HBO dropped a full trailer for The Last of Us Season 2 on Saturday, March 8, and fans — especially those familiar with the video games on which the post-apocalyptic drama is based — have goosebumps.
“Chills all over me,” one YouTube commenter wrote. “The visuals are insane. But I know what’s coming, and I’m not even remotely prepared.”
Another said, “This looks insane. … I’m gonna be an emotional wreck this season.”
Fans have also been highlighting specific aspects of the trailer, many of which are callbacks to the games. Here are some of those details.
Potential spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 ahead!
The birthday flashback
To hear YouTube commenters tell it, the Season 2 trailer features a pivotal moment from the video game franchise, specifically 2020’s The Last of Us Part II.
“The fact that we’re at least getting the birthday flashback makes me so happy,” one person wrote.
“One of the only properly great bits of the second game,” somebody else said.
And a third commenter wrote, “Ellie’s birthday episode gonna be the end of me.”
Spores
The Season 2 trailer also shows one cordyceps-infected corpse spewing a green cloud from its mouth.
“Guys, spores are confirmed!” one commenter said. “If you remember, spores weren’t in the first season; now they are in Season 2!”
The Last of Us writer and co-creator Neil Druckmann told Polygon he and his collaborators on the TV show opted to use cordyceps tendrils as the vector for infection instead of spores in Season 1 so that the characters wouldn’t have to wear gas masks all the time. But it appears they’ve changed their mind for Season 2.
Another person wrote, “Spores? Oh, we cooked.”
HBO
Jeffrey Wright
Jeffrey Wright has joined the cast of The Last of Us, playing Isaac, the same character he voiced in the second TLOU video game.
The character is described as “the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy,” per Variety.
“Jeffrey Wright returning as Issac is going to be legendary,” one commenter said.
Another wrote, “I love when voice actors return to play their game counterparts.”
The Nirvana song
Some fans praised the orchestral cover of Nirvana’s “You Know You’re Right” that underscores the trailer’s action. Released in 2002, the song was the last one the rock band recorded before the 1994 death of lead singer Kurt Cobain.
“The fact they chose ‘You Know You’re Right’ by Nirvana as the theme song, OMG,” one person wrote.
“Love that Nirvana track,” said another.
Those last two words
At the end ofThe Last of Us Season 1, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) was ready to die to help the Fireflies exploit her immunity for a cordyceps cure. While she was unconscious, however, Joel (Pedro Pascal) killed the Fireflies’ doctor and took Ellie out of the hospital. Then he lied to her and said that the Fireflies had found other immune people and that they still couldn’t find a cure, and he swore to her that his words were true.
In Season 2, it seems, the jig is up. The trailer ends with a tearful Ellie confronting Joel, saying, “You swore.”
That simple line of dialogue is hitting fans hard. “‘You swore,’ and Joel’s heart broke in a thousand pieces,” one YouTube commenter wrote. “I feel bad for both of them — such an impossible situation. Love this show so much!”
Another person wrote, “‘You swore.’ Oh my god, this is going to be a good season.”
The Last of Us, Season 2 Premiere, Sunday, April 13, 9/8c, HBO & Max
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
