The Last of Us‘ video game fans were expecting to see the Cordyceps fungus spread through spores in the air when season on of the TV series hit our screens. After all, that’s how the virus traditionally attacked in the original world of The Last of Us. But The Last of Us season one introduced Cordyceps tendrils into the franchise instead of spores. Much to the confusion of some, instead of airborne particles that could be inhaled, The Last of Us‘ TV infected created a network of vine-like tendrils that allowed them to communicate and create something like a hive mind.
In addition to passing the Cordyceps infection through bits and saliva, the tendrils could also turn a healthy human into an infected one. Now, though, the game-accurate vision of the fungus’ spread is coming to our TV screens. In season two of The Last of Us, we’ll see Cordyceps spores come into play, offering a deadly new way for the infection to ensnare our favorite characters.
At SXSW, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Carl Mazin confirmed, “spores are back.” Spores were initially avoided on The Last of Us to help enhance the drama of becoming infected on the TV series… and to avoid Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie having to don gas masks all the time. Much as we love Pedro Pascal in a mask, it was probably better that Joel didn’t have to constantly wear one like The Mandalorian.
But in season two of The Last of Us, Druckmann reveals there will be “an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads.” And that means The Last of Us is getting spores. Druckmann continues, “Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air.” (You can see the shot of spores in The Last of Us season two’s trailer above, time stamp of 1:18)
Druckmann concluded, “The reason [we’re doing it now], I mean, we really wanted to figure it out, and again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now. And there is.”
We’ll have to wait for details on that, but an escalation in danger and ease of becoming infected will certainly help up the stakes of the series. Spores are also viscerally displeasing in a whole new way, and we bet they’ll leave us shuddering a we watch The Last of Us season two.