This shouldn’t really come as a huge surprise to Game of Thrones fans who have been following the production and potential release of the final season of the series, but we’ve just had confirmation from HBO itself that we will not see the triumphant end until 2019.

I know, take a moment to pour one out for 2018, because it will be the first year since the show’s premiere in 2011 not to get a season of Game of Thrones. Furthermore, this final season will be a truncated one, only being made up of six episodes, as opposed to the normal 10 (though last season only had seven episodes, so fans should be getting used to that by now). On the plus side, when last we heard, each of these episodes would be feature-length, so audiences would still be getting a substantial amount of content.

Season 7 of the show (last year) was also delayed from a spring to summer release due to weather interfering with production, and thanks to this precedent, as well as the immense pressure under which the final season is being released, it was easy to assume that HBO would also delay it until 2019.

Previously, actress Sophie Turner all but confirmed this delay, but we’d still not received an official word from HBO until today.

In addition to this delay, HBO also announced who will be directing the season: showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, David Nutter, and Miguel Sapochnik. On board to write the new season are Benioff & Weiss, Bryan Cogman, and Dave Hill.

At least now you can rest easy knowing not to waste your anticipation on the show — at least not yet.

Was this a good move from HBO to delay the final season of Game of Thrones? Let us know down below!

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SOURCE: The Tracking Board