We Now Know How Many Episodes Are in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2

Fans of video games and HBO alike are anxiously awaiting the second season of The Last of Us, and that hasn't gone unnoticed by series creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin. Druckmann, the creator of the acclaimed video game series the show is inspired by, and Mazin, the creative mind behind HBO's Chernobyl, recently revealed to Deadline some new details about the Emmy-winning show's future. Not only did they reveal how long Season 2 of The Last of Us will be, but they also teased their plans for the show after Season 2 concludes.

In their recent comments, Mazin and Druckmann confirmed that the upcoming sophomore season of The Last of Us will be a total of seven episodes long. That's two episodes shorter than Season 1, but Mazin further reiterated this was the right direction for the series. He said that while writing the second season, it quickly became apparent that this was the best route to take in adapting the second game in the series, The Last of Us: Part II. He explained:

"The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons. When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes."

Furthermore, Mazin and Druckmann teased that Season 2 will more than likely not be the end of The Last of Us' television journey. Druckmann has dropped hints in recent years that a third The Last of Us game is in development, and the idea that the HBO adaptation will have more seasons beyond that further confirms those suspicions. Mazin further expressed his keen interest in exploring the show beyond Season 2 in the following statement:

"We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too. We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4."

What Will 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Be About?

Unless The Last of Us: Part III releases sometime in the near future, upcoming seasons of the HBO show will possibly be creating new content for the show outside of the games. The story so far in the games ends with The Last of Us II, which is the main storyline Season 2 will be adapting. However, from Mazin's comments, the second game's storyline may take place over multiple seasons of the show as well. In The Last of Us II, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) leaves her established home to track down a band of bloodthirsty soldiers, becoming embroiled in a bloody post-apocalyptic war in the process.