When is The Last of Us season 1 finale? (Release date and more)

I was excited to check out The Last of Us when it first premiered on HBO, but I had no idea just how invested I would become. Never having played the original video games, I was drawn in by the two leads, Game of Thrones alums Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, and the show’s co-creator Craig Mazin, who wrote Chernobyl on HBO. Now we’ve got two episodes remaining in the first season and I’m not ready to say goodbye! The Last of Us has exceeded all of my expectations and then some, and I’m convinced it might just be my favorite show of 2023 when the year ends.

The penultimate episode of The Last of Us season 1, titled “When We Are in Need,” comes out tonight on HBO and HBO Max, and based on the preview it’ll be another tense one. Joel (Pascal) got badly injured a couple episodes back and has been in Ellie’s (Ramsey) care. Ellie is incredibly intelligent and brave, but she’s still just a kid, and this might be too much for her to face alone. We’ll see how she does when she meets an ominous group of survivors in tonight’s new episode.

Ahead of Episode 8, you might be wondering how many episodes The Last of Us season 1 will have, and when the finale will premiere. Here’s everything you should know.

The Last of Us season 1 finale date

Though it’s pretty typical for a show’s season to include 10 episodes total, that’s not the case for the premiere season of The Last of Us. Episode 9, reportedly titled “Look for the Light,” is the conclusion to season 1. The finale will air next Sunday, March 12 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

The first season was actually going to have 10 episodes total, as we previously reported, but creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explained that by HBO’s suggestion, they combined the first two episode scripts together to make what became the premiere. Looking back at the first episode and its movie-length run time, that makes sense.

Is The Last of Us season 2 happening?

I really, really don’t want The Last of Us to end, but the good news is the season 1 finale is not the final goodbye to the series. The Last of Us season 2 is officially happening, with HBO renewing the series back in January just days after the second episode came out.

So far, Pascal and Ramsey have confirmed they’ll be returning as Joel and Ellie, but most of the cast for season 2 will be new additions. Fans have speculated the character Abby might be played by The Wilds star Shannon Berry, who Druckmann started following on Instagram. At this time, no new cast members have been announced for the next season, so we can’t be sure.

One other thing we know about the show’s future is that The Last of Us season 3 will most likely happen, even though there are only two games. That’s because Mazin has already confirmed the second game will take longer than just one season to adapt. HBO has not announced any seasons past the second, but we’d guess we’ll be getting at least three.

Don’t miss The Last of Us season 1 finale next week! It’ll be a memorable one, I’m sure.

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