3 Ways The Last of Us Season 2 Premiere Already Improved the Game’s Story

The last few years have brought many gifts to gamers through high-quality adaptations. Netflix’s Castlevania and Arcane raised the bar, and then HBO hit us with The Last of Us. The first season blew viewers out of the water, sticking to the heart of a story while telling a terrifying tale of clickers and the darker side of humanity. It was almost impossible to do anything but sit and wait after the explosive finale (which gamers saw coming, thanks to having played the title for over a decade at that point). Now that Season 2 is here, we can begin talking about The Last of Us Part 2 and how it has been changed for the show.

WARNING: Spoilers follow for The Last of Us Season 2 premiere and The Last of Us Part II Game

The Last of Us Part II was arguably more controversial than the first installment of the series, with many fans feeling betrayed by some of the events. We care so much about these characters, so it’s impossible not to take it personally when they have flaws or don’t survive. Season 2 has already made a few changes, and while they may not seem major, they will hopefully set up to make the story that much stronger by the time it’s all said and done.

Introducing Abby’s Perspective Earlier

Let’s start with the elephant in the room, Abby. Introduced during The Last of Us Part II, Abby is a highly contentious character for some fans of the games. While she appears early in the game, those playing it don’t actually get a lot of context for who she is and her actions until much later. In other words, we’ve had plenty of time to let our hatred of Abby’s actions stew before we actually get to truly meet the character. This narrative decision fell flat since part of the game’s goal was to force players to understand the unceasing cycle of pain and revenge.

The Last of Us Season 2 seems to have learned from this and introduced Abby to the viewers much earlier. Abby’s story starts with pain, as she’s clearly grieving from the culmination of last season’s deadly final episode. Even without laying out all the details, viewers can infer that Abby lost somebody dear to her during Joel’s desperate run to get Ellie out of the hospital. In other words, while we disagree with Abby continuing the cycle of violence and revenge, it’s easier to understand after witnessing her grief before seeing what that grief leads to.

[RELATED: The Last of Us Season 3 Officially Announced by HBO]

Moving a Key Scene to the Start

It’s not until the end of The Last of Us Part II video game that we see this specific porch encounter Ellie has with Joel. Though it’s one of the final scenes in the game, it has already been teased in the HBO Series. The scene takes place right after the dance, in which Ellie and Joel take some time to talk on the porch, and is vital in explaining Ellie’s guilt and the reason why Ellie and Joel have become distant.

The game holds this until the end to show Ellie accepting her past and the role she played in it all. It’s also there to drive home a specific point – Ellie is alone in the world, and it’s partially due to her own actions. It’s a painful note to end on, which may have made some gamers feel even more betrayed. However, the scene is so much more powerful when placed in the context of everything else, priming viewers for the guilt and horrible decisions that will soon follow.

[RELATED: The Last of Us Adds a Devastating Storyline for Joel (And It Involves Eugene)]

Introducing a New Threat

It’s hard to picture the infected getting more threatening, but The Last of Us Season 2 has already confirmed something even more dangerous is waiting out there, and it’s terrifying. Clickers, Runners, and Bloaters have already taken over the planet, but the HBO series has given us another branch of the infected seen sporadically in the games, Stalkers.

In both instances of the story, The Last of Us game and show, Ellie and Dina go off on a mission together, letting us see how strong their relationship is while offering a view of the larger world. However, the show paints a slightly different picture, as the two come across an infected that seems more intelligent than the others. That may not seem like much, but any infected having an ounce of intelligence could spell disaster for humanity.

Gamers will recognize this version of the infected who only appear sporadically across the video game, and which weren’t included in The Last of Us Season 1 at all. The series moving them up to this early in the story, and bringing them into Jackson, seems to tease they have big plans for them (and perhaps intend to use them even more than the video games).

New episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays at 9 PM ET on HBO and MAX.