So What’s Going To Happen With Joel Miller in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2?

Spoilers for The Last of Us (the game and the series) ahead

The Last of Us season 1 has come to an end and now we’re left wondering what season 2 is going to bring. Truly, the series kept pretty close to how the game plays out with a few episodes exploring characters and arcs that we didn’t get through the Naughty Dog game. So the question now is: how much will the the second season of the HBO series mirror The Last of Us Part II?

Talking with Variety for the season finale, co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin both spoke candidly about what to expect from season 2 of the live-action HBO series in comparison to the second installment of the game. While the game opens with a moment a lot of fans are still reeling from, it is interesting to see how both Druckmann and Mazin reacted to the question about the Part II story.

When asked by Variety if the second season will include all of the Part II story, Mazin said, “No. No way.” Druckmann added, “It’s more than one season.” If you know the game … well, that makes sense. Personally, I didn’t think we’d even get to the start of Part II by season 2 because I figured they wouldn’t time-jump given that Bella Ramsey is currently 19 playing 14, and Ellie is supposed to be 19 by the time Part II rolls around. Giving the show more breathing room and letting other stories unfold in those five years between the two parts of the game makes more sense to me.

Druckmann and Mazin didn’t talk about how many seasons we’d get from Part II, though. “You have noted correctly that we will not say how many,” Mazin said. “But more than one is factually correct.”

Does this mean more of Joel Miller?

Fans of the game know that Part II is mainly a journey for an older Ellie Williams. And while Ramsey was 19 when The Last of Us premiered on HBO, the actor still looks young, which is why they could play a 14-year-old version of the character with ease. While the game had a long break between parts, I do think that we could explore a lot more with Joel Miller as a character than the second part of the game did.

There was a spoiler warning so you’ve been warned but Part II begins with Joel Miller being brutally killed, and Ellie, for the most part, seeking answers throughout the game. This happens five years after Joel and Ellie end up in Jackson Hole and while the two are fighting a bit, so we do miss more of their relationship growth within the time-jump.

To be honest, I didn’t think they’d just kill off Pedro Pascal. Not with all the success he’s having and how the show has been, for the most part, on his shoulders. So the news that Part II won’t completely be told in season 2? Not that shocking, but I do hope that it means we’ll get to see more of Joel Miller throughout the HBO run.

(featured image: HBO)