Game Of Thrones Actor Reveals Original Plan For Series End

Game of Thrones actor Conleth Hill has revealed the original plan for how HBO‘s hit fantasy series would end, and it casts the show’s current plans in a brand new light.

Hill, who plays the spymaster Varys, responded to fans’ disappointment with the shortened final two season of Game of Thrones by revealing that the 13 remaining episodes are more than was originally expected.

“It was going to be seven seasons, full stop,” Hill tells Newsweek. “So, if you look at it, you’re getting three more episodes than what it was going to be.”

As Hill is laying out, the first six seasons of Game of Thrones each contained 10 episodes. If HBO had gone forward with the original plan, the seventh and final season would have provided 10 more episodes. By going with two shortened seasons of seven and six episodes each, Game of Thrones’ final chapter will instead by 13 episodes long.

Still, Game of Thrones is approaching its end, which is a reality that hasn’t quite set in for Hill just yet.

“No, not yet. I’ve always been aware from day one how lucky I was, how special it was,” Hill says. “I’m also really proud that it’s made [in Northern Ireland] and shows off the beauty of where I come from. Our tourism has gone up because of it. It will be a big loss when it goes, for lots of different reasons—and not just as selfish as my own. I haven’t contemplated it yet. We’ve got another season to go.”

The end of Game of Thrones doesn’t necessarily mean the end of HBO‘s adventures in the world of Westeros and Essos. HBO is already considering how to continue the incredibly successful franchise built on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice novels after Game of Thrones concludes.

The premium cable network recently announced that it has commissioned four separate scripts to be developed as possible Game of Thrones spinoffs. Any or all of them may make it to production, or possibly none of them will, but it is clear HBO isn’t ready to leave the world of Westeros just yet.

While Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff will receive some credit for any show that makes it to air, both have already stated that they will not be involved in any proactive ways with any possible spinoffs, saying at SXSW, “I think HBO might well do [a prequel or spinoff] and I look forward to watching it and I think it be great, but I think they should get new blood in.”

Similarly, any spinoff will likely explore a different region and/or time period of Martin’s fantasy world. While viewers may get to revisit the world of Game of Thrones, the stars likely will not, at least not in the same way.

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