The reason why The Last of Us Season 2 has only 7 episodes instead of more (like Season 1's 9 episodes) is primarily due to the narrative scope and desire for optimal storytelling. The show's creators, including executive producer Neil Druckmann, revealed that from early on they realized the story from Part 2 of the game was too large and complex to fit into just one season. They chose to split the story across multiple seasons rather than cram it into a single one. The writers prioritized having a natural and meaningful ending for the season, rather than adhering to a fixed episode count. They broke down the whole story first, ignoring potential episode or season lengths, and then worked backward to find the best break point. This process led them to a seven-episode season, focused on making every episode impactful and meaningful without padding or cutting content just to meet expectations. HBO gave them the flexibility to tell the story they deemed necessary for that chapter without pressure for a specific episode number. The narrative of Season 2 covers about half of The Last of Us Part 2 game, ending on a natural breaking point that sets up the continuation of the story in upcoming seasons. The creators also hinted that the story may extend into a third and even fourth season due to its length and complexity. In summary, The Last of Us Season 2 is only 7 episodes because the story was too large for one season, the creators wanted to end on a meaningful note, and HBO allowed them freedom to decide the appropriate episode count based on storytelling needs rather than format constraints.