of Ellie’s side of the game, perhaps indicating that this is where the season will come to a close as it offers not only a firm end point but could set up even more interesting flashbacks for season 3.
A final element of The Last of Us season 2 that perhaps indicates this is how far the series will get into the events of The Last of Us Part II is something that’s actually not seen at all. Two major characters, Lev and Yara, are absent from the trailer, but to take it a step further, their casting hasn’t even been confirmed, announced, teased, or alluded to by HBO. This seems to point toward the pair not appearing in the events of The Last of Us season 2. Something to note however is that an unnamed Seraphite member is seen in the trailer, walking through the woods. Perhaps the series will be setting the stage for Lev and Yara’s arrival in the series in a potential season 3 of The Last of Us and instead will be using season 2 as a chance to really introduce the cult and its members to viewers.
HBO has already confirmed that The Last of Us season 2 will arrive in 2025, meaning that if viewers have to wait until season 2 for Lev and Yara they may not see them until 2027. The story of The Last of Us Part II game is dense, so there will need to be at least one moment (maybe two!) where the TV series has to decide that they’re going to wrap things up even as more story remains to be told. For The Last of Us season 2, at least, it seems like they’ve told viewers where that point is.
