The Last of Us Season 2 Ending Explained: How Does It Set Up Season 3?

This nonfiction contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 finale and The Last of Us Part II.

Not to crib the rubric of different HBO show, but: and conscionable similar that, aft 7 episodes, The Last of Us Season 2 is over. And if you thought it would wrapper things up neatly? Well, you don’t cognize showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who co-wrote the finale with Halley Gross. Because not lone is determination a nail-biting cliffhanger, there’s 1 after that nail-biter.

Don’t worry, there’s much The Last of Us to come… Like a cordyceps fungus, the adaptation of The Last of Us Part II whitethorn turn into not conscionable 1 much season, but a 4th 1 if the powers that beryllium person their mode astir it. And fixed the mode we deliberation things are going successful The Last of Us Season 3? Yeah, we’re gonna request that 4th season. But we’re getting up of ourselves.

The Last of Us Season 2 Ending Explained

The finale had a batch of crushed to cover, literally, arsenic Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traveled each implicit Seattle successful her quest to find and termination Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). In the process, she ended up hashing things retired with Jesse (Young Mazino), who intuited that not lone are Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced) together, but that Dina is pregnant. And past successful a horrifying moment, Ellie ended up sidesplitting 2 members of Abby’s crew, Owen (Spencer Lord) and the precise large Mel (Ariela Barer), erstwhile Owen pulled a weapon connected her.

Thankfully for fans of Ellie – and Ramsey – contempt her crook towards the acheronian side, leaving Nora (Tati Gabrielle) to dice successful the erstwhile episode, it seems similar Ellie does so person a heart, and was wrecked by watching Mel die. And successful the last moments of the episode, we adjacent get to spot Ellie offering to sacrifice herself to prevention Tommy (Gabriel Luna) arsenic Abby holds him astatine gunpoint aft sidesplitting Jesse. That acquisition successful self-sacrifice whitethorn beryllium short-lived, arsenic Abby fires astatine Ellie arsenic we chopped to black. Yikes!

There is simply a batch much going connected successful the hour, arsenic Ellie traipses astir the Emerald City. Like immoderate benignant of post-apocalyptic Forrest Gump, we support getting glimpses of the warfare betwixt the WLF (Washington Liberation Front) and the cultish Seraphites, though ne'er the afloat picture. Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) is looking for Abby and rallying his troops. The Seraphites astir gut Ellie earlier idiosyncratic blows up their village. And there’s the question of what Abby’s unit was doing astatine all… Why was Abby not with Isaac and the WLF? What were Mel and Owen up to? Why were determination bloody bandages piled successful their outpost, and who was the young Seraphite being chased by WLF soldiers that Jesse seemingly fto die?

Fans of the games apt cognize what that was each about, and what’s coming adjacent – and if you don’t privation spoilers from the games, halt speechmaking now. But the information is that the arc presented successful this season, for the astir part, is done. Ellie was divided from Joel (Pedro Pascal), watched him die, went connected a ngo of vengeance… And successful the last moments of this week’s occurrence realized that’s not the close way to question on, reconciling what Joel did with what she needs to become. It’s Jesse and Tommy who assistance her thrust it home, arsenic they marque plans to instrumentality to Jackson Hole.

“But Abby gets to live,” Ellie says, trying to wrapper her caput astir the thought that they’re leaving.

“Are you capable to marque your bid with that?” Tommy asks.

“I conjecture I’ll person to,” Ellie says.

Jesse picks up wherever Tommy near off, explaining that the crushed helium returned for Ellie aft she near him to spell termination Abby is that helium knows she would halt astatine thing to prevention him, if the chips were down. But with that past cautious connection from Ellie, it’s wide she’s learned that the terms of vengeance is often excessively high. It took a small portion for Ellie to larn empathy, and poor, large Mel needed to thatch it to her by dying. But Ellie is capable to subordinate Mel’s decease backmost to however she would consciousness astir Dina dying, and however Jesse redeeming her is simply a amended prime than Ellie sidesplitting Abby.

Unfortunately, Jesse pays for this immediately. But successful the speech with Abby that follows, it’s wide that Ellie is acceptable to fto things spell to prevention Tommy and Dina; Abby is not. “I fto you live,” Abby says. “I fto you live, and you wasted it.” Ellie was acceptable to locomotion a caller path, but Abby is looking for retribution. We’ll spot if she ends this peculiar rhythm of unit by sidesplitting Ellie, Tommy, and Dina erstwhile the amusement returns for Season 3, right?

Where The Last Of Us Is Probably Going In Season 3, Based On The Games…

Or not. So, we bash request to speech astir the country that instantly follows Abby seemingly shooting Ellie. We chopped successful connected Abby successful a bunker, having fallen dormant speechmaking a publication titled “Thieves of the City” by Ben Davidoff (which, arsenic a broadside note, does not look to beryllium successful our existent world). Manny (Danny Ramirez) wakes her up, explains Isaac wants to speech to them, Abby wanders retired into a stadium that is filled with workplace animals, crops, and overmuch much (shades of Fear the Walking Dead Season 4)… And past the substance connected surface pops up saying “Seattle: Day One” arsenic we chopped to the credits to the tune of Soundgarden’s “Burden In My Hand.”

Saying it conscionable 1 much clip — determination are spoilers for the crippled successful this section!

For fans of numbering days, this is simply a big deal, but it’s besides a wide indicator to the assemblage that we person gone backmost successful time, simultaneously to erstwhile Ellie archetypal arrived successful Seattle, backmost successful Season 2, Episode 3. And successful fact, if you person played The Last of Us Part II, you cognize this is precisely what is happening. If you besides intuited that each those dangling plotlines with Isaac, Abby, Owen, Mel, etc, etc volition beryllium picked up successful The Last of Us Season 3? You’re apt close connected the wealth with that, too.

There’s really a lot that has been going connected with Abby portion Ellie has been connected her ngo of vengeance, including discovering that a connection earlier successful the play by 1 of the Seraphites that cipher leaves their ranks mightiness not beryllium arsenic definitive arsenic that peculiar cult-member thought. There are 2 highly important characters successful this plotline – Yara and Lev – that we person yet to conscionable connected the show. And we’ll larn that Owen was astatine the aquarium, and adjacent boats, for a precise circumstantial crushed arsenic well, which mightiness not gel with the WLF’s plans.

In fact, tying into the wide thought Mazin and Druckmann person been playing with this play – matters of position – it’s astir definite that we’ll spot scenes from Season 2 successful Season 3, but from the position of Abby and her crew. Does that mean we’ll (no pun intended connected the show’s video crippled origins) spot a replay of Nora’s death, oregon Owen and Mel’s death? It’s rather possible, though we’re a agelong mode disconnected from that. The constituent is, there’s intelligibly been a batch near connected the array successful presumption of the WLF and Seraphites war. That wasn’t an mistake oregon an oversight… We conscionable haven’t seen what’s happening with them yet.

And though we don’t cognize this for sure, it’s much than apt this volition each bring america backmost to that fateful infinitesimal successful this week’s finale, wherever Abby seems to sprout Ellie.

…But Will This Play The Right Way On TV?

As has been a recurring refrain done some seasons of The Last of Us truthful far, determination is simply a palpable quality betwixt playing done a 20ish hr agelong crippled successful a fewer sittings, and watching a TV amusement for 1 hr a week for 2 months, each fewer years. And frankly, if this goes the mode it seems to beryllium going, HBO is risking investigating viewers’ patience.

To spell backmost to what Mazin said astir the narrative, portion helium did consciousness there’s “more room” to bash side-stories similar Season 1’s lauded Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) episode, helium added that “there’s nary mode to implicit this communicative successful a 3rd season.” That seems contradictory – they’re going to adhd much stories, but besides won’t person clip to archer the main communicative – but let’s spell with it, and speculate astir however that could interaction Season 3 and 4.

The astir apt result is that Season 3 tells Abby’s communicative from her perspective, starring up to the moment, again, wherever she seemingly shoots astatine Ellie. There’s much of the game’s communicative beyond that which would apt beryllium tackled successful a 4th season. But what that means successful existent TV hours is we’re perchance getting a astir Ellie-free Season 3 of The Last of Us successful a fewer years time, and past waiting different fewer years aft that earlier Ellie takes halfway signifier erstwhile again successful Season 4.

Nothing against Kaitlyn Dever, Jeffrey Wright, Danny Ramirez, oregon immoderate of the different fantabulous actors who would beryllium portion of that cast, but… What? Huh? The amusement already took a large hazard sidesplitting disconnected Pedro Pascal’s Joel, meaning the communicative pivoted from Joel and Ellie to Ellie and Dina. Pivoting erstwhile again to marque Dever the prima of the amusement could origin adjacent much whiplash for the audience.

That’s not adjacent to notation the thought that successful real-world terms, viewers could beryllium waiting 2 years positive an full play of television to find retired Ellie’s fate. To usage a direct, applicable comparison, The Walking Dead astir tanked its ain franchise by making fans hold to spot who Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) would bushed to decease with a shot bat implicit six months. Keeping the “did Abby sprout Ellie” cliffhanger disconnected the array for adjacent longer is, uh, gonna beryllium much, overmuch worse for anyone who doesn’t interruption down and work a crippled statement of the game.

Instead, The Last of Us Season 3 needs to not walk an full play connected Abby. We request to get backmost to that Ellie/Abby infinitesimal and spot what happens adjacent successful the play premiere – and past determination past that point. Would that mean finishing up the adaptation of The Last of Us Part II successful Season 3 of the series? Absolutely. This seems to beryllium vehemently against the mode Mazin and Druckmann are adapting the games, but if they truly privation to bash a Season 4, travel up with an archetypal story, either a continuation, a flashback, oregon much connected Abby and her Amazing Friends. The satellite isn’t implicit aft The Last of Us Part II, and determination are intelligibly plentifulness much stories they privation to tell.

But if they resistance retired that cliffhanger for an full season, Mazin and Druckmann hazard making “The Last of Us” notation not conscionable to the rubric of the show, but to the fewer remaining TV viewers.