Warning: Includes SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 2, episode 5, and potential spoilers from the video games!
HBO's the Cordyceps spores finally introduced, creating a threat in the air as Ellie, Dina, and Jesse further explored the hospital in Seattle. Fans of The Last of Us Part II video game, from which season 2 is adapted, will know it's going to get much worse before it gets better.
Showrunner Craig Maizin ed HBO's The Last of Us podcast, which was released to accompany episode 5, discussing the layers of the Seattle hospital and the Infected threats still to come. The toxic spores, which were a prevalent threat in both video games, were notably absent from the show's first season. Maizin describes the show's use of the hospital as a multi-layered threat, allowing them to introduce multiple unseen factors. Read his full quote below:
“There’s also an introduction here of a concept. And the concept is that there is depth under this building. We understand that there are horrors in B2, even if we have not seen them yet. We understand that they’re there. But note, nobody knows what’s on B3—just leaving that out there. I think some people who played the game might know.”
What This Means For The Last Of Us Season 2
Season 2's Infected Horrors Will Only Get Scarier
We saw in the scenes between Ellie and Nora in The Last of Us season 2 that the Washington Liberation Front is aware of the toxic spores and knows how to navigate around them, using gas masks to avoid inhaling the infection. Maizin's quote suggests that there's a deeper threat that the characters in the TV series couldn't fathom. Those who have played the games, however, will recognize what he's teasing as the Rat King, the most horrifying monstrosity in The Last of Us franchise.
How The Scars Communicate By Whistling In The Last Of Us
The Seraphites, or "scars," communicate using a whistling code in The Last of Us. But what exactly do the cult's distinctive whistles mean?
HBO's second season has carefully laid the foundation for how Infected change over time, with the Cordyceps continuing to develop in their brains. The Stalker Infected type demonstrated to audiences how the Infected develop after years of survival, but there are more layers beyond that. Bloaters are even further along in that development. The Rat King is a giant amalgamation of several Infected molded into one horrifying creature by prolonged exposure to the hospital's toxic spores. That's what Craig Maizin suggests is waiting on basement level 3.
Our Take On Craig Maizin's The Last Of Us Tease
The Last Of Us Season 2's Timeline Becomes More Confusing
With only two episodes remaining in The Last of Us season 2, it's hard to predict where this narrative is going. Maizin stated in the same interview that he isn't planning to take the show's narrative beyond the material of The Last of Us Part II, meaning the story established between Ellie and Abby will continue on into future seasons. In the video game, the Rat King appears toward the end, and Abby is the one who fights it.
Given that we haven't even begun seeing Abby's perspective on what's transpiring in Seattle, I'd be shocked if the Rat King appeared in season 2. The primary focus of The Last of Us season 2 is the pursuit of revenge after Joel's death, and I doubt there will be any time left to see the horror creature Craig Maizin teased. If so, it would be under vastly different circumstances than in the video game.
New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 release on Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.
Source: HBO's The Last of Us podcast
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
Joel Miller
Ellie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
- Franchise(s)
- The Last of Us
- Creator(s)
- Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Your comment has not been saved