Highlights

  • The Last of Us 3 will have a central theme that will indicate the direction of the story.
  • Trailers for The Last of Us 3 may be vague to avoid spoilers and encourage speculation.
  • The core theme of love in the series implies that The Last of Us 3's theme could be acceptance.

A third chapter in the The Last of Us franchise is on its way. Series producer Neil Druckmann announced that he has completed a rough outline of the third game's story and that he has a general idea of what its central theme could be. It will probably be quite a while until The Last of Us 3 rears its head, but this "central theme" will reveal more about its nature than any piece of promotional content. Players can likely expect The Last of Us 3 to make radical changes to the narrative and gameplay foundations of the game that preceded it, just like The Last of Us 2 departed from The Last of Us with major story and mechanical decisions.

Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us 2 .

The narrative premise of The Last of Us Part 2 was obfuscated in the lead-up to the game's release, with trailers intentionally misleading players into thinking that Joel was still alive. There were heavy suggestions that the story would center on revenge, but the particulars of its plot could only be speculated about. Most players (barring those who saw the leaks ahead of the game launch) couldn't have predicted that the person Ellie would be avenging was Joel. All this is to say that, whenever trailers for TLOU3 begin to drop, they probably won't be very illuminating.

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The Importance of The Last of Us 3's Central Theme

Thematic Framing In The Last of Us

When discussing a potential third The Last of Us entry, Druckmann explained that the first two games were written with "clean" thematic cores in mind. He went on to say that the notion of unconditional parental love is at the heart of the first game's narrative, while Part 2's story is meant to explore the concept of justice. Crucially, Druckmann has noted that the broad and nebulous idea of love is the throughline for the entire series.

Regardless of one's opinion about The Last of Us and its controversial sequel, it's undeniable that their narratives adhere to the aforementioned themes. The first game is clearly about parental love, as Joel loses his daughter and finds a surrogate daughter in Ellie, and Part 2 analyzes justice through the opposing perspectives of both Ellie and Abby. The franchise is clearly concerned with these sorts of lofty ideas, which inform the structure and content of the narrative. With The Last of Us 3 likely closing out the franchise, the importance of its theme can't be overstated.

The Theme of The Last of Us 3 Will Be the Best Indicator of the Game's Story

If the dominant theme of The Last of Us 3 gets revealed ahead of its release, either through interviews, promotional materials, or even another leak, it will probably be the biggest hint about the game's story.

As previously stated, it wouldn't be advisable to put too much faith in any official trailers for the game, as Naughty Dog has proven that it can be deceptive in service of keeping spoilers under wraps. If The Last of Us 3 features another dark twist that sits at the heart of the narrative, akin to Joel's murder in Part 2, it's conceivable that Naughty Dog would show only heavily edited or vague trailers. The studio would be especially motivated to do this after The Last of Us Part 2's leaks, which undermined a lot of the game's initial fanfare.

Vague trailers also boost word-of-mouth promotion, as they prompt discussion and speculation online.

The Last of Us 3 may be more hopeful than previous games, and a clean, straightforward theme like acceptance could suggest the general direction of the game's story. Of course, this is just speculation, and no discussion about the theme will yield a play-by-play prediction of the narrative. But if someone is looking for a hint as to where The Last of Us 3's story is headed, the core theme gestured at by Druckmann would be the best place to start.