Game of Thrones fans are no strangers to watching some of their favorite characters suffer unfortunate deaths. Ever since season one, the popular HBO fantasy series has been killing fan-favorite characters left and right. But according to one HBO exec, the show’s final season will shock even the most hardened Game of Thrones viewers.
The Wrap reported that during one panel discussion, HBO’s SVP for drama, Francesca Orsi, let slip some major teases about just how brutal Game of Thrones’ season 8 will be. Orsi recounted to fans and journalists how the first table read of the season 8 scripts went. According to Orsi, this was when the cast read all of the scripts for the first time.
Orsi said, “None of the cast had received the scripts prior, and one by one [their characters] all started falling down to their deaths.” The HBO exec continued, “It was amazing. By the very end, everyone looked down and looked up and tears were in their eyes.”
It certainly seems as though HBO is planning to end Game of Thrones on a bang. The cable company, along with showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, have chosen an impressive list of directors to head up the final season.
Directors David Nutter (responsible for some of the show’s most memorable episodes such as “Rains of Castamere” and “The Dance of Dragons”) and Miguel Sapochnik (who took on the explosive episodes “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”) will be directors for the season as well as David Benioff and Dan Weiss themselves. Benioff and Weiss have not directed an episode since season 4’s first episode “Two Swords”.
HBO confirmed at the beginning of this year that the premiere date for Game of Thrones season 8 is set for 2019.