If Abby Appears In The Last Of Us Season 2, How Old Would She Be?

This post contains spoilers for season 1 of "The Last of Us," and the game's sequel, "The Last of Us Part II."

Season 1 of "The Last of Us" was not just one of HBO's most successful new shows in over a decade, but also a landmark moment for video game adaptations. A once cursed genre has now been proven to be especially profitable, and as various other games like "Fallout" make their way to becoming live-action shows, there is a bright future ahead in the entertainment industry. The HBO series faithfully captured the post-apocalyptic dystopia of Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed game in live-action, as well as delivered career-best performances from Pedro Pascal ("The Mandalorian") and Bella Ramsey ("Game of Thrones").

What was the secret to "The Last of Us" and its rare critical success? According to showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, it was about staying true to the essence of the original story, but also not being afraid to flesh out certain plot beats and characters in order to tailor the story to its new longform, episodic mediums. Now that the show has been renewed for season 2, you can expect the same treatment towards the game's controversial sequel "The Last of Us Part II."

With hindsight from knowing where these characters end up, Mazin and Druckmann were able to inject elements of "Part II" back into Joel and Ellie's first adventure together in subtle ways. Though season 2 is a while from now, fans are waiting to find out who will play Abby Anderson, a key character originally portrayed by Laura Bailey in the games. Fancasts are ranging from all sorts of places, which begs the ultimate question, when Abby comes into the picture, how old will she be?

Abby's role in the story is the most controversial aspect about "The Last of Us Part II." Without giving too much away, in the opening hour of the game, she brutally tortures and murders Joel In cold blood before taking her crew of Washington Liberation Front (WLF) soldiers along with her. As Ellie, the player embarks on a revenge quest through a war-torn Seattle to find closure and seek vengeance for her father figure. It's all in service of a challenging, emotionally complex story about the duality of human nature and how we are interconnected in love and hate.

Despite her tough, muscular physique and Laura Bailey's deep voice, it's canon that Abby is roughly around the same age as Ellie, who is 19 years old when the events of "Part II" first begin to unfold. A companion tie-in book, "The Art of The Last of Us Part II" published by Dark Horse Comics reads that Abby is slightly older, about mid-20s when the events of the game take shape. Obviously, there is always room for the HBO adaptation to change small details and age up Ellie or Abby to a reasonable degree if needed, but the fact that these characters are young and are in extremely vulnerable points of their lives is largely the point.

"The Last of Us Part II" not just shifts the focus from Joel to Ellie, but from the older generation to the newer. Everyone in Ellie's age bracket has never known a world before the Cordyceps infection, where survival wasn't the default mode of living, and where violence isn't the only solution. Drastically aging up the characters would not be in Druckmann's interests, as it would change his story greatly.

Currently, there is no official announcement of who will be portraying Abby in further seasons of "The Last of Us." However, let's point out that whoever winds up playing Abby will unfortunately need to have the thickest skin in the industry. Abby's character was the subject of a loud, misogynistic backlash. Bailey, Druckmann, and even regular Naughty Dog employees would become the subjects of internet harassment.

The HBO show has already been through quite enough public controversy as well, as there has been bigoted backlash over the numerous LGBTQ+ characters within the series. The third episode of Season 1, "Long, Long Time" de-rails the main plot to tell a bittersweet love story between Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It was review-bombed by trolls, and it's saddening to see a series with such a central core of love and empathy be misinterpreted for the scum of the internet.

Bella Ramsey, thankfully, is unbothered by the backlash. But still, the vitriol against the character of Abby and "The Last of Us Part II" continues to this day, and it would be in HBO's best interest to not take it lightly. It was recently discussed that the story of "Part II" would be tackled in numerous seasons, rather than the first game's approach to do it in one season. As exciting as that is, let's also hope that there's a plan to protect both Ramsey and whichever fresh talent gets cast as Abby

Ellie and Abby are two sides of the same coin; vengeance and redemption, hate and love, an eye for an eye — but they also represent some of gaming's most complex and well-realized female video game protagonists. It's time for society to catch up to their level.