The Last of Us Season 2 Reverses a Controversial Game Retcon (For A Good Reason)

The Last of Us Season 2 is set to include a controversial retcon from the games, and fans are already theorizing about how it will be introduced.

The post-apocalyptic drama is based on Naughty Dog's popular video game series of the same name. Season 2 is set to debut in April, adapting the expansive and more narratively complex The Last of Us Part 2.

Many elements of The Last of Us were translated almost identically from the games in Season 1 of the series, but there were a few changes (including one planned for Kaitlyn Dever's Abby this season) that have not gone unnoticed by longtime fans.

The Last of Us Season 2 Will Introduce 1 Missing Element From the Games

At The Last of Us Season 2 panel at SXSW 2025, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin confirmed that the next season will include cordyceps spores, a controversial retcon from Season 1 of the series: 

Druckmann: "In one shot that you see in this trailer there are things in the air." 

Mazin: "Spores are back."

In both games, the airborne spores were a common occurrence. They are linked to the presence of large amounts of the cordyceps fungus, and breathing them in could cause infection—which required characters to don gas masks when entering spore-filled areas.

This was eliminated from the HBO series due to the show's "more realistic approach," Druckmann explained to Polygon at the time. The showrunner said the logistics of having characters wear gas masks constantly would cause them to "lose so much:"

"The show [is] taking a more realistic approach to the story and the world. If we wanted to treat it realistically, and there are spores near, characters would wear gas masks all the time. Then we lose so much, which is maybe the most important part of the journey is what’s going on inside behind their eyes, in their soul, in their beings."

Instead, HBO's The Last of Us introduced a new concept of tendrils, aka long strings of cordyceps fungus that connect the infected across vast distances. However, the lack of spores was something fans lamented, making their return in Season 2 of the series that much more exciting. 

How Will Spores Be Used in The Last of Us Season 2?

After initially retconning spores in Season 1 of The Last of Us, Druckmann made it clear at SXSW that there's a "dramatic reason" for their re-introduction in Season 2:

"We really wanted to figure it out and, again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now, and there is."

Druckmann did not elaborate on what that dramatic reason would be, but fans think they may have figured it out.

There is one obvious scene from The Last of Us Part 2 that relies heavily on the inclusion of spores. That sequence involves a chase between Ellie and Nora through an abandoned Seattle hospital. 

It eventually lands Ellie and Nora in a spore-ridden subsection, where Nora becomes debilitated after breathing in too much of the contaminated oxygen. Meanwhile, Ellie is fine, thanks to her immunity, which is the key to Nora realizing her identity as the immune girl from the Salt Lake City hospital five years prior. 

Many fans think this particular section of the game (which will be included in the TV show as seen in the Season 2 trailer) is the reason for the re-introduction of spores in the series.

Another question raised is how the series plans to introduce spores after having retconned them for a whole season. 

To this, fans on Reddit think Seattle's climate, which is often humid and rainy, may be the reason spores are found in Season 2 rather than many of the Season 1 locations. 

These conditions could form the basis for the cordyceps fungus to evolve and mutate. Particularly, with many sequences taking place in flooded subways and sewers, these areas make for a logical introduction to the concept of spores in the show.

The Last of Us Season 2 will be adding more infected than the previous season, so the inclusion of spores as an evolution of the fungus would help to up the ante of the zombies in the show.

The Last of Us Season 2 will premiere on HBO and Max on April 13.