Wait, 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 May Not Air Until 2019?

Seven hells. Yes, we're greedy, and we took it for granted that of course "Game of Thrones" Season 8, the final season, would continue the pattern of airing a year after the previous season. Since Season 7 airs in 2017, with its seven episodes starting July 16, why wouldn't Season 8 air in 2018, with its six episodes showing up at some point in that 12-month timeframe?

It's possible GoT Season 8 will still air in 2018, but during his talk with Entertainment Weekly, HBO programming president Casey Bloys suggested it could be later. Actually, EW's reporter suggested it first, when referencing showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff:

EW: "On the Dan and David side of things, they told me that they're not going to be involved in the prequels and instead are going to work on the final season for the next year and a half. Is that right?"

The next year and a half. Let that sink in. Here's part of the response:

Casey Bloys: "By the time the final season airs, Dan and David will have been at this for 12 years. Which is an amazing fact."

Twelve years. HBO originally optioned the rights to author George R.R. Martin's series "A Song of Ice and Fire" in 2007, which is also when D&D were named the show's executive producers. Twelve years from that point would be 2019.

EW: So as of now, the final season could air in 2018 and/or in 2019 depending on their needs?

Bloys: Yeah. They have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule. We'll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing.

So they haven't even finished writing the scripts yet. Back at the Golden Globe Awards, Liam Cunningham (Davos) said they'd start filming Season 8 this September. Maybe that has changed.

This season, GoT had a later-than-usual start to filming to take advantage of the real-world winter. Instead of Season 7 premiering in April, as usual, it was pushed to July. And we thought that was bad enough! Maybe they will wait even longer to film Season 8? It's already going to be the shortest season yet at just six episodes, and if the scripts aren't done, and the production schedule isn't finalized, we may indeed be waiting quite a long time. Then again, who really wants this show to end? Maybe it's a good thing to stretch it out and make it last.

Bloys also clarified a bunch of rumors about the prequel scripts in development, so read more from him about that.

GoT Season 7 premieres Sunday, July 16 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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