Season 8

Season 8 of Game of Thrones was announced by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff on March 12, 2017. Like Season 7, Season 8 will be shorter than previous seasons, consisting of six episodes, due to the smaller amount of story content remaining, as well as the increased production values and time required to film episodes involving larger set pieces than in previous seasons.

Filming for season 8 began in October 2017 and ended in July 2018, for a 2019 premiere.

Like the sixth and seventh seasons, Season 8 will be based on an outline of the two final, presently-unpublished novels in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

Season 8 will be the final season of Game of Thrones, though after the conclusion of Season 8, five potential "successor shows", more likely prequels, are certainly possible.

Plot


"The Long Night is coming, and the dead come with it."

- Jon Snow

After eight thousand years of standing between the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the lands beyond, the inevitable finally happens - the Wall is breached. Mounted on the reanimated corpse of Daenerys Targaryen's dragon Viserion, the Night King blasts through the ancient fortification and all but obliterates the castle of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. The army of the dead, now numbering over 100,000 wights as well as the White Walkers, head straight towards the North, bringing a winter that will become another Long Night, one which may last forever.

Unfortunately, the political and military strife within the Seven Kingdoms is not yet over. Though the War of the Five Kings is long ended, control of the Iron Throne is still being contested. In King's Landing, despite having proven herself a less than ideal ruler, Queen Cersei Lannister is determined to stay on the Iron Throne at any cost. Allying herself with Euron Greyjoy and Randyll Tarly, Cersei's armies win several victories against the invading forces of Daenerys Targaryen, and have sacked the Tyrell stronghold of Highgarden in order to pay off the crown's debts to the Iron Bank of Braavos. Despite the larger threat to the realm, Cersei is content with allowing the army of the dead to devastate the North in order to rid her of her enemies before focusing on the threat herself. Tyrion Lannister tries once again to convince his sister to put aside her enmities and unite with Daenerys against the army of the dead, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Although she promises a military alliance with the Dragon Queen, Cersei instead brokers a backroom deal: with Euron's help and the financial backing of the Iron Bank, she hires the Golden Company, the most powerful mercenary army in Essos, to destroy all of her enemies at once and solidify Lannister rule over Westeros. For Jaime Lannister, who has stood by his sister all their lives, this is the last straw; disgusted at Cersei's willingness to allow the realm to perish if it means that she can retain her crown, he abandons her and is heads north to honor the pledge he made to fight against the enemy facing them all.

From her base at Dragonstone, Daenerys and her Westerosi allies - armies from Dorne, the Iron Islands and the Reach - attempt to retake the Iron Throne and restore her family dynasty. Unfortunately, all her plans go disastrously wrong: one of her key allies, Olenna Tyrell, is dead, having been given the mercy of a peaceful death after the Lannisters sacked Highgarden. Ellaria Sand, along with Obara Sand, Nymeria Sand, and Tyene Sand, are taken by Lannister forces. Ellaria is tortured by Cersei Lannister in retaliation for her murder of her young daughter Myrcella, committed by Ellaria in revenge for the Lannister-backed death of Prince Oberyn Martell. Cersei poisons Tyene, forcing a chained Ellaria to watch while her daughter dies a slow death. Meanwhile, Yara Greyjoy remains the prisoner of her uncle Euron. Yara's younger brother, Theon, rallies the few remaining ironborn loyalists in an attempt to rescue her, after winning them over in a fight with Harrag, Yara's last captain.

Frustrated by her losses, Daenerys decides to ambush the combined Lannister and Tarly forces with her Dothraki horde and one of her dragons. Although she succeeds in winning this battle, she recklessly burns the wagons of grain en route to the capital, which she needs to feed her own forces. After the battle, Daenerys gives the remaining Lannister soldiers a choice: bend the knee to her, renouncing Cersei Lannister as queen, or death. Lord Randyll Tarly and his son Dickon refuse to recognize Daenerys as queen, viewing her as a "foreign invader". Daenerys accepts their choice and, having stated her refusal to take any prisoners, executes them via dragonfire. This alarms Tyrion and Varys, who discuss Daenerys's decision to burn the Tarlys and remember the actions of her father. Tyrion states that Daenerys is not her father and never will be with the right counsel. Varys says Tyrion must find a way to make her listen.

In the North, Jon Snow, chosen as King in the North by his compatriots, seeks out an alliance with Daenerys; not to help her seize the Iron Throne, but to aid him in the coming war against the army of the dead: the Great War. Through the combined efforts of Daenerys's remaining allies - as well as the Brotherhood Without Banners - Jon captures a wight and presents it before Cersei (who, up until then, thought they and the White Walkers were just stories) in order to prove their existence and return, though Daenerys lost Viserion in the process. During their alliance, Jon and Daenerys develop a romantic attraction and consummate their relationship. This may put their future operations in jeopardy, especially in light of their biological connection of which they are still unaware.

At Winterfell, the North sees the return of two Stark siblings who were believed to be dead - Arya Stark, who killed the remaining men of House Frey in revenge for the Red Wedding, and Bran Stark, who has now become the Three-eyed Raven. Despite the schemes of Petyr Baelish to drive the Starks apart and seize power in his own bid to take the Iron Throne, Baelish is exposed as the true architect of the deaths of Jon Arryn, Lysa Arryn, and the War of the Five Kings, which saw the deaths of countless innocent people for a false cause. He is executed for his crimes on the order of Sansa Stark, bringing down the last of House Stark's enemies.

Through his power of Greensight, Bran previously discovered that his believed half-brother Jon Snow was, in fact, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Even this revelation, however, was only part of the truth. Samwell Tarly decides to leave his studies at the Citadel in Oldtown and go to Winterfell and return to Jon's side. Upon his arrival, Sam tells Bran his own discovery that Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled by the High Septon so he could marry Lyanna Stark. Bran confirms their wedding via Greensight and discovers that Jon was born Aegon Targaryen, named by Lyanna. This means that not only is Jon legitimate, but Bran explains Jon is the true heir to the Targaryen dynasty and the Iron Throne, ahead of Daenerys herself, which may or may not have consequences for their newly formed alliance.

And thus, the song of ice and fire begins its final verse...

Production
For a time in January 2017, Season 8 renewal was put on indefinite hold, due to a disagreement between HBO and the showrunners over the number of episodes it would contain. While originally Benioff and Weiss stated they intended 7 episodes for Season 7 and 6 for Season 8, apparently there was some internal pushback that they should make more than six episodes (whether for story reasons or purely business/budget reasons is unclear). At their SXSW panel on March 12, 2017, Benioff and Weiss announced that Season 8 will consist of the originally planned six episodes. No new writers will be introduced: Dave Hill will write the first episode, Bryan Cogman the second episode, then Benioff and Weiss will divide up the remaining four. George R.R. Martin will not be returning to script another episode. The final season could contain multiple episodes of up to two hours long in length and could be the longest season to date, even though the season only contains 6 episodes.

On September 26, 2017, the directors for Season 8 were confirmed: the first five episodes will be divided up between returning directors David Nutter and Miguel Sapochnik. Fabian Wagner, Sapochnik's director of photography, confirmed he is working on episodes 3 and 5, leaving episodes 1, 2 and 4 for Nutter. David Benioff & D.B. Weiss will themselves direct the series finale, as they have worked as directors on several episodes in prior TV seasons.

Filming
Filming officially began on October 23, 2017, and ended on July 6, 2018.

In Northern Ireland, production began in October 2017. Interior shooting returned to the show's headquarters, the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast as well as Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge. Meanwhile, intensive location shooting has taken place at the Winterfell set in Moneyglass. Throughout 2018, extensive shooting took place at a Magheramorne green screen set, which was used to re-create King's Landing. Filming also took place at the Cushendun caves, standing in for Dragonstone cave first seen in season 7.

By January 2018, production crews had moved to Iceland for location filming commencing in February.

Production also returned to Dubrovnik, Croatia, in February 2018, with supposedly brief shooting scheduled at multiple locations, including Lovrijenac Fortress, the Pile Bay, Minceta Tower and Bokar Fortress.

In May 2018, production returned to Spain. Shooting commenced in Seville to shoot Dragonpit scenes in Itálica, with many cast members present for the weeklong shoot, said to be similar to its large setpiece in the seventh season.

Cast
''Note: All cast members whose characters survive the events of Season 7 are expected to return for Season 8. The major exception is Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), who confirmed her role has ended even if Ellaria's exact fate is somewhat ambiguous. ''

Confirmed returning starring cast Confirmed returning guest starring cast New cast New characters
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Carice van Houten as Melisandre
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Conleth Hill as Varys
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * Jerome Flynn as Bronn
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly
 * Joe Dempsie as Gendry
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
 * Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
 * Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
 * Pilou Asbæk as King Euron Greyjoy
 * Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Ser Gregor Clegane
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn
 * Harry Grasby as Lord Ned Umber
 * Megan Parkinson as Lady Alys Karstark
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Bella Ramsey as Lady Lyanna Mormont
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
 * Gemma Whelan as Yara Greyjoy
 * Marc Rissmann as Harry Strickland
 * Seamus O'Hara as Fergus
 * Alice Nokes as Willa
 * Danielle Galligan as Sarra
 * Emer McDaid as a to-be-confirmed character
 * Northern girl
 * Boy
 * Northern farmer
 * Sassy and attractive girl
 * Northern sentry
 * Sailor
 * Guard #1
 * Guard #2

Writers

 * Dave Hill: episode 1
 * Bryan Cogman: episode 2
 * David Benioff & D.B. Weiss: episodes 3, 4, 5 and 6

Directors

 * David Nutter: episodes 1, 2 and 4
 * Miguel Sapochnik: episodes 3 and 5
 * David Benioff & D.B. Weiss: episode 6