The Last of Us season 2 has come to an end – though it's just the beginning of Ellie and Abby's journey.
Over the last seven weeks, the live-action adaptation of one of the best games of all time has introduced brand new, made-for-TV characters, tweaked some pretty crucial storylines, and delivered that inevitable, harrowing Joel scene upfront without any warning.
The Last of Us season 2 release date & schedule
The Last of Us season 2 was released on April 13, having taken over the Sunday night slot on HBO previously occupied by The White Lotus season 3.
Fans based in the US can watch the show on HBO Max, while those across the pond can tune in through Sky and NOW. The season finale aired on May 25 in the US and May 26 for the UK.
The Last of Us season 2 trailer
Given its popularity, it's hardly surprising HBO released a ton of The Last of Us season 2 teasers before it premiered. The "official" trailer, though, which you can watch above, didn't arrive until early March 2025.
In the clip, we see Joel and Ellie living peacefully after the events of the first season. However, in a zombie-filled world, peace is never long-lasting, and soon the teaser is filled with Clickers, tanks, and explosions.
Featuring a bunch of iconography from the games, like Joel's cracked watch and Ellie and Dina travelling on horseback, it's much more action-packed than the promos shown previously.
The Last of Us season 2 cast
Season 2 saw the return of the main cast - i.e. Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, and Diego Luna returned - and we were introduced to several new characters like Young Mazino's Jesse, Isabela Merced's Dina, and Jeffrey Wright's terrifying villain Isaac.
Check out the Last of Us season 2 cast list below:
- Pedro Pascal as Joel
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie
- Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Young Mazino as Jesse
- Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
- Danny Ramirez as Manny
- Ariela Barer as Mel
- Tati Gabrielle as Nora
- Spencer Lord as Owen
- Catherine O'Hara as Gail
- Rutina Wesley as Maria
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy
- Robert John Burke as Seth
- Joe Pantoliano as Eugene
- Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan
- Ben Ahlers as Burton
- Hettienne Park as Elise Park
The Last of Us season 1 recap
This section contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season 1. If you've not yet caught up, turn back now!
As we go through in our more in-depth breakdown of The Last of Us season 1 ending explained guide, we left Joel and Ellie with the former having just "saved" the latter from the Fireflies HQ in Salt Lake City.
Despite journeying across the apocalyptic US to deliver Ellie, whose immunity had caught the Fireflies attention, to them, Joel took drastic, violent measures to get her back after he discovered the terrifying truth about what they had planned for her: become a lab rat in the hopes of inventing a cure to the Cordyceps infection. As Marlene coldly explains to Joel towards the end of the episode, the experiments would have undoubtedly killed Ellie, but what's one life if it means they could save countless more?
Unfortunately for Marlene, Joel didn't agree on the expendability of Ellie's life, and he shot her dead and whisked the unconscious teen away, and Marlene wasn't the only one to feel his protective wrath in Saint Mary's Hospital that fateful day...
Just like the game, the episode closes with Joel lying to Ellie about the Fireflies' intentions, claiming that they did their tests and weren't able to find anything of use, so he's driven her to Jackson so they can live out the rest of their lives as best and peacefully as they can. A move that will eventually cause tensions between the pair in season 2...
If you're wondering how closely the original ending aligns with that seen in the show, here are the biggest changes between The Last of Us episode 9 and The Last of Us: Part 1's finale.
The Last of Us season 2 plot details
The Last of Us season 2 hasn't necessarily followed the video game in which it's based as faithfully as its predecessor, with it lingering on certain beats much longer than the source material – but it's just as dark as the original story.
In the trailer, we see what appears to be the first four-ish chapters of The Last of Us Part 2 – though it mostly seems like scenes from chapter one. But of course, it's a TV adaptation, so certain creative liberties were expected to be taken – which explains why we see Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) in the trailer, even though said character doesn't appear until the second half of the game, around Chapter 5.
The concept of the game is that the player controls both Ellie and Abby in two separate narrative arcs. It's hard to tell whether the seven-episode second season will stay mostly in Ellie's perspective (the first half of the game) or dip into the first chapter or two of Abby's arc. If Isaac is already being introduced, then we suspect it might be the latter.
As we noted in our The Last of Us Part 2 review, the video game very much deals with the cyclical nature of hatred and revenge – to say anything else would wade into spoiler territory, although we do have a The Last of Us 2 ending explained article, should you be unable to manage the wait for season 2 to wrap up.
Ellie, Joel, and co haven't just been fighting off clickers in season 2, though we expected as much after co-showrunner Craig Mazin's previous comments. "I think we can say that we are dedicated to the idea that just as humanity is progressing and [Jackson] is getting bigger and they're bringing people in, the infected are also evolving," he told GamesRadar+ ahead of the premiere.
"So we're certainly going to see quite a few changes along the way to impress upon our characters. Oh, you think you've figured it out, you think you're good at handling the infected? The Rat King is something that anybody who has played The Last of Us Part 2 is traumatized by for so many reasons, count myself among them."
In the game, the main types of infected are Clickers, of which we saw plenty of in season 1, Bloaters, Runners, Stalkers, and Shamblers. The Rat King is a particularly monstrous but unique variant that Abby comes face to face with in Part 2.
We won't spoil anything more just yet, so you have time to watch the series for yourself. But know that the plot of season 2 is filled with angst, action, and plenty more monsters.
Will The Last of Us season 2 follow the same story as the game?
With only one episode to go, it's clear The Last of Us season 2 won't cover the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2. The show's co-creators – Mazin and Druckmann – had already signalled that the events of Part 2 would require multiple seasons to properly bring the ambitious storyline of the second game to life, so it's not exactly a surprise, mind.
Druckmann also revealed that there's some "pretty brutal" cut content from The Last of Us Part 2 that was adapted for this new season, so even those who've played the game ten times over won't have seen everything coming...
As for how many seasons The Last of Us will need to tell the next part of Joel and Ellie's adventure, well, that remains to be seen. Although Mazin has teased that "four seems like a good number". HBO's Head of Drama Francesca Orsi echoed a similar sentiment in February 2025, saying, "We don’t have a complete or final plan, but I think it’s looking like four seasons."
From what we've seen in the trailer, it looks like it will get about halfway through, as there are some shots of Jeffrey Wright's Isaac, an Abby flashback, and someone who looks like they could be Lev.
Will The Last of Us season 2 include a time skip?
In The Last of Us: Part 2 video game, there is a five-year time skip. We shift from the climactic conclusion of The Last of Us: Part 1 to find an older Joel and Ellie settled into life in Jackson, Wyoming. The show is set to feature the same jump, even if, as Mazin suggests, other parts of the season are "radically" different from the game.
Want to get caught up on the show ahead of a season 2 watch? Here's how to watch The Last of Us TV show online. We also have a list of all the new TV shows heading our way if you are after more fresh titles.
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