The Last of Us is one of the most highly anticipated series that is set to come out in January. The HBO adaptation has the same setting as that of the 2013 PlayStation 3 game it’s based on, but will also take its own route.
Troy Baker, who voiced and motion-captured Joel in The Last of Us game, talked about the series’ third episode while appearing on the Play Watch Listen podcast with Alanah Pearce.
Baker said that the third episode of the show will have a big twist and will change audience’s expectations. “I have seen up to episode five and I can tell you right now, you get to episode three, you’re done,” Baker said. “You are standing on your desk, ‘O, Captain! My Captain!’ What it sets up in the first two episodes, it introduces you to the world if you have no idea what it is. It takes all of your expectations and just gets rid of them.”
The Last of Us will follow Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they navigate a zombie-infested United States. After a deal goes wrong, Joel and his smuggling partner Tess (Anna Torv) are tasked with taking Ellie to the militant revolutionary group known as the Fireflies. Along the way, Joel comes to understand Ellie’s significance as he learns of her rare immunity to the fungal infection that has ravaged the world.
Baker also recently revealed how the birth of his son helped him understand and portray Joel’s controversial decision at the climax of The Last of Us Part 1.
The Last of Us showrunner thinks the original game has the greatest story of all time in video games
In a recent interview with Empire, showrunner Craig Mazin called the game “the greatest story that has ever been told in video games.”
“They didn’t shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people,” explained Mazin. “And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I’ve been playing video games since 1977.”
Mazin, who previously worked on HBO’s Chernobyl, and has shown that he’s a master at crafting compelling and emotionally charged stories that focus on people. However, there is certainly a lot to be said about Mazin’s claim that The Last of Us has the greatest story in all of video games.
