After a fungal infection triggers a deadly pandemic, turning humans into zombie-like creatures, the world as we know it has been devastated beyond repair. Years after a heartbreaking loss of his own, smuggler Joel is recruited to bring fourteen-year-old Ellie across the United States to safety.

Ellie has a rare immunity to the virus and could hold the key to saving the world. But Joel has his own demons to contend with as they embark upon their journey.

Based on the 2013 Naughty Dog video game, The Last of Us launched to massive praise, earning a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The BBC declared in their review: “It doesn't feel even remotely controversial to call this the best video game adaptation ever made.”

Here’s what you need to know about the first season and how it played out.

All episodes of The Last of Us are now available on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

Even after HBO Max launches in the UK in 2026, Sky customers will continue to find shows such as House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us, and any new series aired before the end of 2025 on Sky Atlantic and through Sky’s On Demand service.

And if you’re already a Sky subscriber, you will get complete continuity of the service at no extra cost via the Max app. The deal means Sky and NOW customers benefit from more content through bundled access to the streaming service that will exclusively feature new HBO Original and Max Original shows and more.

Season one is made up of nine episodes and begins with an ominous television report from 1968 between two scientists – one of which warns that fungal infections could become a grave threat as the world gets warmer, allowing them to inhabit a human’s body.

In 2003, 35 years after the television report, a mutation of parasitic fungi Cordyceps causes a deadly infection and the quick collapse of civilisation.

In Texas, Joel Miller tries to flee the chaos alongside his daughter, Sarah, and his brother, Tommy. However, their attempts end in tragedy.

In 2023, Joel is now living in a quarantine zone in Boston, Massachusetts, operated by FEDRA – the Federal Disaster Response Agency, working as a smuggler alongside Tess.

However, when his brother fails to contact him from Wyoming, Joel encounters the rebel group the Fireflies. Their leader, Marlene, begs him to escort Ellie – a young girl immune to the infection – away from the quarantine zone and to a safe house in Massachusetts.

Joel and Tess begin their mission to get Ellie to the Massachusetts State House, with the teenager sharing she is being moved in hopes of finding a cure.

However, their trip is far from smooth, with the infected stopping them at every turn, and devastation awaiting them upon their arrival.

With time running out, the trio have to make a heartbreaking sacrifice as they reconfigure their plans.

In this special episode, we’re introduced to the story of Bill and Frank, two survivors who found love and humanity with each other in 2007, four years after the initial outbreak.

As Ellie and Joel make their way to the pair, we find out about their lives up until this point, and how Frank became friends with Tess during the devastation.

Upon their arrival at Bill and Frank’s home, Joel is shocked to receive a present from the pair, alongside a letter about the meaning of life.

From there, the pair set off to find Tommy in Wyoming.

As Joel and Ellie continue their journey, a detour to Kansas City finds the pair ambushed by bandits. While they’re able to fend them off, a manhunt for the duo soon ensues.

With the gang looking for a man named Henry, leaders Kathleen and Perry believe Joel and Ellie could hold the key to locating him.

Desperate to avoid detection, the pair find sanctuary in an apartment building – where more trouble awaits them.

Joel and Ellie find reluctant allies, who are one the run themselves – with their pursuers not too far behind. Adding to the peril is a horde of infected blocking their only exit.

While they narrowly escape, not everybody makes it out unscathed...

Three months after the events of episode five, Joel and Ellie reach Jackson, Wyoming, where they are welcomed by Tommy and his pregnant wife, Maria.

Joel confides in Tommy about his personal struggles during his time on the road, before asking him to take over the mission to deliver Ellie to the safety of the Fireflies. Unfortunately, a devastated Ellie overhears them, and after some soul-searching Joel decides to take her to Colorado.

But on their arrival, Joel’s worst fears prove to be well founded...

Ellie and Joel take shelter in an abandoned house, with Joel gravely wounded.

In a series of flashbacks, Ellie’s past as a member of a military school run by FEDRA is revealed, including her rebellious streak and her close friendship with a girl named Riley.

When Riley becomes a member of the Fireflies, the friends share one last day together, where the truth about Ellie’s condition become apparent.

But how does this affect her and Joel in the present?

On a hunt for food, Ellie encounters a preacher named David, with whom she makes a trade – but by doing so alerts enemies to her and Joel’s location.

As this new group makes themselves known, their peculiar form of survival becomes apparent, as Joel and Ellie fight to get back to each other and to safety.

Details of Ellie’s birth, and the fate of her mother, are revealed in a flashback, while in present day Joel and Ellie have a heart-to-heart about their pasts.

Approaching the Firefley compound in Salt Lake City, Firefly soldiers find them first and Joel is reunited with Marlene, but upon learning about the reality of their plans for Ellie, he takes matters into his own hands – with deadly consequences.