What we know about The Last of Us season 2 episode count

Although The Last of Us season 2 won't be arriving until next year, we have some information about the new season that we find particularly interesting. For starters, season 2 of the HBO Max post-apocalyptic show, based on the video game of the same name, will only consist of 7 episodes compared to season 1's 9 episodes.

But there may be a good reason for it, as showrunner, co-creator, executive producer, and director Craig Mazin stated, "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."

Has Joel's fate been decided for The Last of Us season 2?

After the season 2 announcement, those familiar with the video game began to wonder if the series will continue to unfold as the video game, specifically regarding Joel Miller's fate, and, as a result, Ellie's. It didn't help matters that Pedro Pascal, who plays one of the two leads, Joel Miller, was rumored to have finished filming quite early on.

In fact, the internet got so crazed, convinced as to what would become of Joel that HBO had to put out a statement to quell the ensuing panic. But was all of it a trick of misdirection?

Our suspicions might have some weight as Mazin was also quoted saying, "as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.” A breakpoint you say?

Oh, and it gets worse when showrunner, co-creator, executive producer, and director Neil Druckmann said the following, "More specifically, it’s a continuation of love from the first season, and this is just the dark side of that coin, the pursuit of justice at any cost for the ones you love and the exploration of that." I think we may need to lie down and process this.

Will the breakpoint be Joel's fate and thus a season 3 will be ordered? A season 3 and 4 might not sound unusual as long as the viewership numbers are there.

But that may also depend on one, huge factor.

How the season 1 finale could affect season 2

Season 1 ended on an intense and thrilling note as Joel's growing bond with Ellie essentially forces him to make a difficult or selfish decision (depending on who you ask). This decision will have to come to light eventually and when it does, how will this change his father-daughter relationship with Ellie?

We want to know what you think will happen in season 2? What do you want to see happen?

Should The Last of Us continue onto seasons 3 and 4?

The Last of Us season 1 is currently streaming on MAX.