Game of Thrones is probably the biggest TV show of all time, with millions of viewers every week (and many more pirates) tuning in to see if they’re ever going to actually use those damn dragons properly.
We’ve heard a number of times that the show would be ending after eight seasons (season six is currently playing) and another rumour suggested they might be shorter runs than the 10 episode epics we’re used to.
Now it seems there’s a little more confirmation that our time in Westeros is coming to a close.
TV director Jack Bender – who worked on Lost and The Sopranos, as well as two episodes of season six – was chatting to Vanity Fair when the subject of returning in season 7 came up. And his answer was telling.
“They’re only doing seven, and they’ve got their regulars who have done it forever. I know that I had a wonderful experience doing the show and I know that Dan and David are thrilled with the shows…”
It’s an offhand comment but confirms rumours that have been swirling for awhile. Season 7 at least will be shorter than the normal 10 at just 7 episodes, and that’s likely to hold for the final run as well.
That means there are less than 20 episodes, so under 20 hours perhaps, left in this incredible world.
But it doesn’t have to be bad news. For one thing, given the scale of the productions HBO can fit a lot into an episodes, and we wouldn’t be surprised if some of them being significantly longer than an hour. The cable channel has a lot of freedom in that respect, just look at the feature lengthed finale for Six Feet Under.
And that fixed end point also means that the creative sorts have a place to write towards and strands to start laying down now. It means that the slowly moving aggressors have to come to the same place, with the White Walkers and the families and those bleeding dragons heading to the same battlefield for a truly epic ending.
It’s going to be huge.
Season 7 will likely arrive in 2017, with the last episodes broadcast in 2018.
