Game of Thrones spoiler watch: When will season 8 start filming?

The wait between Game of Thrones episodes and Game of Thrones spoilers is going to be short, and we’re glad about it.

If you’ve been paying attention even in the Game of Thrones offseason, you know it’s not that dry. As long as you’re willing to be a little spoiled, you can get the jump on what’s happening in the season to come. Despite the show, according to Screencrush, becoming very protective of its scripts, any spoiler fan knows that photos were still pretty easy to come by in the last off-season. It certainly doesn’t hurt that people in countries like Iceland, where the show films, also recognize actors. And that’s just one example.

So, dear followers of Game of Thrones spoilers, when will we be able to tap into those sweet, sweet photos and speculation again? Thanks to our sister site, Winter is Coming, and ultimately Collider, we know what the current plan is.

According to Den of Geek, the scripts themselves were done by late July. Apparently, however, the actors will get some extra time off. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has guessed that he’ll start seeing those scripts “in the next few weeks,” as he said to Collider, but he did confirm about when exactly those scripts will start to be brought to life: October of this year.

Now, does that mean that Jaime Lannister will survive more near-death experiences in the last two episodes of season 7? Not necessarily. He could be bluffing — we’ve talked about that before with Coster-Waldau’s idea of hint-giving. But this has to seem like a mildly positive sign for Jaime’s odds of living through the series, or at least through season 7, right?

Next: Game of Thrones season 7: 3 questions for 'Beyond the Wall'

We won’t conclude that he’s alive until after we see the season 7 finale … and until we see photos of Coster-Waldau on set later this year or even into next year. Thoroughness is key when it comes to figuring out what’s going on in the future of Game of Thrones, assuming people can still snap those incredibly helpful photos, of course.