You’ve just seen the words “Seattle Day One” at the end of The Last of Us Season 2 and you’re confused about what’s going to happen in Season 3. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place.
Anyone who played The Last of Us Part 2 knew the second season wasn’t going to be an easy watch. After all, Joel’s brutal death at the hands (and golf club) of Abby is the catalyst for the story, sending Ellie on a bloody, traumatic path of revenge to Seattle.
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In the finale, after torturing Nora for information about Abby and her crew’s whereabouts, she travels alone to the city’s aquarium to confront them. It… doesn’t go well, to the point she returns to the theater and they decide to go home.
Unfortunately, this is where things get even worse for Ellie, and the ending of The Last of Us Season 2 has teed up a bold shift.
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How does The Last of Us Season 2 end?
HBO
The Last of Us Season 2 ends with Abby killing Jesse at the theater and holding Ellie and Tommy at gunpoint. It’s then implied that Abby shoots Ellie, before the episode cuts to Abby three days earlier at the WLF base.
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Ellie steals a boat to get to the aquarium, but a huge wave knocks her into the sea, and she ends up washing up on the shore of the Seraphites’ island. Just as they’re about to hang her, they’re called to help in the village (if you played Part 2, you know what’s happening here), so they leave her, allowing Ellie to get back to the boat and continue her route to the aquarium.
When she arrives, Abby is nowhere to be found – but she encounters Owen and Nora. As Owen grabs his gun, Ellie shoots him – and the bullet goes straight through him and hits Nora (bear in mind that she was kind to Dina when Abby killed Joel and she clearly disagrees with her actions).
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Then comes a brutal twist: Nora is pregnant, and she asks Ellie to perform an emergency cesarean to recover the baby. Ellie panics, and Nora slips away before she can do anything. As Ellie sits alone in shock, struggling to accept what she’s done, Tommy and Jesse arrive and take her back to the theater.
Later, Tommy maps out the route to get back to Jackson, and he asks Ellie if she’ll be able to live with the fact that Abby gets to live. “I guess I’ll have to,” she says.
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As Jesse and Ellie patch things up, they hear a clatter outside. As they run to make sure Tommy is okay, they burst through the doors… and Abby is waiting for them. She shoots Jesse in the head, killing him instantly, and holds Tommy at gunpoint on the ground.
Ellie begs her to let Tommy live and explains that she’s responsible for Owen and Nora’s deaths, as well as the fact that Joel killed the Fireflies to save her, so she’s the one Abby wants.
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“I let you live… and you wasted it,” Abby tells her, before turning the gun on her. As she pulls the trigger, the screen cuts to black.
‘Seattle Day One’ is the set-up for The Last of Us Season 3
Before the finale ends, the episode cuts to Abby lying on a couch. Manny walks in and tells her that Isaac wants to see them, so she gets up and walks along the corridor. As she steps outside, it’s revealed that she’s staying in a stadium that’s been converted into a WLF base.
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She looks over the railing, and she steps away, three words appear on the screen: “Seattle Day One.”
This could be a bit confusing to someone who’s never played the game. Cast your mind back to when Ellie and Dina arrived in the city – the same words appeared on the screen.
In short, the ending of Episode 7 has confirmed that Season 3 will almost exclusively follow Abby in those same three days in Seattle, all leading to that fateful confrontation with Ellie in the theater.
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That’s not to say we won’t get any scenes with Ellie in the next season, but it will primarily focus on Abby, as confirmed by Catherine O’Hara. “It’s the Abby story,” she told Variety.
This comes straight from the game, with Part 2 switching the player’s POV and forcing people to play as Abby for a substantial portion of the story. It’s a bold, ingenious move, forcing you to have compassion for Joel’s killer – and, despite the game’s acclaim, it remains incredibly divisive to this day.
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Also, Season 3 may be longer than seven episodes, so the show may expand Abby’s story (and manage to incorporate Ellie more than fans of the game may be expecting).
“I think there’s a decent chance that Season 3 will be longer than Season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different,” Craig Mazin told Collider.
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Without any spoilers, let’s just say that Season 2 hasn’t even got halfway through the story of the game – and if things go to plan, the show will end with a fourth season.
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“But certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome,” he added.
After you’ve watched the finale, check out what else is coming out this year with our 2025 TV show calendar. You can also read our list of the best video game movies and the best TV shows of all time.
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