Spoilers for HBO's The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2 below.The first season of The Last of Us has wrapped, giving us a mostly faithful retelling of the events of the first game and its DLC. That was always expected, of course, given how linear the narrative is, telling a story that always seemed destined for a television or film adaptation. The same, however, can't be said for its sequel, The Last of Us Part 2.
Now, it seems that showrunner Craig Mazin could play around with the timeline of Part 2 so much that we don't even really dive into one of the main characters, Abby Anderson, until the third season. This comes as Mazin says he hasn't "committed" to cramming Abby's story into the next season of the show, hinting that we'll only get to focus on her in season three.
In an interview with Collider, Mazin was asked whether or not we'll meet Abby in season two, and while this might have been seen as a given before, his response indicates that this isn't set in stone.
"All I can say is that Neil [Druckmann] and I will be adapting the story to television, as best we see fit," says Mazin. "It seems likely that main characters that are crucial to the storyline would be portrayed, but no, right now, it’s too early for me to commit to anything in print, let’s put it that way."
As with some of the larger changes made in season one (Bill and Frank, the invention of Kathleen, etc), it seems that nothing is off the table with season two. The impression we get from the interview is that Mazin and Druckmann will work with what best suits television, rather than focus on keeping everything just like the games. This might mean that Joel sticks with us a little longer than expected, which would likely be a welcome change considering Pedro Pascal's immense popularity.
This would fit in with other comments from Mazin, as he confirmed that season two isn't likely to open on a huge time skip as the second game does. This might mean that the flashbacks from Part 2 are instead presented in chronological order, focussing on how Ellie discovers the truth about Joel's actions at the end of the first season.