This Sunday night, HBO will air the season 2 finale of The Last of Us, its character-driven zombie drama based on Naughty Dog's video game series. We don't know the episode title yet, but a bunch of people already know what happens because it leaked ahead of time.
This wasn't a smash-and-grab job. According to ComicBook.com, people who subscribed to season 2 through Apple received access to the season finale last night. That was an oversight and the issue has since been fixed...but not before a bunch of people watched the episode and recorded parts of it. There are clips floating around online.
No, we're not going to show you any of the leaked footage, but there are officially released previews you can watch, like this one that aired on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Dina (Isabela Merced) was shot through the leg with a crossbow bolt in a previous episode. In the finale, Jesse (Young Mazino) tends to her:
HBO has a long history of leaks. Just last year, the season 2 finale of House of the Dragon leaked online, and clips were going around. Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon to see advance episodes of Game of Thrones trading on the black market. In 2015, someone who had received a DVD screener of the first four episodes of season 5 leaked them online, inspiring HBO to stop giving them out. So thanks a lot to that person.
The Last of Us franchise also has a history of leaks. In 2020, footage from The Last of Us Part II, the second video game in the series, leaked online; big plot details were spoiled, including a major death, and people were very displeased.
Leaks are just kind of part of the fabric of fan culture now. Whatever precautions studios take clearly aren't strong enough, because they keep happening. Happily, most people aren't plugged in to the point where this kind of thing will bother them much. When that major death was adapted for the TV show, plenty of folk were still surprised, and that spoiler had already been out there for five years.
As for the season 2 finale of The Last of Us, it'll air this Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max. I had the pleasure of watching it ahead of time via official means, and although obviously I won't spoil anything, if you've played the game, there probably won't be many surprises in store for you.
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