Game Of Thrones: 25 Key Details You Need To Know & Remember For Season 8

2. A Grander Scale Than Ever Before

Game of Thrones has long had a reputation for crafting big-budgeted spectacle, although that is something they've had to fight for: they had to really push HBO back in Season 2 for extra money to do Blackwater, for example, where they were given $8m instead of the usual $6m.

Those costs have continued to soar throughout the years, and it's reached the point where, for Season 8, the per episode cost is higher than ever. Part of that is because there are only six episodes, but it also just goes to show that no expense is being spared for the final season, with each episode coming in at a reported $15m. That's bigger battles, more dragon-action, and generally a bigger scale than ever before on a single instalment basis, but it's also crucial that they balance that with getting the small stuff right.

That was an issue with Season 7, but this time around the showrunners and rest of the crew have spent more time on the production of this season, despite having fewer episodes, than they have on any season before. Hopefully that shines through in the finished product.