‘I saved her’: The Last of Us season 2 teaser hints at character arc change for Joel

Ahead of The Last of Us season two coming to max next year, a new half-a-minute trailer has been released—which seems to suggest a character arc change for Joel.

The focus of the teaser, posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Aug. 5, is Joel, who talks with Catherine O’Hara’s new, unnamed character about what had happened by the end of season one. She could be some sort of therapist since she asks Joel if he hurt Ellie. “No. I saved her,” Pedro Pascal answers.

This conversation is taken straight from The Last of Us Part 2. The game opens with the same conversation between Joel and his brother Tommy, who discuss what went down in Fireflies’ hospital. In the game, Joel says the same words when telling the story to Tommy. The latter then comforts his brother by saying he would do the same if he were him, and he’ll take it to the grave if he has to.

It seems like Catherine O’Hara will take Tommy’s role in HBO’s show, at least in this part. O’Hara’s character is currently unnamed, and as there’s no one in the game similar to this character, the Home Alone actress will likely be playing an entirely new, original character.

The conversation between her and Joel isn’t the entire focus of the short first teaser. We also get glimpses of Gabriel Luna’s Tommy, Isabela’s Merced Dina, Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac, and obviously, Bella Ramsey’s Ellie. Each character holds a gun in their short glimpses, with Tommy wielding a sniper rifle.

Fans of the game should be excited to see Tommy with a sniper rifle due to a fan-favorite scene from The Last of Us Part 2, which involves this deadly duo. We don’t want to get into spoilers territory for those who haven’t played the games, so we won’t share any details, but this scene happens late in the game and could take place this season.

The second season of HBO’s show will only have seven episodes, according to Deadline’s interview with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show creators. The duo has teased a third season, and looking at how much from the second game there is to cover, it seems like it is all but confirmed.

HBO will release The Last of Us season two in 2025, but no exact date has been confirmed. The first season launched in January 2023, and we’d expect a similar timeframe for the upcoming one.