The Last of Us Season 2 ended on a dark note that should be very familiar to players who experienced The Last of Us Part II. Things are going to be very different in The Last of Us Season 3, and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have noted that some fan-favorite characters may not about around as often when the series returns.
Warning: This story contains some spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 finale. Stop reading now if you haven’t seen it yet.
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) spent most of Season 2 hunting down Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) for murdering Joel (Pedro Pascal). But in the closing moments, Abby had the drop on Ellie and fired her gun before the perspective shifted to Abby’s first day in Seattle. The Last of Us Part II had a similar transition when Abby became the playable character. Since Season 3 is Abby’s story, there may not be much room for Ramsey and the other returning cast members. But Mazin wants to assure viewers that they will be back.
“All I can say is we haven’t seen the last of Kaitlyn Dever and we haven’t seen the last of Bella Ramsey, and we haven’t seen the last of Isabela Merced, and we haven’t seen the last of a lot of people who are currently dead in the story,” explained Mazin via Variety.
“Whether you will see them on screen or not, their presence will be there throughout,” noted Druckmann.
Mazin went on to indicate that Season 3 will explore the origins of the Seraphites, the identity of their prophet, and the origin of their war with the WLF. He also said that the motivations of Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) will become clear and that the story behind the explosion in Season 2, episode 7 will be explained.
During HBO’s Inside Episode 7 video, Mazin indicated that Season 3 will mirror The Last of Us Part II’s approach of letting fans experience Abby’s perspective in order to empathize with her journey.
“We’re used to telling ‘good guy, bad guy’ stories in Hollywood,” explained Mazin. “What we try and do with The Last of Us is tell ‘people’ stories. And in this case, everybody, no matter which side they’re on, has a strong case to be very angry at someone. And that anger comes out as violence. It comes out as retribution. It comes out as lies. And the question is, where does it all end? Can it end? And if so, how?”
HBO hasn’t set a date for The Last of Us Season 3 yet.