Episode 63 (season 7, episode 3), debut 7/30/17: Emilia Clarke, Conleth Hill.
photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO
We’re only two episodes into Game of Thrones season 7, but rumors are already swirling about the 8th and final season. An HBO programming exec reportedly offered up more details on Wednesday.
Anything can (and will) happen on Game of Thrones. Even in an episode like this week’s that relied heavily on dialogue and quieter interactions between characters, things ended in a fiery battle. So, stepping back to consider what might happen as the entire series wraps up is a little daunting.
On Wednesday,The Wrap reported that HBO programming head Casey Bloys told others at a Television Critics Association press event that what might happen as the series wraps up has been determined: the final six scripts for the series’ final episodes next season have now been completed. But what do we know about those scripts? Not much.
As our sister site Winter is Coming points out, the second to last episode of each season has traditionally included some of the most important and dramatic developments in seasons past (The Red Wedding, the Battle of the Bastards, etc.), so perhaps we’ll get some clues as to what’s to come in season 8 when season 7’s penultimate episode debuts in a few weeks. Of course, cinematographer Robert McLachlan recently said season 7’s second-to-last episode will be “quite different to the rest.” The episode, the title of which has yet to be released, will clock in at a hefty 71 minutes.
That kind of length may be one clue as to what we’ll be seeing in season 8: much longer episodes, in some cases maybe even feature-length. Deadline reports the final episodes, like the season 7 finale, could be in the 80-minute range.
According to The Wrap, Bloys went on to say:
"“I imagine they’ll be longer but … I’m not sure [how long],” Bloys said on Wednesday. “We haven’t had that discussion yet because I don’t know how long the episodes are going to be. Two hours per episode seems like it would be excessive, but it’s a great show, so who knows?”"
The idea of Game of Thrones being “excessive” is pretty entertaining. It’s an epic show. Almost any episode could accurately be described as “excessive” in some way (Sam and Jorah’s greyscale scene this week, for instance). Feature-length season 8 episodes actually sound pretty fitting considering the sweeping story they’ll be trying to finalize.
Next: Game of Thrones season 7, episode 2: 5 OMG moments
Where the action sits now has all been building up to Jon and Daenerys finally coming face-to-face, which appears to happen this week. So, where do we go from there? We’ll have to wait and see. Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.