Troy Baker

This has been the official podcast for the HBO original series, The Last of Us. Our senior producer is Emmanuel Hapsis, our producer is Elliot Adler, and Darby Maloney is the editor. This episode was mixed by Raj Makhija. Our executive producers are Gabrielle Lewis and Barry Finkel. Special thanks to Becky Rowe, Alison Cohen, Aaron Kelly, and Kenya Reyes from the Max podcast team.

This has been the official podcast for the HBO original series, The Last of Us. Our senior producer is Emmanuel Hapsis, our producer is Elliot Adler, and Darby Maloney is the editor. This episode was mixed by Raj Makhija. Our executive producers are Gabrielle Lewis and Barry Finkel. Special thanks to Becky Rowe, Alison Cohen, Aaron Kelly, and Kenya Reyes from the Max podcast team.

Production music is courtesy of HBO, and you can watch episodes of The Last of Us on Macs. And we'll see you back here next week for season two, episode three.

Production music is courtesy of HBO, and you can watch episodes of The Last of Us on Macs. And we'll see you back here next week for season two, episode three.

Welcome to the official podcast for the HBO original series, The Last of Us. Season two is here, and suffice to say, I'm very excited to be back as your host. I'm Troy Baker, and I play Joel in The Last of Us video games, but joining me as always are the creators, the writers, executive producers, and showrunners of the HBO series, Craig Mazin.

Welcome to the official podcast for the HBO original series, The Last of Us. Season two is here, and suffice to say, I'm very excited to be back as your host. I'm Troy Baker, and I play Joel in The Last of Us video games, but joining me as always are the creators, the writers, executive producers, and showrunners of the HBO series, Craig Mazin.

And Neil Druckmann. Hi. So... We're going to continue what we did for season one. Each week we'll break down the latest episode of The Last of Us, getting into the what, why and how, unpacking and no doubt processing all of it. So I want to warn listeners, these will be very spoiler heavy conversations.

And Neil Druckmann. Hi. So... We're going to continue what we did for season one. Each week we'll break down the latest episode of The Last of Us, getting into the what, why and how, unpacking and no doubt processing all of it. So I want to warn listeners, these will be very spoiler heavy conversations.

So please, by all means, watch the episode first and then you can come back and join us for the rest of the conversation. So season one came out now over two years ago. Now you go into season two and you have the burden of that success on here. How do you meet that challenge?

So please, by all means, watch the episode first and then you can come back and join us for the rest of the conversation. So season one came out now over two years ago. Now you go into season two and you have the burden of that success on here. How do you meet that challenge?

It became a cultural event. And that's where I got scared. For you, Neil, going into this, obviously, when the game came out, it was a remarkable release. Was there ever a part of you that said, maybe I can change some things or maybe I've got a second chance to do this again?

It became a cultural event. And that's where I got scared. For you, Neil, going into this, obviously, when the game came out, it was a remarkable release. Was there ever a part of you that said, maybe I can change some things or maybe I've got a second chance to do this again?

For people who are familiar with the games, familiar with the story, if season one taught us anything, it was you don't know what's coming. I love the perspective that sitting down watching this first episode, I have no idea what's going to happen. What was the baseline of you must know these are the things that right off the bat for this season that we want to get across from the very, very jump?

For people who are familiar with the games, familiar with the story, if season one taught us anything, it was you don't know what's coming. I love the perspective that sitting down watching this first episode, I have no idea what's going to happen. What was the baseline of you must know these are the things that right off the bat for this season that we want to get across from the very, very jump?

All right, let's get into episode one of season two, which you, Craig, wrote and directed, titled Future Days. Future Days is a song by Pearl Jam that in the game, Joel plays for Ellie. And we should say that some astute observers may have an issue with it.

All right, let's get into episode one of season two, which you, Craig, wrote and directed, titled Future Days. Future Days is a song by Pearl Jam that in the game, Joel plays for Ellie. And we should say that some astute observers may have an issue with it.

Let's talk about why you chose to end season one the way you did and why we're starting at this point.

Let's talk about why you chose to end season one the way you did and why we're starting at this point.

Yes. We'll help you find him. I'll help you kill him. Who is this character? And what can we expect from her in this season?

Yes. We'll help you find him. I'll help you kill him. Who is this character? And what can we expect from her in this season?