It feels like it was just yesterday that we were prepping to sob our hearts out for The Last of Us Season 2. We waited two long years for it to premiere, and finally, when it did, it felt like returning to an old friend–until that friend decided to rip out our hearts and stomp the two pieces into the ground with all that had happened.

The season two finale of The Last of Us brought in a smaller first-night audience than either the season premiere in March or its first season finale in 2023.

HBO's hit video game adaptation 'The Last of Us' holds of Netflix and Paramount's starry limited series, Sirens and MobLand.

Season 2 of The Last of Us has faced considerable backlash for its divisive narrative swings and polarizing character arcs. But beyond the bad-faith criticism centered on queer representation or Bella Ramsey not looking enough like her game counterpart,

I have not played The Last Of Us, so I was completely blindsided by the fact that Ellie would get a gun pulled on her by Abby and potentially die. I have no idea how things will shake out for the character, though I do hope she survives because of the baffling decision that went into how her possible final scene went down.

Given the events of The Last of Us Season 2, it shouldn't be a surprise that next season will be very different. Catherine O'Hara has already described Season 3 as Abby's story, but now, The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed that Kaitlyn Dever's character is taking the lead role.