Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for Season 1 of “The Last of Us” and the first episode of Season 2, now streaming on Max.

The infection is beginning to spread in Season 2 of “The Last of Us” — and I’m not talking about the grotesque monstrosities hiding in dark corners. 

It’s been just over two years since the first season on HBO, adapted from Naughty Dog’s genre-defining The Last of Us video game, wrapped up. At the end of those nine episodes — sometimes affirming, mostly heartbreaking, but always phenomenal, which together I consider to be the best video game adaptation ever made — the world once again shifted on its axis. It wasn’t enough that a fungal infection had basically destroyed humanity by turning just about everyone into zombielike monsters. No, what left jaws on the floor was a monumental act of love: a surrogate father protecting a child he sees as his own. 

It’s that singular, desperate, violent decision by Joel (Pedro Pascal) to save Ellie (Bella Ramsey) — whose immunity to the infection could have potentially led to a cure, but at the cost of her own life — that sets up the events of Season 2, partially adapted from 2020’s The Last of Us Part II video game. (HBO announced last Wednesday that the series was renewed for a third season, which will continue to adapt the sequel game.)

Read the full recap at The Seattle Times.