Season 8 of ‘Game of Thrones’ Might Not Air Until 2019

If you were hoping for a short and sweet Game of Thrones off-season after that epic finale on Sunday, you may not want to hold your breath.

Despite the fact that the final season of the hit HBO series is only six episodes in length, new reports suggest that it could be 2019 before Game of Thrones returns.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, production on Season 8 isn’t slated to begin until October, and could run as late as August of next year. With walking dead men and dueling dragons, the post-production team will need plenty of time to get the episodes finished up.

If production does go into next August, the return would likely be pushed back into 2019, making a 16-month gap between the final two installments.

HBO programming president Casey Bloys told THR that they were still working out a timeline for the final episodes.

“Our production people are trying to figure out a timeline for the shoot and how much time the special effects take,” Bloys said. “The shooting is complicated enough – on different continents, with all the technical aspects – and the special effects are a whole other production period that we’re trying to figure out. That is a big factor in all of this.”

Unfortunately, it’s looking like the Long Night between seasons is going to last longer than we’d hoped.