Sorry, fans of the books. I love A Song Of Ice And Fire too, but it looks unlikely that George R.R. Martin will ever finish the series. He's busy working on more important things, like washing his beard and swimming in a giant pile of money. But the good news is, we will finally get an ending to the television adaptation. Martin told the producers how he believes the story will end, so we will all get some closure.
The final season of Game of Thrones premieres in April 2019. I know, that's so far away. By then, we'll be as old as Aemon Targaryen! But there's no need to despair and splash some Tears of Lys into your morning coffee. Thanks to production leaks, interviews with the cast and crew, and a raven from Samwell Tarly, we know a bit of information about the final season. (Don't worry. No major spoilers.)
Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said the final season will consist of six episodes, which might be longer than the usual one-hour format. At Comic-Con, sound designer Paula Fairfield let it slip that some episodes may end up being feature-length (which means at least eighty minutes). The previous season consisted of only seven episodes, and many fans criticized it for its breakneck pace. However, Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays Missandei, says the final season won't feel so rushed. She told Metro U.K., "They’ve taken the exact number of hours to tell the story they want to tell and it will be brilliant." And I assume after that, she said, "it is known."
In Season 7, we saw some the most spectacular scenes in the show's history, with Jon Snow's suicide squad meeting the Night King, Daenerys Targaryen and Jaime Lannister’s armies coming face to face, and the epic reveal of the zombie ice dragon. For season 8, the production will be even more grandiose. Kit Harrington told The Huffington Post, "They spent an increasing amount of money on less episodes, so it’s gonna be much bigger in scale. We’re trying new things, experimenting with new camera techniques. I think we’re trying to break boundaries and push past boundaries in these final two seasons." Wow, Jon Snow finally knows something.
While fans are eager to see how the story ends, no spoilers have leaked. The President of HBO said they will be shooting multiple fake endings, with multiple fake scripts. However, Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, threw water on that rumor. "I don't think we've got the budget to shoot lots of different endings," she told Jimmy Kimmel. "As we know, sometimes presidents don't always tell the truth." Ha! Daenerys burns people with her dragons, while Arya burns them with her wit.
We do know which characters will be returning. Obsessed stalkers - I mean, fans - combed through Carice van Houten's Instagram, and discovered she was driving on a route near a Game of Thrones set. So you can probably count on seeing The Red Woman Melisandre again. The last time we saw everyone's favorite ginger, Wilding Tormund Giantsbane, he was at The Wall being attacked by the ice dragon, Viserion. The Wall collapsed, and Tormund's fate was left unknown, but the actor has been spotted at Belfast and at table reads. So there's still a chance he and Brienne will live happily ever after.
However, if you're shipping for Tyrion and Daenerys to become a couple, don't count on it. In the season 7 finale, we saw Tyrion lurking outside the door as Daenerys and Jon had sex. This led some fans to speculate that Tyrion was harboring romantic feelings for the Queen of Dragons. But the finale director, Jeremy Podeswa, told The Daily Beast that's not the case.
"I think there’s jealousy, but it’s maybe not romantic jealousy, in the way that it is for Jorah...it’s more complicated. I think he has a very special relationship with Dany and he really believes in her as a true leader and has invested a lot in her. I think for him, with Jon and Dany getting together, this represents a possible undermining of his position with her and also a monkey wrench thrown into what the master plan really is meant to be around this entire alliance."
Filming for the final season starts in October. According to casting updates, new characters will include "Northern Sentry," "Northern Girl," "Sarra," "Golden Company commander Harry Strickland," and "a boy who has to fight to make his way in the world." According to eagle-eyed fans, who've been poring through production photos, the Dragonpit will be back, the Unsullied will fight in the snow at Winterfell, and there will be a battle at the gates of King's Landing. But all of that is just speculation.
So, now you're caught up, and you have plenty of time to rewatch the previous seasons. And feel free to taunt those poor book fans. They've been waiting for an ending since the first book was published in 1996. (Not so smug now, are they?)
In related news, here's how Game of Thrones characters would look if Disney illustrated them...