That may come as a surprise to people who only watch the show, but game players have long suspected the move away from Ellie to focus on Abby’s story, which mimics a shift that also appears in the original game. Regardless, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann confirmed that Dever would take over the show’s starring position at an Emmys FYC event this week, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“I can’t believe that [HBO] let us structure the series in this way. Meaning like we just ended season two, and season three is going to be starring—spoiler alert—Kaitlyn,” Druckmann said on stage. “I was sure that they wouldn’t let us do this when we started adapting this, but they’ve leaned into what makes, I believe, the story special. And allowed us not only the time but the creative freedom to be able to take these swings, and I think the audience really appreciates that.”
In season two, which finished its run in May, we learn that Abby’s father was the doctor Joel killed during his rampage at the end of season one, setting her on a years-long mission to kill the man who destroyed her family. She succeeds, inciting Ellie to pursue a revenge mission of her own. That journey takes Ellie to Abby’s hideout in Seattle, ending with a gunshot cliff-hanger in the season two finale. In season three, we’ll presumably see how Abby spent the same three days leading to that climactic confrontation.
But despite being set within the same timeframe, Mazin and Druckmann promise season three won’t just be a rehash of what we’ve already seen. “It’s more of a water season than a fire season,” Druckmann said at the event. What the hell does that mean? Well, apart from the whole thing being set in Seattle, the team also isn’t planning to “light things on fire, smash them, [and] tear them down” as much as they did in previous seasons. We’ll see what element is most applicable to season four—as well as how both Ellie and Abby’s stories progress—if and when the next installment is officially confirmed.
