Forget winter, Game Of Thrones is coming. After well over a year of a Westeros drought, everyone’s favourite HBO fantasy epic is slowly preparing to return to our TV screens for season 8, which will stand as Thrones ’ final season. First, there was the buzzy footage in HBO’s “Coming Soon” teaser. Then there was Thrones ’ big surprise Emmy win. Then, at last, Entertainment Weekly gifted fans with the biggest report from season 8’s set yet.
So, it’s likely fans are desperate for any and all details from Game Of Thrones ’ last season. We scoured the internet for all the most crucial cast interviews, Instagram photos, and HBO announcements to figure out what we should expect for Thrones ’ goodbye run.
Keep reading to learn everything from when Thrones season 8 will premiere to which shocking characters will return and what the premiere’s plot will be.
When will Game Of Thrones season 8 air?
HBO has been famously cagey about when we should actually expect to return to Westeros. But, we do finally have a bit of an idea when Game Of Thrones season 8 will premiere: the “first half” of 2019, as HBO president Casey Bloys said during the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in July 2018.
If you want to get into theories rather than cold hard facts, it’s possible Thrones ’ last season will arrive in April 2019, which does fall in the first half of the year. In January 2019, breakout star Maisie Williams told Metro that Thrones season 8 will debut in April 2019.
Honestly, the sooner the better.
How many episodes will Game Of Thrones season 8 be?
Thrones ’ final season will have the series’ shortest episode number with just six instalments. Yet, there’s no reason to panic just yet. As star Iain Glen, who plays Jorah Mormont, confirmed to the Express, in September 2018, each episode is “feature-length.”
So, we’ll be getting movie-length episodes every week for six weeks, rather than abbreviated ones over 10 weeks. It’s a fair trade.
Who is definitely in the season 8 cast?
A few people have been spotted on set, spoken out in interviewers, or were featured in the massive Entertainment Weekly sneak peek report.
Character-wise, we can unquestionably expect to see Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), Maisie Williams's Arya Stark, Iain Glen’s Jorah Mormont, Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), and Gendry (Joe Dempsie).
Thanks to Emilia Clarke’s Instagram, it also seems likely we’ll see Varys (Conleth Hill) and Samwell Tarly (John Bradley). And, if we’re getting Sam, that probably means Gilly (Hannah Murray) will be along for the ride as well.
Please don’t forget Gilly figured out the whole Jon Snow Is A Targaryen Thing first.
Why should we all care about Maisie Williams’ Instagram?
Because it suggests some bloody stuff will occur in the Thrones series finale (shocker). Arya’s portrayer Maisie Williams shared one goodbye photo on Instagram after she wrapped filming. The image shows her sneakers absolutely covered in gore.
So, um, yeah, Thrones ’ last episode probably isn’t going to be an exercise in peace treaties and hand holding.
Should we expect any surprise cast appearances?
According to that aforementioned EW report from the Thrones set, a few mysterious someones will appear that will shock even the most dedicated of fans. As journalist James Hibberd wrote upon entering filming, “There are characters in the finale that I did not expect.”
Who could those surprise people be?
A leading candidate for finale season surprise reemergence is Dany’s former bae Daario (Michiel Huisman), whom she left to rule Meereen in her stead back in season 6. Considering all the casualties Dany’s army suffered throughout season 7, the would-be Queen of Westeros could use all the help she can get.
Fan-favourite Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), whom Arya left in Bravos back in season 6, is also a good guess.
And, when it comes to recently seen characters one simply wouldn’t expect to catch in season 8, poor Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) is a fantastic guess. We haven’t seen Yara’s body yet — despite the fact that she was abducted by her violent uncle Euron (Pilou Asbæk) — meaning the ironborn warrior isn’t technically dead. Yara’s troubled brother Theon (Alfie Allen) ended season 7 determined to save his sister. Maybe he actually succeeds?
Right now, the return of the beloved Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) is a delightful pipe dream.
What do we know about the premiere episode plot?
There are a few tidbits of plot details sprinkled throughout the EW story. Chief among them is what we can expect for the premiere.
“Season 8 opens at Winterfell with an episode that contains plenty of callbacks to the show’s pilot,” the magazine reports. But, instead of the heralded arrival of King Robert Baratheon’s sprawling army (where we ever so young?) it’s Dany’s. Jon, who left his ancestral home as a king, is returning having bent the knee to his dragon-riding girlfriend.
Sansa, the fearsome lady of Winterfell, unsurprisingly won’t be “thrilled” about her “brother’s” change in loyalty. Or, “at least not at first,” according to Hibberd. Does that mean Dany does something to change Sansa’s mind?
What will follow is reportedly “a thrilling and tense intermingling of characters,” all of whom are preparing to fight the Night King’s army.
Can Thrones season 8 outdo itself?
It’s certainly going to try. After ratcheting up our fight scene expectations between season 2’s dazzling “Blackwater,” season 6’s relentless “Battle Of The Bastards,” and season 7’s visceral “Spoils of War,” the entire Thrones team is hyping up season 8’s upcoming battle against the army of the dead. It sounds like the war scene will prove to be pop culture’s longest sustained action sequence in history. Yes, that includes every action movie ever.
As EW points out, those infamous 55 days of night shoots for the battle were only for the exterior shoots. Once that was wrapped, director Miguel Sapochnik, who also helmed “Battle Of The Bastards,” then moved filming to an indoor set and continued to shoot the living-vs.-the-dead confrontation for “ weeks after that.”
The battle will also hop around through multiple characters’ “survival storylines,” and each one will feel “like its own genre.”
Battles are coming.
Where is Ghost?
Don’t worry, Jon's trusty direwolf Ghost will mercifully return for Thrones ’ last hurrah. VFX supervisor Jon Bauer confirmed as much to Huffington Post, promising, “You’ll see him again. He has a fair amount of screen time in Season 8.”
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