The bleak journey of Joel and Ellie rolls out on HBO Max. The first six episodes of The Last of Us are now available on the streaming service — episode 6 came out last Sunday and episode 7 arrives this weekend.
The show adapts developer Naughty Dog’s legendary PlayStation video game series, with the nine-episode Season 1 focusing on the first entry into the franchise. It has also been renewed for a second season.
The show premiered on January 15 drew an audience of 10 million in its first two dayswith weekly episodes until March 12. The remaining six episodes are scheduled for Sunday.
The Last of Us release dates and times
Here’s the full release schedule for The Last of Us on HBO Max. We’ll adjust this if the company announces changes or breaks. New episodes arrive at 6pm PT (9pm ET), which you may remember as the time slot House of the Dragon occupied last year.
Episode 1: Available NowEpisode 2: Available NowEpisode 3: Available NowEpisode 4: Available NowEpisode 5: Available NowEpisode 6: Available NowEpisode 7: Sunday, February 26Episode 8: Sunday, March 5Episode 9: Sunday, March 12
Where is The Last of Us available outside the US?
The show releases worldwide at the same time, so there are times for different regions:
Canada: Crave at 9pm Sunday UK and Ireland: Sky Atlantic and Now at 2am Monday Australia: Binge and Foxtel at 1pm AEDT Monday New Zealand: Neon at 3pm Monday
What’s the last of us?
The games are set in a world where an unnervingly believable fungal infection of the brain is turning most of the world’s population into violent cannibals. The games follow cantankerous smuggler Joel and his fun-loving teenage friend Ellie as they travel across a devastated USA.
Ellie and Joel occasionally get moments to rest.
HBO
Who’s in it?
The series stars The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal as Joel, with fellow Game of Thrones alumnus Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman, Fringe’s Anna Torv and Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey also make an appearance.
Are there trailers?
HBO gave us a few tastes of the show. The most recent trailer arrived in December, and the company has been dropping episode previews for each new episode.
How scary is it?
It is more thriller than horror, with many intense moments. The infected don’t show up very often – Joel and Ellie have more human survivors than monsters – but are used to great effect when they do.
Do I have to have played the games?
No. The show retells the events of the first game, which came out in 2013, with some storylines and background elements expanded.
Writers Craig Mazin (creator of HBO’s Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (creative director of the games series) added a flashback scene to give newcomers a firm footing in the story’s origins.
However, The Last of Us and its sequel in 2020 are some of the most compelling games ever made. You should definitely dive in if the show intrigues you. The original game is available on PS3, PS4, and PS5 (a PC version is due out March 3), while the second is currently only on PS4.
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