In the world of HBO’s The Last of Us, the constant threat of Infected looms large at all times. While the Infected are villains in a sense, they are foes that lack agency and intent in their menace—driven as they are by a fungus that distills them down to a biological-driven imperative to spread.

The new season of The Last Of Us opens with a big lie that's going to reverberate throughout the story. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) asks Joel (Pedro Pascal) a simple question: "Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true?

A major shift from the structure of The Last of Us Part 2 felt jarring at first, but makes more sense in hindsight.