It’s almost time to reunite with the internet’s favorite daddy and his baby girl. That’s right, The Last of Us season 2 is almost here, which means we’ll be reunited with Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie soon when it premieres April 13.
The post-apocalyptic zombie show is based on the video game series of the same name. While season 1 basically stuck to the same story arc as the first game, the story of the second game is far too sweeping to be contained to just one season. That means fans who may have played the game before still won’t know exactly what to expect from The Last of Us season 2.
In the world of The Last of Us, a mutated Cordyceps fungus has caused a deadly pandemic. Humans infected with the fungus become vicious creatures called the Infected that attack other humans and pass the disease on by biting them. So basically, they’re zombies, only it’s even scarier because there’s a scientific explanation for them that seems kinda plausible, or at the very least, more realistic than old-school horror movie zombies.
The good news is there may be a cure for the fungus, and the key to it all might lie with Ellie. The bad news is Joel may have ruined all of humanity’s chance to get that cure. If you need that broken down a little more, read on for your reminder of how The Last of Us season 1 ended.
The Last Of Us Season 1 Recap
Image Credit: HBO
What Happened At The End Of The Last Of Us Season 1?
At the end of The Last of Us season 1, we finally learned how Ellie gained her immunity from the fungus. In a flashback, we see Ellie’s mom Anna (played by the original voice of Ellie from the video game, Ashley Johnson) fight off a group of the Infected while she’s in labor. Moments before she gives birth to Ellie, she’s bitten. So a small amount of the fungus is transferred to infant Ellie; it’s not enough to infect her, but it is enough to grant her immunity.
In the present day, a rebel group called the Fireflies was working on finding a cure and they believed Ellie — and her unique brain chemistry — was key to figuring it out. That’s why they asked Joel to bring her to them.
In the season 1 finale, Ellie prepared to join the Firefly leader, Marlene (Merle Dandridge) and her team of doctors, ready to let them do whatever they need to extract the cure from her. Ellie seemed pretty at peace with this decision. Joel, however? Not so much.
Joel already lost his daughter 20 years ago at the start of the pandemic, so he doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to Ellie, who’s become a surrogate daughter to him. So Joel made the toughest of tough calls and decided to risk the survival of humanity in order to save the one person he loves the most.
Joel killed all the fireflies and pulled an unconscious Ellie off the operating table before they could do anything to her. You think it’s hard sending that email you’ve been putting off? Joel literally held the fate of the world in his arms when he held Ellie.
Image Credit: HBO
Joel complicated things even more by lying to Ellie once she woke up. He told her the doctors weren’t able to find a cure and just ominously says they had to get out of there. Not exactly the kind of honest communication a healthy relationship is built on.
What Will Happen In The Last Of Us Season 2?
Well, things aren’t exactly looking good for our heroes in season 2. Joel probably isn’t going to keep the secret of what went down with the fireflies for too long, and Ellie will probably not like knowing he lied to her. Plus, any remaining Fireflies will not be too pleased with Joel. Meanwhile, the Infected are still running a amok, and it probably would be nice to find a cure. But I guess we’ll just have to tune in and see.
Sarah Halle Corey is an entertainment writer and screenwriter with a passion for rom-coms, 1990s-2000s nostalgia, and niche pop culture deep dives. She's based in LA, but has roots in New York and Chicago, and so she has really complicated feelings about pizza.