- Season 1 was an instant hit in 2022~
- It followed the story of the first video game
- The second instalment lands today (13 April)
The wait is very nearly over – The Last Of Us’ second season is returning today (13 April) after a prolonged way.
Season 2 is set five years after the first instalment, the then-14-year-old protagonist Ellie (Bella Ramsey) now 19. After living in relative peace with Joel (Pedro Pascal), it seems like everything is going to fall apart.
We know that season 2 won’t cover the entire game’s story as there was too much material to squeeze into one run of episodes. It also has a hard act to follow given that there is an especially controversial event near the start of the second game, and it is unclear how the show will treat it.
Given the show, based on Naughty Dog’s video game, debuted in early 2023, it’s been quite a while since we first dove into its post-apocalyptic universe. Here’s a reminder of everything that happened in The Last Of Us’ first season.
How does the story begin?
The story begins in 2003, when the Cordyceps fungus begins turning humans into walking dead. Joel Miller is fleeing in his truck with his daughter Sarah and his brother Tommy, but they hit traffic and witness both a plane crash and an attack from the infected. To escape, Joel picks up Sarah in his arms and starts running.
They are confronted by a soldier and though Joel tells them they aren’t infected, the soldier uses his gun. This kills Sarah, who dies in her father’s arms.
We rejoin Joel, who has become a people smuggler to survive, 20 years later. Working with fellow survivalist Tess, they smuggle weapons, drugs, and other goods without coming under the surveillance of government-sanctioned militia FEDRA. Sometimes they also have to burn the bodies.
Marlene, the leader of the rebel group Fireflies, asks Joel and Tess to deliver Ellie to their headquarters. However, she does not reveal much about the mission to the duo. Ellie and Joel don’t warm to each other immediately, but later begin to bond.
Read more: The Last Of Us time jump explained
In the Boston wasteland, Ellie, Joel and Tess are attacked by clickers – humans in the third stage of the Cordyceps infection. In the attack, they bite both Tess and Ellie. There, it becomes clear that Ellie is immune to the infection. Tess accepts her fate and sacrifices herself so Joel can deliver Ellie to the Fireflies.
Joel and Ellie acquire a truck from Bill (Nick Offerman), a former liaison of Joel’s who had recently died by suicide alongside his partner Frank (Murray Bartlett). They begin searching for Tommy who could potentially point them to a Fireflies base on the West Coast. They begin to grow closer on the way there.
What happens next?
Upon reaching Kansas City, they encounter the aftermath of an uprising led by bandit leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey). New companion Henry (Lamar Johnson) and his Deaf younger brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard) help them escape the city, but not before facing another clicker attack. Sam is infected, forcing Henry to kill him after he attacks Ellie. Henry ends his own life shortly after.
Three months later, Joel and Ellie reunite with Tommy in a small but thriving community in Jackson, Wyoming. There, Joel reunites with Tommy. Joel’s not so sure she can protect Ellie, but they continue on their way as Tommy points them to Colorado. When they arrive, a group of raiders attacks them, one of whom stabs Joel in the stomach. Ellie helps him to recover.
Ellie then meets with David (Scott Shepherd), a preacher and leader of a small community. He offers Ellie a place to stay but she then discovers that the town lives off of human meat. As she tries to escape, she murders David in the process before reuniting with Joel.
The show’s terrifying conclusion
Using the clues the Fireflies left in Colorado, Joel and Ellie reach Utah. As Ellie remains determined to do whatever it takes to see their mission through, the Fireflies capture them and leave them unconscious. Marlene tells Joel that Ellie is being prepped for surgery to have the Cordyceps removed from her system so a cure can be developed. Joel is furious, refusing to let Ellie be sacrificed. He escapes from his confines with weapons, killing several Fireflies along the way as he tries to find Ellie. He eventually discovers her in an operating room, where he murders the surgeon. Later, he kills Marlene when she attempts to intervene.
Ellie wakes up in the back of a truck Joel is driving. He lies to her and tells her that the Fireflies had found other people with immunity and were unsuccessful in developing a cure.
After reaching Tommy’s compound in Jackson, Ellie admits to feeling guilty that she survived. She makes him promise that everything he told her about the Fireflies is true, and Joel reaffirms his lie. Ellie cautiously accepts his word.
