‘It Certainly Seems That Way’ — HBO Boss Gives Clearest Indication Yet That The Last of Us Will End With Season 3

The boss of HBO has indicated The Last of Us will come to an end with Season 3.

Despite the mixed response to Season 2 and subsequent departure of Naughty Dog franchise creator Neil Druckmann, HBO boss Casey Bloys has backed showrunner Craig Mazin’s ability to continue on — and to do so successfully despite the series’ lead actors changing.

But exactly how long the series would continue had been a topic of debate. In May last year, Mazin indicated a fourth season was pretty much essential for the series. Speaking to Collider, Mazin agreed that in order to wrap up The Last of Us’ story from the two Naughty Dog-developed video games in Season 3 would mean Season 3 itself “would take forever.” So, while there was a “decent chance” Season 3 would be longer than Season 2, at the end of the day “there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season.”

He continued: “Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome.”

However, in a new interview with Deadline, Bloys gave a pretty clear indication that Mazin won’t get the chance to make Season 4.

Deadline asked if Bloys could confirm that the upcoming seasons of Hacks and The Last of Us were their final seasons. Bloys responded: “It certainly seems that way, but on decisions like that, we will defer to the showrunners. So you can ask them.” So, not 100% confirmed The Last of Us ends with Season 3, but as close to confirmation as we can get.

Warning! Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 follow.

The Season 2 finale teased that, like the game, Season 3 will shift focus to Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) following the death of Joel (Pedro Pascal). It’s unclear exactly how Mazin plans to retell the Seattle section of The Last of Us Part 2 through Abby’s perspective.

Though most of us who played the second game knew what was coming in Season 2, it seems many viewers did not. Mazin has said he still gets bewildered fans asking: “Why did you kill Pedro Pascal?”

“[Game creator and fellow showrunner Neil Druckmann] did a thing. Everyone lost their sh*t, and then I had to do that same thing, because he did the thing. I loved doing the thing, I thought it was great,” Mazin said of Joel’s death at a Variety panel.

“The big complaint that I’ve gotten is, ‘Why did you kill Pedro Pascal?’ And I keep explaining, we didn’t kill him! He’s a man, he’s alive. He’s fine. And he’s in literally everything else. So I don’t know what the problem is!”

“People had very strong reactions to whatever controversial story decision we made,” added Druckmann.

(Check out IGN’s The Last of Us Season 2 finale review to see what we thought of it.)

In August, Ellie actor Bella Ramsey issued a short, sharp message to the louder critics of The Last of Us Season 2, insisting those who hate it can play the video game upon which it is based instead of watching Season 3.

Speaking to The Awardist podcast, Ramsey dismissed the impact of Season 2’s online criticism. “I tried to steer clear as much as I could, to be honest,” Ramsey said. “Because there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. The show is out. There’s nothing that can be changed or altered. So I’m like, there’s not really any point in reading or looking at anything.

“People are of course entitled to their opinions. But it doesn’t affect the show, it doesn’t affect how the show continues or anything in any way. They’re very separate things to me. So no, I just don’t really engage.”

Ramsey was then asked what they would tell the “louder critics” of Season 2 going into Season 3. “I would say, you don’t have to watch it,” Ramsey responded. “If you hate it that much, the game exists. You can just play the game again. You don’t have to watch it, but if you do want to watch it, then I hope you enjoy it.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].