The season finale of post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us has leaked multiple days ahead of its official premiere, according to Comicbook. Viewers who watched season two of HBO’s adaptation of the critically acclaimed video game through Apple TV’s season pass began reporting on Wednesday night that they had mistakenly been given access to episode seven, four days before its intended release on May 25th. Within hours, clips of the unreleased episode began circulating on social media.
Longtime fans of the series might be getting flashbacks to when The Last of Us: Part II, the game that heavily inspires season two of the TV adaptation, was plagued by an inundation of story spoilers months ahead of its release via Comicbook. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, developer Naughty Dog made the decision to delay the game from its original release date in spring of 2020; but this delay also allowed an unidentified leaker to flood the Internet with critical information about the sequel’s plot, including arguably the series’s most shocking moment (if you’ve played Part II, or made it a few episodes into season two of the show, you probably can guess which one). Without the added context that placed these events within the larger narrative, some fans felt betrayed and became antagonistic towards the game and its creators, embroiling the series in one of gaming’s biggest controversies in recent memory.
Thankfully, no such backlash seems to have emerged in this scenario. As of Thursday afternoon, technicians at Apple TV seems to have removed access to the episode for users of the season pass, indirectly confirming that it was accidental. As is often the case with leaks in the modern age, though, those who still want to spoil themselves on how showrunners Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, Mythic Quest) and Neil Druckmann will adapt some of the second game’s most critical moments (and perhaps add some of its own) can easily do so by scrolling through reuploads on video-sharing platforms like Twitter or YouTube. Everyone else can watch the season two finale of The Last of Us when it officially premieres this Sunday night on HBO Max — and maybe stay away from online discussions of the show in the meanwhile.