Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.

Sadly, Catherine O’Hara’s mysterious, undisclosed role in The Last of Us season 2 probably won’t be the Seraphite prophet – but I think I know who it will be. Along with Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, O’Hara has been cast in a key role in The Last of Us season 2. But unlike those other actors, O’Hara’s role is being kept a secret. There’s been plenty of speculation about who O’Hara will play, ranging from joke castings like the Rat King to serious suggestions like the Seraphite prophet.

In a recent interview with Premiere, O’Hara shed some light on her Last of Us season 2 character. O’Hara said that filming her scenes for the second season was “intense,” but that she felt “welcome” among the cast and crew. While she couldn’t reveal too many details, O’Hara did give away that she will appear in three episodes and her character will meet both Joel and Ellie, so that rules out the prophet. It seems most likely that she’s a Jackson resident – and if that’s the case, I’ve narrowed down a few interesting possibilities for her role.

Catherine O’Hara Could Be Playing Joel’s Girlfriend (Who Got Cut From The Game)

Joel originally had a girlfriend named Esther

I’ve sunk around 250 hours into The Last of Us Part II and can confirm that there isn’t a single character in Jackson who meets both Joel and Ellie and fits O’Hara’s type, so she might be playing a character who got cut from the game. In an interview with The Washington Post, the game’s co-writer Halley Gross explained that, early in the story’s development, Joel had a girlfriend named Esther. She would’ve gotten infected and the sound of a gunshot would leave it ambiguous as to whether Esther took her own life or Joel pulled the trigger.

There’s a lot of unused material around this Esther character. There wasn’t room for it in the game, but the TV show is under no pressure to get to the action, so maybe the Esther storyline could be repurposed. It works great for the story to show Joel as a lonely man, with his whole emotional focus being on Ellie, but it might add an interesting new angle to give him a love interest. O’Hara is just over 20 years older than Pedro Pascal, but no one bats an eye when Hollywood casts an age gap the other way around.

O’Hara Might Be Playing A Gender-Swapped Eugene Or Seth

Maybe Eugene or Seth could be adapted into a woman in the TV show

HBO’s The Last of Us hasn’t been 100% faithful in its adaptation of the games’ characters. The TV show made Maria pregnant, it made Joel’s relationship with Tess more overtly romantic, and it kept Frank alive for one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. While the TV show is beholden to the most crucial plot points and the overall spirit of the source material, it’s clearly not averse to tweaking the characters for a slightly different storytelling experience. With that in mind, I think O’Hara could be playing a gender-swapped character.

She might play a female version of Seth, the “bigot sandwich” artist who uses a homophobic slur against Ellie and Dina at the fateful Jackson barn dance. Alternatively, she could be playing a female version of Eugene. Eugene passes away before the main events of the game, but Ellie and Dina speak fondly of him. The TV show could do away with Eugene’s death and bring in a gender-swapped version of the character; Eugene’s characterization as a kooky, hilarious stoner that all the kids look up to sounds like a perfect role for O’Hara.

O’Hara Could Play Someone Related To Ellie’s Ex-Girlfriend, Cat

The TV show might explore Ellie’s relationship with Cat

Throughout The Last of Us Part II, there are various hints that Ellie has an ex-girlfriend named Cat. Dina mentions Ellie’s relationship with Cat while they’re on patrol early in the game, and there are a handful of entries about Cat in Ellie’s journal. There’s a lot of rich storytelling in these journal entries. Cat’s early flirtation with Ellie and Ellie’s attempts to brush it off highlight Ellie’s struggles with self-esteem. Their first kiss, after which Ellie stayed up and watched Cat sleep because she was worried she’d infected her, could sustain a whole TV episode on its own.

If the TV show makes a whole storyline out of Ellie and Cat’s relationship, then O’Hara could play someone related to Cat. She could be playing Cat’s mom (or an aunt or grandma looking after Cat in her mom’s absence). Maybe she’ll even play a non-blood-related guardian to Cat, mirroring Joel’s relationship with Ellie. A key milestone in any teenage romance is meeting each other’s parents, so Ellie could introduce Cat to Joel and Cat could introduce Ellie to her guardian. This one is a stretch, because it’s unlikely Ellie’s relationship with Cat will be extrapolated into an entire storyline.

O’Hara Could Be Playing A Brand-New Character In The Last Of Us Season 2

This is the most likely explanation

The most likely candidate for who O’Hara is playing in The Last of Us season 2 is a brand-new character. Season 1 introduced a bunch of characters who weren’t in the games: mycology professor Ratna Pertiwi, Wyoming couple Marlon and Florence, ruthless militia leader Kathleen and her second-in-command Perry – even Ellie’s mother, Anna. In fleshing out the first game’s storylines and translating compelling gameplay into compelling television, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann found plenty of opportunities to bring in new characters. It stands to reason that season 2 will do the same.

There are plenty of off-screen characters that could be folded into the TV show to enrich the storytelling of The Last of Us Part II even more. As a diehard fan of the game, I’d love to see Tommy’s journey to Seattle, I’d love to see Lev and Yara’s relationship with their mom before they ran away, and I’d love to see the rise of the W.L.F. through the eyes of Boris Legasov and his neighbors. The Last of Us Part II’s unseen stories present all kinds of opportunities to introduce new characters in the adaptation.

O’Hara would be an interesting choice for any of the possibilities I’ve mentioned. It would be fun to see her as a romantic interest opposite Pascal, she’d be a wonderful addition to the Cat romance storyline, she’d shine in the role of eccentric pothead Eugena, and it would be intriguing to see such a lovable actor play a distinctly unlovable character like Seth. But it’s more likely that O’Hara is playing a brand-new character in The Last of Us season 2.

Source: Premiere, Washington Post