I really wanted to love season two of HBO’s The Last of Us. For the most part, I did — but it was also impossible to ignore the online masses saying that showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann had lost the thread in season two.

A show known for its devastating character departures now has a big one behind the scenes: The Last of Us co-showrunner Neil Druckmann is exiting the HBO hit series.

In addition, Halley Gross has also announced she will no longer be working on the HBO series. Gross previously co-wrote “The Last of Us Part II” with Druckmann and worked as an executive producer and writer on the HBO series.