Confirmed: There Are Only 13 to 15 Episodes of GAME OF THRONES Left
That last season of Game of Thrones sure was something, wasn't it? The last two episodes especially were just completely mind-blowing. The stage is set to bring the series to a close, and the end is coming sooner than you think.
We knew the series was going to come to an end, but to put things into perspective for you, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have confirmed that there are only 13 to 15 episodes left in the series before it's done. During a recent interview with Deadline regarding the season 6 finale, Benioff said:
"It’s two more seasons we’re talking about. From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now."
So as it stands right now, it's likely we'll only see 13 more episodes, which is kinda crazy. If that's the case, they might as well just do one more 13 episode season instead of splitting it up into two short seasons. Let's just get it over with! Rip it off like a Band-Aid. I do think it's good that the show is coming to an end sooner rather than later, and Benioff explained that decision (SPOILERS ahead):
"We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end. As Dan said, we’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it. Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. Daenerys is finally coming back to Westeros; Jon Snow is king of the North and Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them. The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game.
"The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it’s trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it. We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We’re definitely heading into the end game now."
I've never been a big fan of those filler episodes and there's no place for them in Game of Thrones. As long as the showrunners tell the full story they set out to tell, I'll be happy. They already know how it's going to end, now it's just a matter of taking the fans to that ending. It's hard to even imagine how this series is going to come to a close. We can speculate all we want about what is going to happen, but I've come to expect the unexpected from this incredible series.
It's going to be sad when it ends, but I trust that Benioff, Weiss, and George R.R. Martin are going to give us a conclusion that is completing satisfying.