The Last of Us Timeline Explained and Made Simple

The Last of Us is a tale about survivors living in a world hellbent on wiping out all life from the Cordyceps virus and clinging to the last bit of hope and life. Director Neil Druckmann struck new ground with this original story following the adventures of Joel, a hardened survivor who had to do terrible things to stay alive, and Ellie, possibly humanity’s last hope to restore the world.

The original game was released in 2013, and the stars became PlayStation icons overnight after raving reviews. The controversial sequel was released seven years later, sending the entire gaming community into turmoil after Naughty Dog made some bold decisions. Nevertheless, a lot has happened throughout the years, and it can be hard to keep track. This timeline piece will cover all major story events and in chronological order.

The Last of Us’ Outbreak Day (2013)

The story opens in 2013 in Austin, Texas with Sarah Miller waiting for her father, Joel Miller, to return home after a long day of work to celebrate his birthday. While Joel is exhausted, all of it goes away after Sarah’s gesture of gifting him a new watch to replace his broken one. The two watched TV until Sarah passed out on the couch, and Joel carried his daughter to her room to tuck her into bed.

A few hours later, Sarah wakes up to answer a phone call from her uncle Tommy, who sounds frantic and paranoid, looking for Joel until the line gets cut. Sarah looked for Joel and found his phone unattended, missing all texts and phone calls from Tommy. Joel rushed to his office grabbed his revolver stashed away for emergencies and warned Sarah to stay back as their neighbor barged in zombie-like.

Joel had to put him down in self-defense and asked Sarah to be brave as Tommy rolled in and picked them up. The trio tried to escape town but were cut off by the infected wreaking havoc and lost their car in the process. Tommy gets separated and Sarah twists her ankle forcing Joel to carry her to the bridge hoping the military will protect them. While a FEDRA soldier did gun down the infected chasing them, he received orders to shoot them too from his superiors.

Joel tries to evade the shots as he and Sarah roll down a hill. The soldier went in to finish the job, but Tommy gunned him down; unfortunately, Sarah was shot. Joel begged Sarah to hold on, but her wounds were too great,t and she died in his arms. This was remembered as Outbreak Day, and survivors like Joel and Tommy had to stoop low to live and fight another day.

Becoming Hunters and Joining the Fireflies

After losing Sarah, Joel practically lost all of his humanity and became a dead man walking, but he had to look after his younger brother. The duo resorted to becoming Hunters, a human faction meant to kill and steal whatever tourists have on their person. Along the way, they meet Tess, a like-minded survivor, Joel grows fond of her and treats her like family.

Tommy has had enough of their way of living and meets Marlene, leader of the Fireflies stationed in the Boston quarantine zone who offers him a chance at redemption. Joel dissuades his brother and believes the Firefly’s mission to restore humanity is impossible and a waste of time. Tommy and Joel fell out and went their separate ways. Joel and Tess became smugglers in Boston, while Tommy left with Marlene until he met his wife, Maria, and settled in Jackson.

American Dreams (2032)

Six years after the Fall of Humanity, Anna gave birth to Ellie Williams but died shortly and entrusted her to Marlene. Anna left a letter and her switchblade to Marlene and asked her to give it to Ellie when she’s older; however, being the leader of a paramilitary group doesn’t mean she’s the best candidate to raise a child. Marlene sent Ellie to an orphanage under FEDRA’s care, where she grew up to train as a soldier.

Ellie has had a rough childhood, didn’t have a lot of friends, and learned to swear like a sailor at a young age. At the orphanage, she meets Riley Abel who she quickly becomes friends with after being drawn by her trouble-making shenanigans. The two often sneak out at night and go to the abandoned mall to visit their friend Winston, an old soldier who taught them how to ride a horse. While exploring, an infected attacked the pair but they were saved by the Fireflies.

Marlene later recognized Ellie and gave her Anna’s switchblade and letter. Riley and Ellie head back to the orphanage, but Riley is interested in enlisting to help free Boston from FEDRA’s rule. A year later, Riley disappeared but returned out of nowhere to drag Ellie at night to explore the abandoned mall like the good old days.

Left Behind (2033)

After sneaking back into Ellie’s room late at night, Riley surprised her and asked her to go to the mall. While Ellie is reluctant, she follows Riley’s lead since she harbors feelings for her and becomes upset after Riley reveals she is now a Firefly and is ordered to leave for another city. The pair got to experience what it was like for kids their age to go to the mall before the outbreak and got to become kids until things went south.

Riley told Ellie the truth about her leaving, which led to a heated argument that attracted the infected inside. The pair tried to fend them off, and while they successfully killed the runners inside, both kids have been bitten. Riley suggested waiting it out and losing their minds together; however, nothing happened to Ellie and she had to put Riley down. Confused and didn’t know what to do, Ellie reached out to the Fireflies.

Marlene nearly shoots Ellie until she realizes that she could be immune to the cordyceps virus and this is what the Fireflies need to produce a cure. The Fireflies prepared to launch an assault to distract FEDRA to buy Ellie and Marlene time to leave the quarantine zone, but they were outmatched and outnumbered. Marlene tracked down Robert, a local arms dealer, to find more weapons but found something else.

The Last of Us (2013)

Release Information:

• Original (PlayStation 3) – June 14, 2013
• Remastered (PlayStation 4) – July 29, 2014
• Remake (PlayStation 5/PC) – September 2, 2022 and March 28, 2023

The Last of Us was originally released in 2013 exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and was remastered a year later for the PlayStation 4. After the release of The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020, Naughty Dog remade the entire game from the ground up for the PlayStation 5 and PC platforms in 2022.

Summer (2033)

The story starts in Summer 2033, three weeks after Left Behind when Joel wakes up from Tess knocking on his door. Joel is visibly upset after seeing the gash on Tess’ face for doing a deal without him, but she claimed the deal went fine and something else caused her injuries. Robert double-crossed Joel and Tess then took off with their products and hired men to take Tess out quietly. Joel doesn’t let bygones be bygones and pursues the dirty arms dealer.

Joel and Tess cornered Robert and forced him to tell them who took their weapons, which happened to be Marlene’s Firefly cell in Boston. With no further use to them, Tess shoots Robert as Marlene shows up wounded. Marlene went to find Robert to find more weapons but Tess claimed those weren’t his to sell. The two parties agreed that Joel and Tess would smuggle something for the Fireflies in exchange for their goods and more.

After dealing with a few guards, Joel and Tess meet Ellie, who Marlene stashed away in a kitchen. The deal is for the two to smuggle Ellie outside Boston to the capitol building and hand her over to other Fireflies. The duo escorted Ellie outside the city walls until they were caught by FEDRA and revealed Ellie’s immunity. Joel doesn’t buy into her story while Tess is eager to get her where she needs to be.

The trio went through Boston, infested with the infected, and escaped by the skin of their teeth. As they reach the capitol, the Fireflies have been killed by FEDRA soldiers earlier. Tess is desperate and searches for clues after she reveals she was bitten by an infected. Tess begs Joel to take Ellie to Tommy and shows her infection is already taking its course while Ellie is unaffected three weeks after her bite.

Bill’s Town

Tess held the soldiers back long enough to buy Joel and Ellie time to escape. The pair traveled to Lincoln, Massachusetts, to find Bill, another smuggler who could hook them up with a car. After setting a few traps, Bill comes to their rescue and immediately shows he is not a people person. Bill takes Joel and Ellie to his armory to convince Joel to take her back and shares a story of how he once had someone to look out for, but it didn’t pan out well.

The trio fought through the neighborhood to the local high school to grab an engine from an abandoned truck. However, someone had already stolen it forcing the trio to seek shelter inside the school from the horde outside. This is where Joel and Ellie first encounter a Bloater, an infected variant with thick armor. After killing the infected inside, they took shelter inside a house where they found Frank, Bill’s partner with a noose around his neck. Joel assumed he didn’t want to turn and ended his life on his terms.

Ellie found a pickup truck with the truck battery ready to go in the garage. While Joel and Bill pushed, Ellie was on the steering wheel to kickstart the engine. As they escape, Bill gives Joel a siphoning hose for more gas and claims they will both die sooner or later. After bidding each other farewell, Joel and Ellie took a detour to Pittsburgh after their path was blocked.

Pittsburgh

Joel and Ellie drive straight into a hunter trap and realize the entire city is under hunter control. After killing a few hunters, Ellie asked Joel how he knew it was a trap and revealed he had been on both sides. There is no shortage of hunters and infected in the city and the pair ran into a few close calls until Ellie saved Joel from a hunter. Angry for disobeying his orders to stay put, Joel realized Ellie needed to defend herself from the harsh environment and gave her a gun.

The duo meets Henry and Sam, siblings who got separated from their larger group after being ambushed by hunters. Ellie suggested they work together to escape Pittsburgh and reunite with their friends at a satellite tower outside the city. Later that night, Henry and Sam had to abandon Joel for self-preservation, but Ellie wouldn’t leave her guardian and friend. Ellie’s inability to swim became a problem that the two had to work around, especially as they jumped off a bridge to avoid being gunned down by the hunter’s military turret.

Joel wakes up on a beachside after Henry rescued him and Ellie but is understandably upset. Henry reasoned with Joel that he would leave them if they were in trouble, and his logic made sense to him. They pressed onto the satellite tower and cut through the sewer system full of infected. After a few close calls, the group got outside to a nice neighborhood until a sniper caught them. Joel insisted on flanking the sniper by himself and managed to do so until more started running from the back.

After gunning down the hunters, the infected were alerted and attacked the group. During the firefight, Henry was bit and didn’t tell anyone. The next morning, Henry turned and attacked Ellie while Henry was in shock and fired his gun at Joel, claiming that he was still his brother. Even at gunpoint, Joel tried to reach for his weapon, but Henry shot Sam first. Henry is in shock and shoots himself in the head, unable to live with his failure.

Fall (2033)

Joel and Ellie were closing in on Jackson but had to cut through a dam, which happens to be taken over by survivors led by Maria and Tommy. Joel didn’t expect to see Tommy so soon and was welcomed by their friends into the hydroelectric dam. The Miller brothers talked while their people were fixing up the dam to power the city and Joel revealed Ellie’s immunity and their mission to find the Fireflies. Tommy claims he is no longer a Firefly and is happy with Maria in Jackson, leading to a heated argument.

Before the brothers could duke it out, an alarm went off, which meant the dam was being raided. Tommy and Joel fought through the raiders and reached Maria and Ellie before it was too late. Tommy realized what Ellie meant to Joel and to see his brother gain a second chance and agreed to take it from there. Ellie took off on horseback while the brothers tracked her down and were ambushed by more raiders.

Ellie was spotted hanging inside an abandoned house, reading through journals, and confronting Joel about his plans to pass her onto someone else. The two developed a father-daughter relationship, Joel was still reluctant to give in to the possibility of failing, while Ellie was afraid of being left alone. Tommy barges in and warns them that more hunters are coming. After killing all the hunters, Ellie distanced herself from Joel on the ride back to Jackson. Tommy revealed that Fireflies are stationed at the University of Colorado and Joel decided to finish the job himself, restoring Ellie’s trust.

As they reached the university, no Fireflies were in sight. They found a recorder left by a dead Firefly and that there are more in Salt Lake City, with surgeons still trying to develop a cure. As Joel and Ellie were about to leave, they were ambushed by cannibals, and Joel was mortally wounded after falling off a floor and being impaled by an exposed steel pipe. Ellie had to escort him out as he fell unconscious.

Winter (2033)

Ellie took Joel to an abandoned mall and looked for medical supplies. The same group of cannibals were inside looking for the pair and this was Ellie’s first major challenge as a survivor as she kills both infected and human enemies while keeping Joel alive. After finding medical supplies, she drags Joel to an abandoned neighborhood until he can recover. Ellie went hunting but encountered David and James, survivors from a different group, and offered to trade the deer she hunted for medicine.

James left to grab the medical supplies, but David and Ellie were left to fend off a horde. The pair successfully killed all the infected, and David revealed himself to be the leader of the cannibal group that ambushed them at the university. Ellie grabbed the medicine and left; however, she didn’t clean her tracks, allowing the cannibals to track her the following day. Joel took the medicine and is no longer in pain but isn’t in fighting shape. Ellie took her horse and drew the cannibals away until she got herself captured.

Joel was able to get up and cornered two cannibals and tortured them. After verifying Ellie’s whereabouts, he killed the cannibals and went after her. David and James were about to kill Ellie, but she bit David first and revealed she was infected. While David was distracted, Ellie killed James with a cleaver and ran away to a nearby steak house engulfed in flames. Ellie brutally kills David and is rescued by Joel as the pair reconcile and walk away.

Spring (2034)

The duo arrived at Salt Lake City and had a few moments of peace, such as petting a giraffe, and Joel opening up to Ellie, promising to teach her how to play a guitar and convincing her to abandon this quest and live in Jackson. Ellie is committed to her mission and believes she owes it to everyone who died for her. The fastest way to reach the Firefly Hospital was through a tunnel full of infected, but things went south after they were caught in rushing water. Joel drags Ellie out of the water and is taken in by Firefly guards.

In a nearby zoo, Abby Anderson was looking for her father, Jerry, the only surgeon in the Salt Lake crew. Together, the pair helped a zebra caught in barbed wire with the help of Owen, Abby’s love interest, and Firefly soldier, who told Jerry about the immune girl Marlene keeps talking about. In his office, Jerry revealed that the only way to get what they needed was to remove Ellie’s brain, which would result in her immediate death. Marlene was against the idea at first but realized it was for the greater good and Abby comforted her father before the surgery.

Marlene was sitting by Joel’s side after being knocked out and wanted to thank him, but he only wanted to know Ellie’s safety. After being denied to see her, Marlene revealed what must be done and Joel didn’t stand by and watch another daughter of his die. After killing all of the Fireflies standing in his way, Joel killed Jerry then escaped with Ellie, and killed Marlene in the process. Abby rushed to the surgery room where she found her father dead.

On the car ride to Jackson, Joel kept the truth from Ellie, knowing she would hate him for what he did. Ellie made Joel swear that he was telling the truth, which she believed and the two started a new life in Jackson together.

The Last of Us Part 2 (2020)

Release Information

• PlayStation 4 – June 19, 2020
• PlayStation 5 (Remastered) – January 18, 2024
• PC – April 3, 2025

The Last of Us Part 2 was released on PlayStation 4 on June 19, 2020, after facing many delays and backlash for leaks beforehand. Despite the backlash, the game was a commercial and financial success. The PlayStation 4 version is playable on the PlayStation 5; however, it lacked next-gen features, which was solved with a remaster in 2024 and a PC port in April 2025.

Life in Jackson

Shortly after the events of The Last of Us Part I, Joel went out with Tommy on a patrol to clear infected off the streets and told him everything that went down. Tommy was taken aback and asked if Ellie believed the lie she told him and claimed that she didn’t say otherwise. On the horse ride back, Tommy was quiet but assured Joel that his secret was safe with him. Later that night, Joel gifted Ellie a guitar after promising her once their mission was done.

2035

Joel took Ellie to the Wyoming Museum a year later to celebrate her birthday. Joel knew Ellie had a vested interest in the space race and ensured the area was secure before heading in a few days prior. The trip ended sourly after a survivor vandalized the walls claiming the Fireflies were liars. Joel took Ellie out and prepped camp while they were there.

In Seattle, Abby and her friends left the Fireflies and joined Isaac Dixon’s Washington Liberation Front, another paramilitary unit fighting against the Seraphites. Instead of training, Owen dragged Abby to the aquarium, where they explored the entire building and discussed their original plan to hunt down Joel for what he did. Owen was ready to move on; however, Abby couldn’t let it go.

2036

Ellie accompanied Joel and Tommy on a routine patrol on the outskirts of Jackson, where she got to try Tommy’s rifle. Letting her know he and Maria are family too and noticed she has been distant from Joel. Tommy convinced her to go with Joel to the nearby mall and find strings for the guitar, where they cleared infected runners and took down a Bloater. After finding a way out, Ellie stumbles on a corpse and a clicker and surmises they are from Jackson, who left trying to help other survivors outside their walls. Ridden with guilt, Ellie confronted Joel about their abrupt departure from Salt Lake City while she was unconscious.

Joel stayed true to the lie he was telling that there was no point claiming it was a waste of time. Later that year, Ellie is fed up with the lies and returns to the hospital, where she finds a recorder from Mel saying that Joel’s actions caused the surviving Fireflies to disband and all hopes of restoring humanity are dead in the water. Joel chased after Ellie and told her the truth revealing her life was the cost of a cure. Ellie cut ties with Joel and disregarded him ever since.

Jackson (2038)

After getting a lead on Tommy’s whereabouts, Abby presented it to Isaac and convinced him to allow her crew to leave and pursue it. Abby visited Owen’s aquarium and told him about these developments, and while he was reluctant to help, Owen caved in and accompanied her to Jackson. A few months later, Ellie attended a party at Jackson and shared a kiss with Dina, which triggered Seth. Joel intervened and was brushed off by Ellie claiming she doesn’t need or want his help.

Later that night, Ellie visits Joel, apologizes in her way, and is ready to move on. For years, Ellie had doubts and suspicions about what he did and realized he’d rather do it again than lose her, solidifying his love for his new daughter. The following morning, Ellie is eager to get on patrol and plans to watch a movie with Joel to repair their relationship; unfortunately, Abby and her friends are there for revenge.

Abby went on her own to find Joel but managed to attract a horde. Fortunately, Joel and Tommy were there to help her escape. As Ellie and Dina were out on patrol, Jesse informed them that the Millers had not reported back to their posts and the trio went out to find them in the blizzard. Joel and Tommy unknowingly were attacked by the WLF and tortured Joel for what he did at Salt Lake City.

Ellie finds where they are holed up and is too late to save Joel from Abby. Other members like Jordan, Manny, and Mel want to leave without loose ends but Owen and Abby sided against it claiming they are only here for Joel. The WLF left Ellie and Tommy alive, and Jesse and Dina helped them bring Joel to town. Later that night, Tommy visited Ellie and knew she was planning on leaving and tried to stop her only to buy himself a headstart to Seattle the following morning. After grabbing Joel’s revolver from his house, Maria gives Dina and Ellie permission to hunt the killers as long as they bring Tommy back alive.

Seattle Day 1

Dina and Ellie have been traveling on horseback to reach Seattle and got into a few close calls against the infected and WLF. Jordan captured Ellie and tried to get her to talk until Dina intervened, buying Ellie enough time to kill him. The entire WLF base was on high alert and the duo fought their way to escape and reach the local TV station where Leah was stationed only to find her killed by another faction known as the Scars. The WLF think they killed their people and pursued them to the sewers where they first encounter a Shambler.

After Ellie’s gas mask is cracked, she has no choice but to reveal her immunity to Dina as they escape a subway full of infected. The pair took shelter in a nearby theater, where Dina told Ellie she was pregnant with Jesse’s baby. Ellie encouraged Dina to rest while she searched the place brought back the lights on from an emergency generator and fell asleep inside the theater. On the same day, Manny grabbed Abby and Mel after being summoned by their leader, Isaac, to report to the base.

On their car ride to the next base, Scars ambushed the trio and chased them through a railyard until backup arrived. On the base, Nora revealed the Scars have killed plenty of their people and Isaac is fighting for a permanent resolution as he summoned Abby and Manny, his best soldiers to prepare a team for an assault. Nora also revealed that Owen went AWOL and murdered one of their allies for unknown reasons, which prompted Abby to go after him at the aquarium.

Abby goes rogue to find Owen but is captured by Emily. Later that night, she was about to be executed until Lev came to her rescue. Along with Yara and her broken arm, the trio escaped, and Abby felt responsible for the kids. She finds Owen drunk in a sailboat in the aquarium, claiming he heard about a lead on the Fireflies regrouping and intends to help. The two got into a heated argument and passed out on the sailboat. The next day, she wanted to check in with the two deserters.

Seattle Day 2

Ellie wakes up to find Dina fixing the radio and mapping Seattle of potential WLF bases to narrow their search. Unable to accompany her due to her condition, Ellie sets out to Hillcrest by herself, hoping to find Tommy, but finds Jesse, who follows them after leaving Jackson. The pair killed many WLF soldiers and escaped by the skin of their teeth. Later that day, Ellie discovered another lead of Abby’s whereabouts in a hospital. Along the way, she had her first encounter with the Scars but that didn’t stop her from reaching her objective.

Meanwhile, Abby brings Yara to the aquarium hoping to find medical supplies but finds Mel with Alice. She gave Abby a list of medical supplies she could find in the hospital where Nora was stationed and was accompanied by Lev. The journey to reach the hospital was rough, considering Abby’s fear of heights and the strong rapids but as soon as they reached the hospital, Abby was arrested under Isaac’s orders. Nora freed her and helped her find the supplies but warned her it would be overgrown after decades.

Abby came across the Rat King, an amalgamation of different variants, and killed it while Ellie pursued Nora for information. As Abby and Lev returned to the aquarium by a stolen WLF boat, Ellie tortured Nora and forced her to tell her where Abby was hiding. Mel successfully removes Yara’s arm but berates Abby for her ‘act’ about becoming a good person. The next day, Owen invites the young Scars to join him in Santa Barbara, but Lev wants to bring their mother, who is devout to the Scar cult.

Seattle Day 3

With Dina’s condition worsening, Ellie and Jesse set out to find Tommy before returning to Jackson. After encountering a handful of soldiers and learning of Tommy’s location, Jesse and Ellie went their separate ways again. While Jesse left to save Tommy at the marina where Abby was at the time trying to steal a boat to reach Scar Island with Yara, Tommy killed Manny and nearly had Abby if Yara hadn’t intervened. Tommy was thrown into the water and was saved by Jesse as the duo went to the aquarium.

Ellie lost her boat and swam to the aquarium where she found Owen and Mel arguing about what to do. Ellie tried to get them to talk but Owen tried to overpower her resulting in his demise, Mel tried to help but got killed in the process. Ellie was unaware of Mel’s pregnancy and killed her unborn baby in her pursuit of revenge. Tommy and Jesse showed up and pulled her away back to the theater. On the island, the WLF launched a full-scale assault killing thousands on both sides.

After finding Lev, who killed their mother in self-defense, Abby and Yara comforted him and convinced him to leave. Unfortunately, Yara took a gut shot, and Isaac cornered them. As Isaac was about to kill Abby, Yara got the last laugh and killed him first, buying Abby and Lev time to escape. The duo returns to the aquarium, and she finds Owen, Mel, and Alice dead and a map leading to the theater. Abby ambushed Tommy and killed Jesse. Ellie was held at gunpoint and Tommy tried to take the gun from Abby but was shot in the process.

Ellie and Abby nearly killed each other until Dina intervened and Ellie pleaded with Abby to leave her out of it and she was pregnant, as she was about to slit her throat, Lev begged Abby to drop it. Sparing their lives a second time, Abby and Lev leave for Santa Barbara while Ellie, Dina, and Tommy bring Jesse home.

2039

Dina gave birth to JJ and lived on a farm outside Jackson a year later. Despite her best efforts to live a normal life, Ellie is still suffering from PTSD and Joel’s death continues to haunt her. The following day after hunting, Tommy paid a house call and gave Ellie a tip of Abby’s whereabouts in Santa Barbara. Unable to pursue her himself, Tommy wants Ellie to finish the job and guilt trips her for Joel’s death. Later that night, Ellie packed her weapons to hunt Abby despite Dina’s pleas to stay.

Lev and Abby made great progress in Santa Barbara after finding a safe house used by Fireflies and made contact through the radio. After being instructed on where to go next, Rattlers ambushed the duo and captured them. A few months later, Ellie caught up to them and attacked the Rattlers to get to Abby, who she finds weak after being strung up on a pillar with Lev. After freeing her and forcing her to fight, Ellie realizes that it is not worth it and loses two of her fingers trying to kill Abby.

Epilogue

The farmhouse is abandoned when Ellie returns home and Dina and JJ are nowhere to be found. Ellie walks up to her room and finds her guitar and she can’t play like she used to now she is two fingers short. Ellie reflects on her last interaction with Joel and leaves her guitar as she sets out on her next adventure.

The Future of The Last of Us

The Last of Us is one of the biggest names in gaming after Naughty Dog introduced a fictional world devoid of love and full of hate. Director Neil Druckmann wanted to explore these raw and human emotions through Joel, Ellie, and Abby, and while it didn’t resonate well with everyone, the effort was commendable.

Currently, the developers are focused on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet; however, Druckmann ended the Grounded Two documentary, seemingly confirming that The Last of Us Part 3 is coming. There is no telling where the developers will take these characters next, with rumors and theories circulating the net. Perhaps the story will force Abby and Ellie to work together, or this could be their final confrontation. That concludes the complete timeline of The Last of Us, and no matter what people say, this is one of the best stories ever told in gaming.

For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our explainer for the Uncharted timeline and what Naughty Dog can learn from HBO for The Last of Us Part 3.