6 Crucial The Last of Us Part II Scenes HBO’s Season 2 Must Nail

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.

HBO recently confirmed that The Last of Us season 2 will premiere on April 13, 2025. Based on the trailers, the season seems to be focusing mostly on Ellie’s story. It’s unclear exactly when The Last of Us season 2 will end, but if it follows the structure of the game faithfully, it could get through the prologue in Jackson and Ellie’s three days in Seattle before leaving on the bombshell twist of the shift into Abby’s perspective of the same three days. If that’s the case, there are a lot of important scenes that season 2 needs to nail.

6 The Jackson Dance

TLOU2: Dance Scene Essentials

The fateful Jackson dance is discussed at length throughout The Last of Us Part II, but it’s not actually shown until the epilogue. However, according to the game’s commentary track, it was originally supposed to be shown in chronological order at the beginning of the story, and since there are plenty of clips from this scene in The Last of Us season 2’s trailers, it seems as though the TV show will bump it up in the timeline, too. This scene is the key to understanding Ellie’s relationship with Dina and her falling-out with Joel.

Ellie has her first kiss with Dina on the dancefloor, then the euphoria of that romantic moment is interrupted by a homophobic remark from Seth. Joel steps in to defend Ellie, but Ellie gets mad at him for doing so. When the TV show adapts this sequence, it’s important to show the electric chemistry between Ellie and Dina, as well as the bitterness and hostility that Ellie holds toward Joel. It’ll be tough to pull off both effectively within the same scene.

5 Joel's Death

HBO's Crucial Scene

Arguably the most important scene in The Last of Us Part II — and the trickiest one for the TV show to get right — is Joel’s death. This is the inciting incident of the whole story, and it needs to achieve a very specific emotional response from the audience. It needs to surprise viewers with the rug-pull that damsel-in-distress Abby is actually a vengeful killing machine who’s been hunting Joel for years. It needs to shock them with the graphic brutality of the murder. Bella Ramsey’s cries of horror need to feel just as heartbreakingly authentic as Ashley Johnson’s.

4 Ellie Reveals Her Immunity & Dina Reveals Her Pregnancy

Immunity & Pregnancy: HBO's Key

It’s difficult to pull off any scene that contains a bombshell revelation about one of the main characters, but it’s nearly impossible to pull off a scene that contains two. Toward the end of Ellie’s first day in Seattle, her gas mask breaks and, much to Dina’s shock and confusion, Ellie breathes in spores without getting infected. As they seek refuge in an abandoned theater, Ellie reveals that she’s immune to Cordyceps. She had previously tried to tell Dina about her immunity, but Dina didn’t believe her until she saw it with her own eyes.

3 Ellie Tortures Nora

Nora Scene: HBO's Raw Emotion

The most recent trailer for The Last of Us season 2 teased a faithful translation of one of the grimmest scenes in the game: when Ellie tortures Nora for Abby’s location. The shot of Ramsey bathed in ominous red light in a hospital hallway is taken directly from the game. This is when Ellie’s relentless road to revenge starts to chip away at her humanity. She’s so desperate to find Abby and avenge Joel that she’s willing to throw all morality out the window and beat a helpless woman to death to coerce her into betraying her friend.

2 Ellie Learns The Truth

TLOU2: Truth, HBO's Impact

Ellie’s three days in Seattle are peppered with flashbacks that provide context about the past couple of years of her relationship with Joel. These flashbacks range from heartwarming, like their trip to a dinosaur and aerospace museum, to horrifying, like their gruesome encounter with a bloater in a dilapidated hotel. But the toughest one for the TV show to get right will be when Ellie goes back to St. Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and finally learns the truth about what happened after they reached the Fireflies.

1 Joel & Ellie's Heart-To-Heart On The Porch

Porch Moment: HBO's Connection

In the game, the conversation between Joel and Ellie on Joel’s porch doesn’t appear until the very end, when Ellie returns to an empty house with two missing fingers, and it recolors everything that came before it. But since Joel is seen playing his guitar on the porch and Ellie is seen approaching the house in the season 2 trailer, it seems as though the TV show will be moving this scene up to the beginning. This scene lays out the conflict between Joel and Ellie and the possible reconciliation that would ultimately never come to pass.

Ellie tells Joel that she’s not sure if she can forgive him for making the biggest decision of her life for her, but she would like to try. This bittersweet heart-to-heart shows that they were about to get their relationship back on track, but that rekindling was cut short when Abby picked up a golf club. This is the scene that ties the whole story together, and The Last of Us season 2 needs to get it right.