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The second season of The Last of Us came to an end in May 2025, but what was supposed to be a milestone in television ended up becoming a cause for concern for the company. HBO.
Similarly, the series, which started off strong, recorded a sharp drop in ratings over the course of the episodes, raising doubts about the future of the project and the real interest of the public.

According to Nielsenbetween May 5 and 11, right after the premiere of episode 4, "Day One", the production has accumulated 738 million minutes watched on streaming services. Does that sound like a lot? It may seem so, but the figure represents a sharp drop compared to the 937 million of episode 2 and the 827 million from episode 3.
In addition, the The Last of Us plummeted to seventh place among the most viewed content of the week, something unthinkable for one of HBO in recent years.
Did Joel's death shake everything up?

A large part of the audience was dissatisfied with the direction the story took. The death of Joel, played by Pedro Pascalin the second episode of the season, reignited the same controversy that had already shaken the second game in the franchise.
Many fans accused the production of having "killed off the protagonist too soon", leading to discouragement in continuing to follow the story. The decision to faithfully follow the events of The Last of Us Part 2 divided opinion, and seems to have cost a lot.
Audience plummeted, but The Last of Us' global reach grew

Although the final episode registered only 3.7 million viewers during its premiere weekend, a figure well below the 8.2 million from the end of the first season, the HBO pointed out that each episode of the new season reached an average of 37 million global views.
Even with all the controversies and the loss of momentum, HBO does not seem willing to abandon The Last of Us.
A third season has already been confirmed and is expected to premiere between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. The broadcaster has also confirmed plans for a fourth and final season, which will conclude the adaptation of the games.
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Source: eurogamer