Game Of Thrones Season 8 Will Be The Last, No Plans For Spinoff Yet
Why?!
It's now 100% official: Game of Thrones will end with Season 8.
While it's been spoken about for some time now that there'd only be two seasons and approximately 13 episodes left, HBO have now confirmed that the show will indeed have its series finale at the end of its eighth season.
Speaking to EW, HBO's Programming President Casey Bloys said that he was happy going with the plan of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to wrap things up in a couple of years, adding:
"They have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do. Believe me, as the new [programming executive] coming in, if I could get them to do more. I would take 10 more seasons. But we take their lead on what they think they can do the best version of the show.”
That's a sensible approach, rather than dragging it out for the sake of more money, and means the showrunners get to tell the story the way they want to. Bloys, however, did not confirm whether or not Season 8 would have just six episodes, with the plan not yet finalised.
As for a potential spinoff series, which has continously been mentioned over the years, Bloys revealed that he was pretty open to the idea:
"We’ve talked about it. It’s something I’m not opposed to, but of course it has to make sense creatively. I’m not sure that [Benioff and Weiss] could really wrap their heads around it when they’re just about to start production [on season 7]. It’s a pretty intense production, they’re about to start production soon. I’m open to it. The guys weren’t opposed to it, but there’s no concrete plans for it at this point.”
Again, hardly a surprise, and it'd be a shock if HBO didn't continue to make shows set in Westeros, given how huge Game of Thrones is. There are a number of stories fans would love to see on screen, from Robert's Rebellion to the Tales of Dunk and Egg, all the way back to the First Men and Children of the Forest. Whatever form it takes, whenever it does happen, a spinoff seems inevitable.