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The Last of Us: What you can expect from Season 2
Well, we endured and survived, baby girl.
The Last of Us ended its first season almost two years ago in March 2023, leaving us nothing less than emotional husks, nothing more than hungry for more deep character-based trauma in Season 2. But after that cold hard finale, I'm sure you've got as many questions as we have.
Unless you've played the game's sequel, that is.
For those who haven't experienced Naughty Dog's lauded sequel The Last of Us Part II, the future is uncertain for Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal). The series, like the game, ended with Joel's polarising decision to save Ellie, sacrificing a potential cure for the Cordyceps infection and executing the entire Fireflies' medical team, including their leader, Marlene (Merle Dandridge). And now? Ellie and Joel have made it back to Jackson, where the future is uncertain.
If you're dying to know what's in store for Season 2, we're about to get spoilery with first-hand game knowledge, trailer hints, and first looks to consider some of the major plot points and characters you can expect director Craig Mazin and creator Neil Druckmann to get stuck into. We won't ruin the ending, but we will set you up with some monumental moments to uh…look forward to?
If you haven't played the The Last of Us Part II, however, you might want to turn back and consider our burning questions article instead, which is free of game (though not show) spoilers.
For everyone else, let's delve into the biggest storyline moments we can expect to see in Season 2 — including the one that HBO had better expect a riot over.
The Last of Us Season 2 means terrifying new Infected
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
While The Last of Us Part II didn't completely reinvent the wheel when it comes to new Infected, there's a few additions we can't wait to see. The latest HBO trailer indicates airborne Cordyceps spores will be added as a hurdle for our protagonists, something Season 1 eliminated for on-screen practicality/Pedro Pascal visibility.
One of the most terrifying new types of Infected will be the Stalkers, who are briefly shown in the trailer scurrying about in the darkness. These stealthy trackers peep out from their hiding places and use echolocation like Clickers. But they have the ability to see who they're charging at — and boy, do they charge. Honestly, I hate them so much.
We're also keen to see if there's the possibility of a Rat King this season, the game's horrific amalgamation of Infected in one hulking mass — think The Witcher.
We're going back to Jackson
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
It's time to head back to Jackson, Wyoming, folks. The fortified settlement where Joel and Ellie finally find his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) is first seen in The Last of Us Season 1, episode 6. And it's where Season 2 will likely begin.
Jackson is a key location in the second game. We don't actually visit the town in the first game at all; we just see it in the distance. But Jackson is where Season 1 of the show ends, as Joel and Ellie have a confrontation on a ridge above the town after everything that went down in Salt Lake City. And Joel lies.
It's likely Season 2 will pick up where The Last of Us Part II does, four years later. As the trailer shows, Tommy and Maria now have a young son, who doesn't exist in the game. Joel and Ellie are living in their own places in Jackson, with a major strain on their relationship. By now, Ellie is 19 and doing Infected patrols with her horse Shimmer, who made a sweet cameo in Season 1, episode 6 as a foal. And she's about to fall head over heels.
The Last of Us Season 2 will introduce Ellie's next big love
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
Ellie's tragically short romance with her best friend Riley (Storm Reid) was her first love, but certainly not her last. And in Season 1, an Easter egg had gamers abuzz, with the fleeting appearance of a character integral to Ellie's life in The Last of Us Part II.
In episode 6, when Joel and Ellie are in the Jackson food hall, there's a moment when Ellie's manners fail her and she throws a barb at a staring girl. Fans of the game surmised that this was Dina, Ellie's future love interest — and in HBO's podcast for the show, neither Mazin or Druckmann confirmed nor denied it.
Played by Madame Web's Isabela Merced in Season 2, Dina is a complex, kickass character who will play a hugely important role. In The Last of Us Part II, the game begins with one of the franchise's best scenes: a Jackson barn dance where Dina and Ellie share their first kiss. Their relationship grows with every patrol, every tragedy, every secret they share together — including Dina's major reveal. In the game, Dina's deep love for Ellie means she joins her quest for revenge: "You go, I go. End of story."
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
Another Season 2 newbie will be Ellie's best friend Jesse, Dina's ex-boyfriend from Jackson, who is played by Beef's Young Mazino. Jesse tracks Ellie and Dina on their travels in order to help them on their quest to find the people responsible for the most shocking moment of the series.
Yep, it's gonna hurt.
The Last of Us Season 2 will do it: Joel's death
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
For fans of the game, we know what's coming in Season 2. And we also know this will break fans of the show, as it did us while playing The Last of Us Part II.
I'm talking about Joel's death. It's one of the most unexpected, traumatising events I've ever encountered in a video game — the brutal murder of a protagonist you've spent literally hundreds of hours playing, understanding, and becoming attached to. You've survived so much with Joel, as has Ellie, and Naughty Dog made us watch as her beloved father figure is killed in front of her — the game mechanics literally pin Ellie (that's you) to the ground in this scene.
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
Yes, Joel's death allowed Naughty Dog to differentiate the games and introduce new character dynamics, namely moving Ellie into young adulthood. But I have a feeling this episode will be one of the most talked about, most hands-in-the-air, Red Wedding-level, how-could-they-do-this-to-us episode of Season 2. Considering the skyrocketing fame and internet worship of Pedro Pascal, this devastating moment in the narrative will be all over your feed. Prepare for several solid weeks of grieving online.
Joel's brutal death at the hands of new character Abby Anderson (more on her below) will likely be in an early episode of Season 2, rattling viewers to the core. But don't despair entirely, Pascal fans. The Last of Us Part II features many flashback scenes with the pair, including an all-important, dinosaur-related memory, scenes in involving Joel's guitar, and a major reveal about why exactly there's tension between Joel and Ellie at the beginning of the sequel. Season 2 won't be completely Pascal-free, even after his character's death.
Bella Ramsey will have room to shine in Season 2
Credit: HBO
Season 2 is all about Ellie. Our protagonist's grief and rage in The Last of Us Part II will give Ramsey the challenge they deserve to take an already incredible performance even further. Pascal and Ramsey have built the same level of chemistry and bond voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson's Joel and Ellie did in the games, and it's going to break hearts to see Bellie and Pedge destroyed like this. But Ramsey will also have plenty of action scenes ahead of them too, as Ellie's fight scenes really level up this season.
The Last of Us Season 2 will focus on a shellshocked Ellie wanting only vengeance, tracking Joel's killers to their base in Seattle. Tommy goes after them himself, thinking Ellie will just sit tight in Jackson, but of course that doesn't happen. So, the events of The Last of Us Season 2 will mirror those of the first season — we're always looking for Tommy in TLOU it seems. But with the addition of Tommy and Maria's son as seen in the trailer, Tommy's decision takes on a very different light.
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
So, Season 2 is another road trip, and will focus on Ellie's journey from from Wyoming to Washington. As Ellie gets more and more brutal in her hunting tactics, fuelled by grief and rage, Ramsey will have one hell of a journey on their hands. That scene from episode 8 in which Joel gets real cold and torture-y with the map trick? It rubbed off, people.
Season 2 is also all about Abby
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
The Last of Us Season 2 will introduce the game character of Abby Anderson, Joel's aforementioned killer. Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Apple Cider Vinegar, Unbelievable) takes on the polarising role, who will fuel one of the most upsetting moments in the story — but remember, she is a character. And she's a character you actually play as for half the game in The Last of Us Part II, and all the uncomfortable attachment that goes with it.
The word "villain" is subjective as always for humans in this franchise, depending on your perspective. (Except David. David is a villain.) Abby's journey in Season 2 will cause viewers to reconsider what makes someone a monster in this post-apocalyptic hell. As devastating as her actions are, Abby's character expands the world of The Last of Us beyond Ellie's experience. There'll be plenty of world-building to look forward to with where Abby calls home: the WLF.
Season 2 introduces two new factions: WLF and the Seraphites
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
Ultimately, saving Abby's life from Infected beyond the safety of the Jackson settlement will be Joel's undoing, as she's part of a Seattle militia group known as the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), aka the Wolves. Led by Isaac Dixon (brilliant casting with American Fiction's Jeffrey Wright), the Wolves are comprised of former Fireflies and recruits, and their base in Seattle is sure to be impressive set design. There's a whole cast of new characters here with their own connections and backstories, with actors Danny Ramirez, Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer, and Spencer Lord joining Dever.
In Season 2, we'll also meet the faction behind strange symbols and preachy graffiti, the Seraphites, also referred to as the Scars — you'll know them by their self-inflicted facial scarring. They're a cult-like group and direct rivals to the Wolves for control of Seattle. In the trailer, you'll spy them with their bows, arrows, and tendency to hang people in the forest. And within this faction, we'll meet two beloved characters, siblings Lev and Yara, who will have a major impact on Abby's life.
It's not clear whether the Rattlers, another horrific faction in The Last of Us Part II, will feature this season. Hope not? Hope so? I can't tell what I want.
Will we hear Pedro Pascal sing Pearl Jam in episode 1?
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
At the very beginning of The Last of Us Part II, Joel gifts Ellie a guitar and the promise of lessons, but not before he plays a little something on it. He picks Pearl Jam's "Future Days," a somber ballad that begins with the fitting lyric "If I ever were to lose you / I'd surely lose myself." This begs the question: Will we hear Pedro Pascal himself sing a little Pearl Jam in Season 2, episode 1?
The Last of Us Season 1 is now streaming on Max. Season 2 premieres on HBO and Max in 2025.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing several porn companies, according to a press release on Tuesday.
Uthmeier states that these porn sites aren't complying with Florida's age-verification law, which went into effect on Jan. 1. The law, HB 3, requires sites that publish a "substantial portion" of material that is "harmful to minors" to use a method to prove that visitors are over 18. HB 3 requires this method to keep personal information anonymous and be conducted by a nongovernmental, independent third party.
Florida's version of age verification is similar to that in other states, but some are more specific in that they require scanning a face or a government ID. These laws started to sprout up in states in 2022, beginning with Louisiana, and since then, free speech advocates and adult industry workers have told Mashable that the laws won't work for their intended purpose. A preliminary study out of NYU also suggests that age-verification laws don't work.
One reason is that they can be circumvented with software like VPNs, so visitors can pretend to be elsewhere. Another is that not every single website will comply.
Now, Uthmeier is suing companies that operate out of the Czech Republic, including the parent companies of XVideos and XNXX:
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Webgroup Czech Republic (which operates XVideos)
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NKL Associates (XNXX)
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Sonesta Technologies, Inc. (BangBros)
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Traffic F (an advertising network)
The AG is also suing GGW Group and GTFlix TV, distributors of GirlsGoneWild. The latter apparently also operates out of the Czech Republic.
The press release states that Uthmeier wrote two letters to two of the companies in April, demanding that they comply or face legal action.
"Multiple porn companies are flagrantly breaking Florida's age verification law by exposing children to harmful, explicit content. As a father of young children, and as Attorney General, this is completely unacceptable," Uthmeier stated in the press release. "We are taking legal action against these online pornographers who are willfully preying on the innocence of children for their financial gain."
When SCOTUS upheld Texas's age-verification law in June, experts told Mashable that it was a blow to free speech, as such laws quell adults' free speech, while also not actually stopping minors from accessing porn. Yet, these laws have also extended outside the U.S., as the UK has enacted age verification just last month. Already, internet users have found a way to bypass the law: using a photo of a video game character.
According to leaked documents, Apple may be gearing up to unveil its iPhone 17 lineup — including the iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro — on Sept. 9.
The rumor originates from iPhone-Ticker, a German blog, and was picked up by 9to5Mac, which reports that a local wireless carrier leaked internal documents pointing to an early September reveal.
While still unconfirmed, the date tracks with Apple’s usual playbook. The tech giant typically holds its iPhone launch events in the second week of September, excluding 2020, which was disrupted by COVID. The company also favors Tuesday announcements, though last year’s reveal was pushed due to the presidential debate.
If the leak holds true, we could be just weeks away from Apple’s next big drop.
This year, the spotlight is on the iPhone 17 Air, Apple’s rumored ultra-thin flagship measuring just 5.65mm thick. As Mashable’s Alex Perry put it, "that’s even thinner than a pencil."
Meanwhile, if you’ve been paying even casual attention to Apple leaks, most of the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro details are already out in the wild. One of the most eye-catching leaks is the new orange finish for the Pro models, which, to some (mostly me), is similar to the color scheme for the Charlotte Bobcats.
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Aside from that, 9to5Mac notes that if the rumored Sept. 9 reveal date holds, Apple will likely stick to its usual rollout pattern—meaning pre-orders could open that Friday, Sept. 12, with the official launch landing a week later on Sept. 19.
Artificial intelligence may soon play a bigger role in your air travel fares.
Airlines are reportedly working with AI companies to deliver "personalized" prices to customers by using AI tools to analyze their personal information and data.
Delta Air Lines is currently using AI technology from the Israeli startup Fetcherr for some domestic flights, said President Glen Hauenstein in an earnings call last month. Hauenstein said the technology is still being tested, but told shareholders that Delta intends to expand its use of AI by the end of this year. As of now, the airline uses AI for only 3 percent of its domestic flight fares, but wants to increase this to 20 percent, according to ABC News.
However, in a recent letter to members of Congress, the company denied using AI tools to price-gouge customers, as Reuters reported last week.
Fetcherr is one of the prominent suppliers of AI-powered dynamic pricing, and it already works with several airlines, including Delta, Azul, Virgin Atlantic, WestJet, and Royal Air Maroc, according to Aviation Week. Delta has said it doesn't share personal customer data with Fetcherr.
But the airline has come under scrutiny for its rhetoric around using AI to optimize some fare prices. US lawmakers, including Democratic Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, have accused Delta of "telling their investors one thing, and then turning around and telling the public another," said Gallego, who also said he believes Delta is engaging in "predatory pricing."
In a letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Senators Gallego, Mark Warner, and Richard Blumenthal cited a comment made during an investor conference last December by Hauenstein, who said the company's AI price-setting technology sets fares by predicting "the amount people are willing to pay for the premium products related to the base fares."
"Consumers have no way of knowing what data and personal information your company and Fetcherr plan to collect or how the AI algorithm will be trained," reads the lawmakers' letter. The senators asked Delta to explain what data it collects and uses for its fares. Delta hasn't specified what data it relies on to set these individualized prices.
In response, the airline assured US Democratic senators that their ticket pricing "never takes into account personal data" but also spoke of the merits of using AI to set prices.
"Given the tens of millions of fares and hundreds of thousands of routes for sale at any given time, the use of new technology like AI promises to streamline the process by which we analyze existing data and the speed and scale at which we can respond to changing market dynamics," read Delta's letter to lawmakers.
While Delta insisted to US lawmakers that it’s not fixing prices with AI, recent revelations about Fetcherr raise serious questions about its technology.
Bloomberg reported this week on an alarming white paper by Fetcherr co-founder and chief AI officer Uri Yerushalmi. In the paper, Yerushalmi describes working with an unnamed airline to use artificial intelligence to create a pricing structure so complicated that it would “go beyond human cognitive limits,” according to Bloomberg.
So, even if AI isn’t used to “fix prices” in the traditional sense, it could still be used to make fare pricing so complex that consumers inadvertently end up paying more.
Rival airlines have also expressed concern. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said using AI to set individualized fares could have an impact on consumer trust. He also said the strategy is not something AA would do.
Dynamic pricing has long been a part of the airline industry's strategy, but the use of AI has the potential to drastically change travel bookings. As airlines look to maximize revenue by harnessing AI, many policy experts fear consumers could face much higher prices, as expressed to The Lever. Another looming concern is that AI-powered pricing schemes can lead to price collusion between companies. Some, like Scott Keyes of Scott’s Cheap Flights, believe prices could actually be lowered, as he wrote in Time.
Last week, Democratic lawmakers Greg Casar and Rashida Tlaib introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act, a piece of legislation that would ban companies from using AI to fix prices or wages based on Americans' personal data. The lawmakers cited Delta's plans to increase their use of AI to set prices.
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"Giant corporations should not be allowed to jack up your prices or lower your wages using data they got spying on you," said Congressman Casar in a statement. "Whether you know it or not, you may already be getting ripped off by corporations using your personal data to charge you more. This problem is only going to get worse, and Congress should act before this becomes a full blown crisis."
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