The countdown is finally about to come to an end. The Last of Us season 2 premieres on HBO and Max in just a couple of hours, and fans couldn’t be more excited to return to the post-apocalyptic world and reunite with Joel and Ellie. But things aren’t exactly smooth between the pseudo father-daughter duo this time around. Five years have passed since the events of season 1, and both characters are forced to face not only the distance in their relationship, but also the arrival of new and dangerous threats.
I don't know if you checked out the gripping trailer yet, but it definitely teases that this new season will be even more intense, action-packed, and emotionally charged than the first. However, one major change that fans may have noticed is that The Last of Us season 2 will be shorter than season 1. While the first season boasted nine episodes, season 2 will only have seven. So, why the cut in episode count? In a June 2024 interview with Deadline, series co-creators, executive producers, showrunners and directors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explained their decision to reduce the number of episodes for the show's second installment.
The answer lies in the nature of the story itself. Season 2 is based on The Last of Us Part II, a video game whose story is much more intricate and expansive compared to the first game (The Last of Us). This is something Mazin points out in his interview with Deadline. Because the narrative of Part II covers a broader scope and is much more complex, Mazin and Druckmann had to carefully plan how to adapt the material for television. In the end, they came to the decision to break up the story into multiple seasons rather than trying to fit everything into one.
When they planned out how to tell the story, Mazin told Deadline they looked for a "natural breakpoint," which means they identified a moment in the narrative that felt like a logical place to pause or transition to a new part of the story. For The Last of Us season 2, they decided that the natural place to split the story was after seven episodes, allowing for a smooth transition into the next part of the story in a future season.
"The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons. When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.” - Craig Mazin
On April 10, HBO handed out an early season 3 renewal for the hit zombie horror series. But don't think this means the story will end there. Mazin told Deadline that adapting Part II will likely take more than just two seasons. This means we could be seeing a fourth season in the future if HBO continues to back the series.
"We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too. We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4.” - Craig Mazin
Based on Mazin's comments, it appears that a fourth installment will be all they need to fully wrap up the story of Part II. Honestly, I would be okay with that. But we'll have to wait and see if HBO decides to go through with the plan and allow the creators to wrap up the story in the way they envision.
The Last of Us season 2 debuts on HBO and Max on April 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.