"Game of Thrones" fans last week finally received the good news they'd all been waiting for: the summer premiere date for the seventh season of HBO's hit adaptation of George R.R. Martin's sprawling fantasy novel series. Unfortunately, as the characters and fans of the drama know all too well, good times seldom last for long.
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Showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff confirmed Sunday at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, that the eighth and final season of "Game of Thrones" will be short. Really, really shot.
"We have a 140-page outline for what's only going to be six episodes for the final season," Benioff said during the presentation, which means the concluding arc will be one less episode than the already-shortened seventh season.
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Each of the first six seasons of the series each contained 10 episode, and while it was pretty much known the drama's final outing would include just six episodes, HBO had yet to make an official announcement. Now, with the word coming straight from the mouths of the showunners, fans will have to accept what the inhabitants of Westeros have long known: All men (and shows) must die.
"Game of Thrones" returns for its seven-episode penultimate season on July 16.
(via CNN Money)