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‘Game Of Thrones’ Will Definitely Have An Eighth Season, Promises HBO Executive

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:49 PST, Aug 9, 2015

Game of Thrones fans, brace yourself. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist!)

There is some good and some bad news for Game of Thrones fans. HBO programming president Michael Lombardo has promised fans that Game of Thrones will get an eighth season, but the bad news is that it could be the final season of the series.

Earlier, there were reports in the media that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were not interested in stretching Game of Thrones beyond a seventh season.

However, speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Michael Lombardo fuelled speculations that an eighth season remained firmly in the cards, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“The question is how much beyond seven are we going to do. [Benioff and Weiss] feel like there’s two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds.”

When asked about the possibility of a Game of Thrones prequel series to further explore the enormous potential of author George R.R. Martin’s painstakingly drawn-out worlds, Lombardo insisted that he remained opened to the prospect.

“I would be open to anything that Dan and David wanted to do—about Game of Thrones, or any subject matter. It really would depend fully on what they wanted to do. I think you’re right, there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel, if George and Dan and David decide they want to tackle that. At this point, all the focus is on the next few years of the show. We haven’t had any conversations about that at this point.”

The latest revelation that an eighth season could be in the pipelines contradicts the statement given by Benioff last year when he had said that the seventh season was going to be the finale of Game of Thrones. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he had been straightforward in his response.

“If we’re going to go seven seasons, which is the plan, Season Four is right down the middle, the pivot point. I would say it’s the goal we’ve had from the beginning. It was our unstated goal, because to start on a show and say your goal is seven seasons is the height of lunacy. Once we got to the point where we felt like we’re going to be able to tell this tale to its conclusion, that became [an even clearer] goal. Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven seasons. It feels right to us.”

And before we wrap it up, Lombardo also discussed the fate of a character whose life was left in the balance in fifth season’s cryptic cliffhanger. (Spoiler alert for those people who have not yet seen the Season 5 finale.)

“Dead is dead is dead is dead. He be dead. Yes. Everything I’ve seen and heard and read, Jon Snow is indeed dead.”

Certainly Jon Snow has met his end. That is as clear a message as it could have been from a Game of Thrones executive, but as fans of the show, we sincerely hope that Game of Thrones does not meet its end anytime soon.

[Photo via HBO]

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