Game of Thrones will likely come to an end with two more, shortened seasons running over 13 episodes….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Winter has arrived and the end is near.
Sadly, Game of Thrones is beginning to reach its conclusion with two more seasons stretched over 13 episodes that will likely bring the hugely popular fantasy series to an end.
Following a blockbuster season six finale that saw the deaths of several major characters along with a few key moves, the stage is set for show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss to start crafting the final episodes and the last few wars that will bring Game of Thrones to a close.
“It’s two more seasons we’re talking about,” Benioff confirmed with Deadline on Monday. “From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now.
“What Dan (Weiss) says is really true, but it’s not just trying not to outstay your welcome. We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end. As Dan said, we’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it.”
A few of the major components to that ending started to get put into place during the Game of Thrones season six finale. Several villains were dispatched including the death of Ramsay Snow in episode nine and then Walder Frey in episode ten.
Some characters are no longer around, which is allowing the Game of Thrones writers to condense the story as well as the space where it takes place and it all leads towards one grand finale after season eight comes to an end.
“Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. Daenerys is finally coming back to Westeros; Jon Snow is king of the North and Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them,” Benioff teased.
“The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game.”
According to Benioff, from the first day they pitched this show to HBO, it was always with the intention to tell a complete story.
The show runners didn’t want to get back into the writer’s room at the start of a season just pitching ideas about what should happen next.
Instead, Benioff, Weiss and Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin all had a hand in making sure the story was told with precision and great execution to tell the exact tale from beginning to end.
Now the final episodes are near and Benioff sees the way the show will finish.
“The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it’s trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra ten hours, or because people are still watching it,” Benioff said.
“We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We’re definitely heading into the end game now.”
If current plans stay on course, Game of Thrones season seven will debut in the spring of 2017 with a seven episode story arc. That would mean the final season of Game of Thrones would likely debut in 2018 with the final six episodes to bring the show to a close.
Rumors have persisted that the primary actors on the show including Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington and others just recently inked new deals to keep them on board with Game of Thrones through season eight.
And then their watch is ended.
Game of Thrones returns in 2017 but don’t forget to follow our extensive coverage of the finale and more on Nerdcore Movement plus exclusive footage from San Diego Comic Con starting July 20.
