‘The Last of Us’ Season 3 Release Date Is Later Than You Think

If you watched the Season 2 finale of The Last of Us, you probably have some questions. Among the most pressing of them: How long will I have to wait until Season 3 gets here?

As exciting as a great television cliffhanger can be—and Sunday night’s finale was indeed excellent—it can also be frustrating. Once the exhilaration of the episode and the possible plot lines it poses winds down, viewers start to realize that it could be another year or even more until they’ll find out what happens next. So where do things stand with The Last of Us? Warning: Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 finale follow.

Related: ‘The Last of Us’ Fans Noticed a ‘Game of Thrones’ Easter Egg in the Season 2 Finale

Has The Last of Us Been Renewed for a Third Season?

First things first: no need to worry that The Last of Us is going anywhere—at least not yet. On April 9, just days before The Last of Us Season 2 premiered on HBO and Max, the network announced that the series had already been renewed for a third season. Thanks, in large part, to the season’s stellar reviews across the board.

“The end results [of Season 2] have exceeded even our most ambitious goals,” The Last of Us co-creator/showrunner Craig Mazin said in an official statement confirming the renewal. “We look forward to continuing the story of The Last of Us with season three.”

What Will The Last of Us Season 3 Be About?

As is usual for HBO and The Last of Us, so far no real details on what to expect from Season 3. But the last few minutes of Season 2’s final episode—not to mention the big build-up surrounding Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby and Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac—prior to the Season 2 debut tells us that the action may be ready to shift to Seattle to immerse us within the world of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and their ongoing battles with the Seraphites.

Season 2 guest star Catherine O’Hara practically spilled as much in a recent interview with Variety. When asked if we would see more of her therapist character Gail in the upcoming season, she admitted that it wasn’t looking good. “Craig did say definitely not this next season,” she replied. “It’s the Abby story. Maybe. But I think it was to serve Joel and Ellie.”

Related: How ‘The Last of Us’ Star Bella Ramsey ‘Humiliated’ Their ‘Game of Thrones’ Co-Star

Isabela Merced, who plays Dina, the best friend-turned-love interest of Ellie (Bella Ramsey), may have let an accidental detail slip in a separate interview with Variety. When asked how she is preparing for Season 3, she replied that “It’s going to be weird acting like I don’t like Bella. It’s going to be hard, because I have such a sweet spot for them now. But I don’t know.”

When Will The Last of Us Season 3 Premiere?

The answer to this question is where the news might be a little disappointing. When asked about what the production schedule for Season 3 might look like, and whether she knew when they would begin shooting, Merced told Variety that she did not. “But I think it should be next year,” she said. Meaning that it could well be 2027 until we find out what happened after that possibly game-changing fade-to-black.