Season 8 of Game of Thrones was announced by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff on March 12, 2017. Like the seventh season, Season 8 is shorter than previous seasons, consisting of six episodes, due to the smaller amount of story content remaining, as well as the increased production values and time required to film episodes involving larger set pieces than in previous seasons. Filming began in October 2017 and ended in September 2018.
The season premiered on February 24, 2019.
Like the sixth and seventh seasons, Season 8 is based on an outline of the two final, presently-unpublished novels in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
Season 8 is the final season of Game of Thrones, though after the conclusion of Season 8, five potential "successor shows", more likely prequels, are certainly possible.
Plot[]
- "The Long Night is coming, and the dead come with it."
- ―Jon Snow
After eight thousand years of standing between the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the lands beyond, the inevitable has finally happened - the Wall has been breached: Mounted on the reanimated corpse of Daenerys Targaryen's dragon Viserion, the Night King has blasted through the ancient fortification and all but obliterated the castle of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. The army of the dead, now numbering over 100,000 wights as well as the White Walkers, is heading straight towards the North, bringing a winter that will become another Long Night, one which may last forever.
Unfortunately, the political and military strife within the Seven Kingdoms is not yet over. Though the War of the Five Kings is long ended, control of the Iron Throne is still being contested. In King's Landing, despite having proven herself a less than ideal ruler, Queen Cersei Lannister is determined to stay on the Iron Throne any cost. Allying herself with Euron Greyjoy and Randyll Tarly, Cersei's armies won several victories against the invading forces of Daenerys Targaryen, and have sacked the Tyrell stronghold of Highgarden in order to pay off the crown's debts to the Iron Bank of Braavos. Despite the larger threat to the realm, Cersei is content with allowing the army of the dead to devastate the North in order to rid her of her enemies before focusing on the threat herself. Tyrion Lannister tried once again to convince his sister to put aside her enmities and unite with Daenerys against the army of the dead, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Although she promised a military alliance with the Dragon Queen, Cersei instead brokered a backroom deal: with Euron's help and the financial backing of the Iron Bank, she has hired the Golden Company, the most powerful mercenary army in Essos, in order to destroy all of her enemies at once and solidify Lannister rule over Westeros. Jaime Lannister, disgusted at Cersei's willingness to allow the realm to perish if it means that she can retain her crown, has finally abandoned her and is now heading north to honor the pledge he made to fight against the enemy facing them all.
From her base at Dragonstone, Daenerys and her Westerosi allies - armies from Dorne, the Iron Islands and the Reach - attempted to retake the Iron Throne and restore her family dynasty. Unfortunately, all her plans went disastrously wrong: one of her allies, Olenna Tyrell, is dead, having been given the mercy of a peaceful death after the Lannisters sacked Highgarden. Ellaria Sand, along with Obara Sand, Nymeria Sand, and Tyene Sand, have been defeated and punished for the choices they made in response to the Lannister-backed death of Prince Oberyn Martell. Meanwhile, Yara Greyjoy remains in her uncle Euron's custody. Yara's younger brother, Theon, has rallied the few remaining ironborn loyalists in an attempt to rescue her, after winning them over in a fight with Harrag, Yara's last captain.
In the North, Jon Snow, chosen as King in the North by his compatriots, sought out an alliance with Daenerys; not to help her seize the Iron Throne, but to aid him in the coming war against the army of the dead: the Great War. Through the combined efforts of Daenerys's remaining allies - as well as the Brotherhood Without Banners - Jon captured a wight and presented it before Cersei (who up until then thought they and the White Walkers were just stories) in order to prove their existence and return, though Daenerys lost Viserion in the process. During their alliance, Jon and Daenerys have developed a budding attraction and consummated their relationship, which may put their future operations in jeopardy, especially in light of their biological connection of which they are still unaware.
At Winterfell, the North has seen the return of Arya Stark, who killed the remaining men of House Frey men in revenge for the Red Wedding, and Bran Stark, who has now become the Three-eyed Raven (both siblings were believed dead). Despite the schemes of Petyr Baelish to drive the Starks apart and seize power in his own bid to take the Iron Throne, Baelish was exposed as the true architect of the deaths of Jon Arryn, Lysa Arryn, and the War of the Five Kings, which saw the deaths of countless innocent people for a false cause. He was executed for his crimes on the order of Sansa Stark, bringing down the last of House Stark's enemies. Through his power of Greensight, Bran had previously discovered that his believed half-brother Jon Snow was, in fact, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, but even this revelation was only part of the truth: When Samwell Tarly - who abandoned his studies at the Citadel in Oldtown to return to Jon's service - arrives at Winterfell, he tells Bran his own discovery that Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled by the High Septon in order to marry Lyanna. This means that Jon, whose real name is Aegon Targaryen, is not only legitimate, but the true heir to the Iron Throne, ahead of Daenerys herself, a situation which could potentially derail their alliance.
And thus, the song of ice and fire begins its final verse...
Production[]
Announcement[]
For a time in January 2017, Season 8 renewal was put on indefinite hold, due to a disagreement between HBO and the showrunners over the number of episodes it would contain. While originally Benioff and Weiss stated they intended 7 episodes for Season 7 and 6 for Season 8, apparently there was some internal pushback that they should make more than six episodes (whether for story reasons or purely business/budget reasons is unclear). At their SXSW panel on March 12, 2017, Benioff and Weiss announced that Season 8 will consist of the originally planned six episodes. No new writers were introduced: Dave Hill wrote the first episode, Bryan Cogman the second episode, then Benioff and Weiss divided up the remaining four. George R.R. Martin did not return to script another episode.
On September 26, 2017, the directors for Season 8 were confirmed: the first five episodes were divided up between returning directors David Nutter and Miguel Sapochnik. David Benioff & D.B. Weiss themselves directed the series finale, as they have worked as directors on several episodes in prior TV seasons.
Episode count[]
Season 8 has a shorter episode count than past seasons: six instead of ten. The showrunners said they did this because as the story reaches its climax, every episode will be massive in scale. There is a physically finite amount of time that they can film each year, however, and gigantic action scenes on the scale of "Hardhome" take longer to film than a setup episode of mostly dialogue in interior sets like "The Climb" or "The Gift", etc.
Each episode has a physically longer runtime than in prior seasons: the earlier seasons averaged out at around 54 to 56 minutes per episode, but episodes in Season 8 average out at around 79 minutes per episode. As for specific runtimes, the first episode of the season has a runtime of 68 minutes, the second episode has a runtime of 64 minutes, the third episode has a runtime of 73 minutes, the fourth episode has a runtime of 68 minutes, the fifth episode has a runtime of 88 minutes, and the sixth and final episode has a runtime of 109 minutes.
Taken altogether, therefore, while there are only six episodes in Season 8, due to their increased individual lengths, there is enough extra runtime to make up for an entire seventh and eighth episode (of the regular length from prior seasons). Season 8's total runtime is 7 hours, 50 minutes - compared to the 9 hours, 15 minutes that prior seasons averaged.
Cast[]
Main article: Season 8 cast
Starring cast[]
- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
- Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
- Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
- Kit Harington as Lord Jon Snow
- Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
- Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark
- Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
- Carice van Houten as Melisandre
- Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
- Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
- Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
- Conleth Hill as Varys
- John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
- Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
- Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn
- Hannah Murray as Gilly
- Joe Dempsie as Gendry
- Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
- Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
- Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
Selected guest starring cast[]
- Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Ser Gregor Clegane
- Ewan McGregor as Jon Connington
- Richard Dormer as Lord Beric Dondarrion
- Tim McInnerny as Lord Robett Glover
- Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
- Pilou Asbæk as King Euron Greyjoy
- Bella Ramsey as Lady Lyanna Mormont
- Mark Gatiss as Tycho Nestoris
- Vladimir Furdik as the Night King
- Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
- Staz Nair as Qhono
- Anton Lesser as Qyburn
- Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed
- Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
- Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollet
- Tobias Menzies as Lord Edmure Tully
- Richard Rycroft as Maester Wolkan
Crew[]
Producers[]
- David Benioff: executive producer & showrunner
- D.B. Weiss: executive producer & showrunner
- Bernadette Caulfield: executive producer
- Frank Doelger: executive producer
- Carolyn Strauss: executive producer
- George R.R. Martin: co-executive producer
- Vince Gerardis: co-executive producer
- Guymon Casady: co-executive producer
- Greg Spence: producer
- Chris Newman: producer
- Lisa McAtackney: producer
- Bryan Cogman: supervising producer
- April Ferry: costume designer
- Michele Clapton: costume designer
- Deborah Riley: production designer
- Ramin Djawadi: composer
- Nina Gold: casting director
- Robert Sterne: casting director
Writers[]
- Dave Hill: episode 1
- Bryan Cogman: episode 2
- David Benioff & D.B. Weiss: episodes 3, 4, 5 and 6
Directors[]
- Miguel Sapochnik: episodes 1, 3 and 5
- David Nutter: episodes 2 and 4
- David Benioff & D.B. Weiss: episode 6
Episodes[]
| # | Image | Title | Airdate | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 
|
"Winterfell" | February 24, 2019 | 12.91 |
| The Great War begins. | ||||
| 69 | 
|
Season 8, Episode 2 | March 3, 2019 | 11.26 |
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
| 70 |
|
Season 8, Episode 3 | March 10, 2019 | 13.63 |
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
| 71 |
|
Season 8, Episode 4 | March 17, 2019 | 13.64 |
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
| 72 |
|
Season 8, Episode 5 | March 24, 2019 | 12.88 |
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
| 73 |
|
"A Dream of Spring" | March 31, 2019 | 16.54 |
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
|
|
"Dark Sister" | 2019 | ||
| Synopsis to be announced. | ||||
Media release[]
Video gallery[]
