7 Ways to Survive Your Game of Thrones Withdrawal

With Sunday’s explosive finale, the sixth season of Game of Thrones has officially come to an end. And although this year viewers won’t have to wait 10 months to find out whether Jon Snow is actually dead, it’s still going to be a long hiatus. So for those who are looking to fill the Westeros-shaped hole in their hearts until the season seven premiere rolls around, here are a few suggestions.

1. Read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series: What better way to chase away your G.o.T. blues than by reading the books on which the show is based. As it stands now, Martin has released only five of his planned seven novels. However, given the fact that each installment averages around 850 pages, the series should still keep you occupied for quite some time. Not to mention that the sixth one is due to hit shelves any time now.

2. Binge-watch another TV show set in medieval/ancient times: Might we suggest The Tudors, Vikings or Rome?

3. Plan a Thrones themed vacation: Websites such as Game of Thrones Tours and TripAdvisor offer reasonably priced trips for travelers in search of a behind-the-scenes look at the HBO drama’s major filming locations. Among several other options, visitors can choose from Belfast’s Iron Islands and Stormlands Adventure, Dublin’s Winterfell Locations Trek and Dubrovnik’s King’s Landing tour.

4. Watch out for news from Comic-Con: HBO has big plans for its flagship show at the July fan convention, including a panel featuring showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, as well as cast members Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth) and Kristian Nairn (Hodor).

5. Catch up on G.o.T. podcasts: From A Cast of Kings — a show with one host who has read the books and one who hasn’t — to the fan-centric Game of Owns, there’s a Thrones podcast out there for everyone.

6. Get involved in fan forums: Reddit’s most popular Thrones community, “A Reddit of Ice and Fire,” is a great place to hear from fellow fans and discuss any and all theories — no matter how tinfoil hat they may be.

7. Rewatch all six seasons: If all else fails, there’s no better cure for missing Game of Thrones than watching the entire series over again.