'Game of Thrones' season 8 finally has a release date and fans are buzzing
Eight years ago, some of us sat down to watch this new show that was airing on HBO. We didn't know much about it, but we saw that it had dragons and swords and naked women, so we were like, "Yeah, I'll give it a shot." Now, in 2019, most of us are still tuning in for new episodes - and the most committed amongst us would probably give up a finger or a toe to have the upcoming (and final!) season immediately.
But before you go lopping off a digit in the hopes that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss might feel sorry for you and give you a preview screening, you might want to know that the release date for season eight of Game of Thrones has finally been set at April 14th.
Oh, and a full teaser trailer has dropped, too.
The 90-second clip shows Jon, Arya and Sansa making their way through the tunnels beneath Winterfell and encountering statues of themselves. At the end of the teaser, they are interrupted by something - or someone - and Jon and Arya draw their swords to face it. We don't get a glimpse of who or what it is, but the icy aura suggests the Night King has found his way into the castle... or is it someone else?
Some people have taken the trailer as a hint that it could be Bran who has returned to be reunited with his siblings, and the allusion to the Night King could be a nod to the popular fan theory that the Stark boy and the zombie overlord are actually one and the same.
Others, however, think that the theory doesn't hold any water, and that the Night King is just some guy who wants to take over the kingdom in the same way that absolutely everybody else does.
As for who will actually claim the throne, we're still not sure. With the season drawing ever closer, though, there are some odds on who will be the victor. Right now, Bran is most likely to be crowned the ruler of Westeros, with Jon and Daenerys following closely behind in joint second place.
But, of course, there have also been some predictions made about who will die - and it ain't looking good.
The top three characters most likely to be killed are Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, and Euron Greyjoy, which - let's be honest - ain't all that sad. Daenerys is also at serious risk of being offed, though, as are Arya and Sansa. And, from what we've heard from stars of the show, it's definitely set to be an emotional final season.
Credit: HBO
"[There were] a lot of tears. I think, you know, as an actor it was really satisfying - I think for everyone, everyone’s storylines - to be able to act out the way that it all ends. It was really satisfying for us," said Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa.
"Who knows if it will be satisfying for the fans. I think a lot of fans will be disappointed and a lot of fans will be over the moon, I think. I think it will be really interesting to see people’s reactions, but for me reading the script it was just like heartbreaking to read at the very final page of the script it just says, ‘End of Game of Thrones’. That was really emotional."
Thankfully, we've only got three months to wait and see how it all pans out.