‘Game of Thrones’ Final Season Premiere Date Revealed

Game of Thrones season eight officially has a premiere date, promising that winter is coming in spring 2019.

According to a video released by the official Game of Thrones Twitter account Tuesday, fans will be tuning into the final six-episodes of the hit HBO fantasy series in April of 2019.

“Every battle. Every betrayal. Every risk. Every fight. Every sacrifice. Every death. All #ForTheThrone,” the GoT account tweeted alongside a video of re-purposed footage.

Visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer told the Huffington Post that the series would likely be skipping the 2019 Emmys, leading to speculation that the final season would not premiere until sometime during or after April, as the eligibility period for the 2019 Emmys ends on May 31, 2019.

“In two years we’ll be eligible for the Season 8 work, which is just beginning now,” Bauer said. “We’re going to be toiling away on Season 8 until May of 2019, so it’s eight or nine months away. But the prequel is starting to shoot in February, at least the pilot. So we’ll still have quite a lot to do on Season 8 when they’re beginning.”

The last new episode of Game of Thrones premiered on Aug. 27, 2017. “The Dragon and the Wolf,” the season seven finale, was a game changer for the series, as the Night King and his army had managed to breech the Wall and begin their pursuit north. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen also slept together, a detail in their relationship that will grow more complicated after it was also revealed that Jon Snow is really Aegon Targaryen, the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and the true heir to the Iron Throne.

As with past seasons, details regarding the final season have been kept under wraps, with the only footage for the season coming in a teaser for HBO’s upcoming 2019 programming. Among footage of various shows, the video also showed three seconds of new footage for GoT, including a glimpse at a reunion scene between Jon Snow and Sansa Stark as well as a brief clip of Jaime Lannister dodging an axe thrown by Gendry.

Although the cast has been sworn to secrecy, and the scripts reportedly self-destruct to keep spoilers from leaking, a few more detail regarding the upcoming season have leaked, including the overwhelming sentiment that it will be a deadly one. A number of cast members and even HBO’s Vice President of Drama, Francesca Orsi, have expressed that season eight boasts a high body count, which will likely include a few fan-favorite characters.

The first seven seasons of Game of Thrones are currently available for streaming on HBO. Season eight, the final season, will premiere sometime in April of 2019.