Until now, the brilliant minds who have adapted A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin have managed to squeeze each novel in the series into a 10-episode long season for Game of Thrones. But that might be about to change.
In an interview with Variety, the series showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talked about the future of the beloved HBO series. Apparently the showrunners are speculating that Game of Thrones will only last two season after season six, meaning season eight would be the last. Yet season seven and eight would differ from all the previous ones because, between them, there would only be 13 episodes.
Lets pause and think about this for a moment. There are, as of now, 5 books in total in A Song of Ice and Fire. Furthermore, there are 5 seasons of Game of Thrones that have aired. After last season finished, the HBO series had officially caught up with the books. And although the sixth book has yet to be finished, George R.R. Martin has said it will be the final installment for the novels.
Season 6 premieres on Sunday, April 24 (anyone else counting down the days?), which means, if the HBO series continues to run semi-parallel to the books, they will be fitting one book’s worth of story into three seasons. Well, it’s more like two seasons disguised as three.
After the Game of Thrones showrunners speculated about the length of the final two seasons to Variety, the president of HBO’s programming, Michael Lombardo said, “That’s my understanding from them right now, those have been the conversations we’ve had. Because where these narratives go, it feels like another two years to them. As a television executive, as a fan, do I wish they said another six years? I do.”
He then added, “I’m always an optimist, and I do believe we will figure this out.”
Following Variety’s story, Deadline posted a statement from HBO which read, “Any conversations about the end of Game of Thrones and the number of episodes of future seasons is purely speculative. As is customary, HBO will sit with Dan and David to discuss the details once a decision has been made to go forward with season 7.”
The fate of Game of Thrones has yet to be determined; we might see 13 more episodes after season six or the writers may diverge from the books completely and add on even more seasons. But in the short term we can look forward to the season six premiere on April 24.