The Last of Us returns to HBO and Max on April 13 for its second season. The new chapter begins five years after the events of Season 1 and will introduce Abby, portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever. With over two years since the first season aired, the story’s key developments may not be fresh for all viewers.
Season 1 opened on September 26, 2013, the day the Cordyceps brain infection spread beyond containment. The fungus mutated and adapted to humans after the climate warmed. Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), a contractor living in Austin, Texas, experienced the collapse first-hand. His daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) was killed by a soldier who mistook them for infected.
Two decades later, Joel lived in Boston’s Quarantine Zone, working in a militarized post-outbreak society run by FEDRA. He accepted a job escorting Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey), a teenager who appeared immune to the infection. Accompanied by Tess (Anna Torv), Joel left the zone. Tess was later bitten and sacrificed herself to allow Joel and Ellie to continue west.
Ellie’s immunity was rooted in her birth. Her mother, Anna (Ashley Johnson), had been infected moments before delivering her. Ellie grew up with the fungus inside her without developing symptoms. The Fireflies, a resistance group opposing FEDRA, believed she could be the key to a cure.
Joel and Ellie faced threats from raiders, infected, and regional militias. In Kansas City, they met Henry and Sam, two brothers navigating an unstable zone where FEDRA had already been ousted. Sam, who had leukemia, relied on medicine Henry obtained by betraying the local resistance. Both brothers died after Sam became infected.
In Wyoming, Joel reunited with his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna), who had joined a commune and married Maria (Rutina Wesley). Tommy, once a Firefly, was now helping run a cooperative settlement. Joel briefly asked Tommy to take Ellie the rest of the way, but Ellie objected. Joel relented and continued with her.
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Their journey brought them to Colorado State University, where they hoped to find Firefly scientists. Instead, Joel was attacked and seriously wounded. Ellie secured medicine and cared for him in an abandoned house. During this time, she was captured by a cult led by David (Scott Shepherd), who concealed the group’s cannibalism. Ellie escaped and killed him.
Season 1 also included the standalone episode featuring Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), two men who lived off-grid. Their relationship developed over years and ended on their terms when Frank became ill. They left behind a fortified home that Joel and Ellie later used.
The finale saw Joel and Ellie reach Salt Lake City, where Marlene (Merle Dandridge) was waiting. Doctors planned to remove part of Ellie’s brain to replicate her immunity, a procedure that would kill her. Joel intervened, killing Marlene and the medical team. He took Ellie back to Wyoming and told her others like her existed, and the cure had failed. She asked him to swear it was true. He did.
Season 2 opens with that lie intact. The series, based on The Last of Us Part II, now focuses on Joel and Ellie’s strained relationship and introduces Abby, whose arrival ties back to the events in Salt Lake City. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann return as creators, with Druckmann also involved in the game franchise.
Filming took place in British Columbia from February to August 2024. The creative team includes Halley Gross and Bo Shim in the writers’ room. Mazin described the production process as intense, with little time off after Season 1. The cast expressed a mix of anticipation and unease about returning.
Ramsey described stepping into Ellie’s older mindset as challenging but rewarding. She noted the emotional weight of scenes with Pascal, especially moments that reflected distance between the characters. Pascal shared that returning to set felt familiar but emotionally taxing, citing difficulty separating the character’s experiences from his own.
Luna explained that Tommy’s role had expanded. Now a father and community leader, he balances protection with allowing others to grow. His dynamic with Ellie reflects this, offering her more space than Joel might allow.
Dever, who plays Abby, said she felt a mix of pressure and excitement joining the cast. She had played the game with her father years earlier and had a strong connection to the character. Her performance includes physically demanding scenes, including filming in a real blizzard on a mountain.
Mazin and Druckmann chose to introduce Abby’s backstory earlier in the season to build narrative clarity and prevent spoilers. Druckmann said the adaptation required different tools than the game, since players do not directly control characters in a television format.
One episode this season, directed by Druckmann, will take a different approach from the rest. Mazin noted that while it is not a repeat of Season 1’s Bill and Frank episode, it will stand apart in tone and focus.
Ramsey named the final two episodes among her favorites to film. Mazin pointed to a scene involving a space capsule at a museum as an early creative touchstone. The scene, which appears in promotional material, was one of the first sequences shown to him by Druckmann.
Pascal and Luna spoke about their off-camera bond and its effect on their scenes. They rehearsed together and drew from shared experiences in Texas. Mazin praised their input during filming, citing moments where they suggested changes that improved the writing.
The second season begins with shifts in relationships, new conflicts, and a setting that continues to evolve. HBO ordered the season just two weeks after the series debuted in January 2023, following strong reception. The new episodes will expand on the world introduced in the first season while building on unresolved tensions.
