Although we won’t get the full 10 episodes we’ve come to expect from Game of Thrones in Season 7, that doesn’t mean that the filming time will be shorter.
Alas, Game of Thrones will shorten its final two seasons. It is known, khaleesis and khals. However, apparently, just because there aren’t as many episodes doesn’t mean that the crew isn’t taking as much time as it possibly can to film things. That’s per a new interview with Iain Glen with Radio Times.
Interestingly, it also sounds like he’s confirmed the long-rumored seven-six episode split between the final two seasons. Here’s the complete quote, speaking about the producers of the show when he refers to “they”:
"“They are taking the length of time it takes to shoot ten episodes to shoot just seven this year and six next year. There are fifteen more hours left in Thrones as we understand it, but that may change, but that’s as far as we know.”"
Wait, wait, wait a second here. As our sister site, Winter is Coming, has noted, it seems like Mr. Glen’s math is a touch wonky here. Seven and six make 13. That hasn’t changed. However, he pointedly says “fifteen more hours” of the show are left.
There are two relatively rational possibilities here. First, there could be two more episodes of Game of Thrones. However, it may instead be that we’ll get some longer episodes, as proposed by WiC.
Earlier this year, Westworld showed that HBO dramas can get away with about an hour and a half in its season finale. Create a 90-minute premiere and finale for each season, and you’ve filled in the missing two hours. For the record, “The Winds of Winter” ran just 69 minutes.
If that’s the case, then the additional shooting time makes a lot of sense. Until we know more, we’re sticking with this hypothesis. You might want to strap yourself in now.
Next: 16 Times Sherlock Drove Us Crazy
Game of Thrones returns next summer.