--- title: Game of Thrones Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ Ending description: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said they've had the show's ending in mind since they first began adapting it from George R.R. Martin's books canonical: https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-27T23:35:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:53:25.261Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Game of Thrones' Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ the End og:description: "The pieces are on the board now" og:url: https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: daenerys-season-six-finale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Game of Thrones' Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ the End twitter:description: "The pieces are on the board now" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ the End > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 27, 2016 11:35 PM UTC  Courtesy of HBO by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 27, 2016 11:35 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers from the sixth season of _Game of Thrones_. If the entire _Game of Thrones_ series constitutes one big chess match, we’re not far from the checkmate. In an in-depth conversation with [_Deadlin_](http://deadline.com/2016/06/game-of-thrones-season-6-finale-david-benioff-d-b-weiss-hbo-1201780242/)[_e_](http://deadline.com/2016/06/game-of-thrones-season-6-finale-david-benioff-d-b-weiss-hbo-1201780242/)_,_ showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said they’ve had the show’s ending in mind since they first began adapting it from [George R.R. Martin’s](http://time.com/4346408/game-of-thrones-george-r-r-martin-3-twists/) still-unfinished books. After the season six finale, which aired Sunday night, the series is entering its final stages before the big dénouement. “We’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it,” Benioff said. “Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. [Daenerys](http://time.com/4383687/game-of-thrones-finale-emilia-clarke-daenerys/) is finally coming back to Westeros; [Jon Snow](http://time.com/4326858/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-prince-that-was-promised-theory/) is king of the North and [Cersei](http://time.com/4383798/game-of-thrones-cersei-wildfire-guy-fawkes/) is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them. The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game.” The pair declined to give too many details about upcoming events on the next season — they wouldn’t say how the Wall’s magic would hold up to the White Walkers, for instance — but they did foretell a deep dive into Cersei’s mindset now that she sits on the Iron Throne. “While Cersei has certainly done a lot of horrible things in her life and she could be a very cruel person, the one thing that was redemptive about her was, she genuinely loved her children,” Weiss said. “Now they’re all gone, and I think that is very interesting for us. Who is she without her children? The answer is something you’ll find out next season.” Read more at [Deadline](http://deadline.com/2016/06/game-of-thrones-season-6-finale-david-benioff-d-b-weiss-hbo-1201780242/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ the End","datePublished":"2016-06-27T23:35:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:53:25.261Z","description":"\"The pieces are on the board now\"","url":"https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"daenerys-season-six-finale","caption":"","creditText":"Courtesy of HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4384904/game-of-thrones-end-david-benioff-db-weiss/","name":"Game of Thrones Showrunners: We’re ‘Hurtling Towards’ the End"}}]}] ```