Game Of Thrones Only Has 15 Episodes Left At Most

Game of Thrones fan eager to see who lives, who dies, and who ultimately ends up on the Iron Throne may not have to wait too much longer for all the answers. Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have confirmed that there are, at most, only 15 episodes left to write, shoot, and air before the series ends. The episodes will be split between two shortened seasons, and there's no word on the potential runtime for each installment.

Speaking with Deadline, Benioff said, "From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that's what we'll end up with. Call it 73 for now." To compare, most TV shows try to reach the magic number of 100 episodes so they can be sold into syndication. Thrones is a different beast, telling one longform story, and its creators don't want to waste time. As Benioff put it, "The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it's not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it's trying to figure out new storylines."

Game of Thrones' massive success affords Benioff and Weiss the ability to end the show on their own terms. Being on HBO—a network that puts much of its series' power in the hands of its creators—helps, too. "We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it," said Benioff. "We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We're definitely heading into the end game now."

After so much buildup, so many chess pieces moving around the board, or being removed from it entirely, it all comes down to a final set of episodes, a number so small it all but guarantees that each will be packed with enough shocks and breathtaking WTF?! moments to fill an entire season. If you thought the show was too much to handle before, just wait for the madness yet to come.