The Last of Us: Season Two

After a successful run in 2023, the video game adaptation The Last of Us returns this year as over 32 million viewers eagerly await what happens next with post-apocalyptic survivors Joel and Ellie.

The trailer begins with foreboding strings and plaintive piano, with an acoustic guitar breaking into the mix briefly at 0:12—both a reference to Gustavo Santaolalla’s guitar-based series theme and an allusion to how Ellie’s guitar playing figures prominently in the series.

At 0:24 the guitar returns with a folksy minor chord motif reminiscent of the West, and sure enough, we see a flashback with Joel (Pedro Pascal) handing Ellie (Bella Ramsey) the instrument. At 0:42, a loud, ominous synth tone sets in, dominating the soundtrack and leading to epic percussion fills and the return of strings. This plays alongside a montage featuring military personnel. At 0:56 we see Joel’s brother Tommy shooting (synched with the beat of the soundtrack, of course), followed by an audiovisual blackout for additional dramatic effect.

At the one-minute mark, tonal music returns (with the release date title card), with quasi-religious, wordless chanting and high strings accented by epic percussion. This vocal motif—a descending sequence—repeats as the high strings and epic percussion continue, and we are treated to a montage of different high drama and action sequences for Season Two.

Brilliantly, it’s most likely not until 1:33 that one might realize that the soundtrack is a trailerized cover arrangement of Nirvana’s “You Know You’re Right”, a song first released posthumously in 2002. “I won’t move away from here / I won’t be afraid of fear,” Kurt Cobain sings in his instantly identifiable timbre and cadence, and it becomes clear that the vocal theme from earlier was indeed the melody of the chorus.

It’s a nice bit of nostalgia that people in perhaps their mid to late thirties—who may have also grown up with The Last of Us as a video game franchise—might pick up on. Moreover, it’s also fitting as the story takes place in Jackson—somewhere in the West that was Kurt Cobain’s home.

Overall, it’s an effective arrangement that uses a cover song in a subtle way, standing on its own, whether the audio viewer recognizes it or not. Moreover, it leaves room for the guitar and its role in Joel and Ellie’s relationship for additional emotional resonance.

The second season for The Last of Us arrives on HBO Max April 13th.

— Curtis Perry