‘The Last Of Us’ Season 3 Will Expand on One Key Member of Abby's Group

It is fair to say that The Last of Us Season 2 ended on a sour note for those rooting for the exploration party from Jackson. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) ventured off to Seattle in hopes of finding and killing Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) following her role in the death of Joel (Pedro Pascal). The divisive Last of Us season 2 finale left Ellie in a precarious position, after Abby finally uncovered her location within Seattle. The ambush of the WLF soldier has already claimed the life of Jesse (Young Mazino) and now, Ellie and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) will be at Abby's mercy when the series returns.

The arrival of Abby only came after Ellie had decimated a significant portion of the crew that came to take out Joel. Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer), two of Abby's friends, were killed by Ellie, albeit one of those deaths was tragically accidental. Ellie's confrontation with Nora (Tati Gabrielle) was equally definitive, but she let the spores deal with the WLF soldier in the end. That leaves us with Manny (Danny Ramirez) and in an interview with ScreenRant, Ramirez revealed that co-creator Craig Mazin has plans to flesh out the motivations of Abby's crew in Season 3, saying:

"So Craig [Mazin], when he was auditioning people for season 2, he's like, "Hey, by the way, this crew is introduced season 2. That's it. But season 3 is really when they're in the kitchen cooking." So in this world that he's created, and from Chernobyl to this, he's one of the best storytellers out in the world, no matter what format or medium. So, the idea that season 3, we get to cook with all of Craig's ingredients is really exciting, because I think he deals with interpersonal conflict in such a unique way that group dynamics are fascinating with him."

Few emotions drive people as much as revenge does. It helped drive Ellie on her bloody path through Seattle, and now Season 3 will look to explore how it might have driven Abby. Also, the season will develop the character arcs of her friends who didn't feature much in an Ellie-centric second season. Ramirez goes on to explain how Mazin hopes to develop the characters of Mel, Owen, Nora and Manny in Season 3, adding, "Power dynamics, and obviously the allegory of revenge, is really powerful. So, to meditate on those things with him, and to be able to break story and have like, "Hey, why is this important?", or, "Why is this the way that these characters play?" And then to hear his take, he's also so giving that he'd want to hear [yours]." Ramirez goes on, "It is a collaboration through and through, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. You never know with a genius like that, you're like, "Oh, we're just gonna say his words," but he allows you to make the fit. So, yeah, that's the exciting part."

Here's the Video Game Craig Mazin Hopes to Adapt If Given the Opportunity

While we wait for The Last of Us Season 3, which might take some time to arrive, fans can look ahead to what comes next. Mazin has become a trusted name when it comes to video game adaptations and his partnership with Neil Druckmann has been exceedingly successful. With such a reputation, Mazin was asked if he’d ever consider adapting another video game. His response was simply exciting. “Well, I’m not ever going to, of course, because where can you go from here? But oh, man, I’m tempted to say Grand Theft Auto IV because I’m a masochist and I just think that would be like 19 seasons of TV!," the creator revealed. Whether or not such an adaptation ever occurs remains to be seen but with Mazin attached, it'll likely make for an exciting watch.