Why Hasn’t Thrones Been Renewed for it’s Final Season?

Though the Game of Thrones bosses have been vocal about their two-season, swan-song plan, the epic HBO drama has not officially been renewed for an eighth season — and now we know why.

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss previously told EW they wanted to cap the hit series at 73 hours, with seven episodes this year, and six in an eighth (and final) season. But HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys confirms to EW that the season 8 renewal is being delayed because the GoT bosses are still mulling how many episodes will air in the final season.

“They’re still figuring out the shame of the season, what they want to do,” Bloys said. “I’ll take as many as they want to do. If they give me eight, I’ll want 10. But it’s really up to them.  They’ll let me know.”

In the meantime, fans will have to wait a bit longer for season 7, which will return this summer instead of in April, because production needed to start later to film in more wintery locales. Thrones is currently finishing up shooting in Iceland.

The push means Game of Thrones is no longer in contention for Emmy nominations in 2017 after scoring 23 nods in 2016. In its sixth season, Thrones also broke HBO ratings records once again, with episodes averaging more than 23 million viewers, including streaming, repeats, and DVR playback.

Credit: EW