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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, HBO announced which month Thrones ' final run would premiere. Then, the network distracted us with our first footage out of Winterfell.
Finally, HBO announced Thrones season 8 would premiere on HBO on Sunday, April 14, and on Sky Atlantic in the UK in the early hours of Monday 15th April.
With the officially countdown in effect, 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 trailers 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 secrets are hiding in the brand new previews. The more portentous one, of the top three Stark kids wandering the crypts of Winterfell, spells an especially terrifying promise of doom (and, death, naturally).
When will Game Of Thrones season 8 premiere & did the announcement hint at any spoilers?
As mentioned earlier, HBO confirmed the official premiere date will be Sunday, April 14 (Monday 15th for us in the UK).
That means breakout star Maisie Williams was right along, as she told U.K. publication Metro back in January 2018 that her show would return in April 2019. Always trust Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).
The premiere announcement suggested one — or all — of the leading Stark children may die. The preview shows Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), and Arya (Williams) walking the crypts of Winterfell, where the remains of their ancestors are kept. Along with those remains are statues of each family member, including Jon's real mom Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi) and Stark patriarch Ned Stark (Sean Bean).
At the end of the cousins' dreamlike walk, they happen upon their own statues, suggesting they too are fated to die soon. As the trio finds the creepy statues, the winds of winter — an apt metaphor for the Night King — begins to fill the crypt. Everyone is rightly terrified.
This can't be good.
Is there any more footage from Winterfell & can I see it?
Yes, of course. In HBO's 2019 trailer, the network dropped its first look at Game Of Thrones season 8. The footage reveals what happens when Dany and Jon Snow finally arrive at Winterfell after their Westeros-spanning adventure to stop the Night King.
Let's just say everything goes suspiciously well.
Are there any other trailers I can watch?
Yes, HBO also released the official teaser trailer in December 2018. It is right here for your viewing pleasure. While the video may not give us a direct look at Thrones season 8, it may offer a major hint about what's to come.
As eagle-eyed fans have noted, the first official Thrones season 8 trailer suggests a dragon battle at the Trident in Westeros, which is exactly where Jon's dad Rhaegar Targaryen died during Robert's Rebellion.
The preview also hints a new Wall will form at the site of this upcoming battle since the old Wall fell in the season 7 finale. This time, rather than ice, the barrier will be made of obsidian.
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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.
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How long will Thrones ' final episodes be?
During Thrones ' abnormally long hiatus, HBO attempted to placate fans by promising movie-length episodes. Well, we're not exactly seeing those feature-y run-times just yet.
The premium network confirmed the season 8 premiere will be 54 minutes long; the second instalment will be 58 minutes long. For comparison's sake, 2017's season 7 premiere, "Dragonstone," was 70 minutes long. The finale that year, "The Dragon And The Wolf," ran for just over 90 minutes.
It's unclear if the remaining four episodes — including the much publicised, gruelling-to-shoot nighttime battle episode — will live up to the hype.
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.
How should we expect everyone to look in season 8?
HBO answered that question with a sprawling series of key art cast photos. The network debuted the whopping 20 images in late February via Twitter, teasing the arrival of every one from Daenerys to Sam on the Iron Throne. Even the Night King got a seat on the most hallowed chair in Westeros.
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.
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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.
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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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