--- title: Game of Thrones Season 7 Air Date Delayed, Interview description: Although Game of Thrones' seventh season will consist of only seven episodes, it will air later in the year than previous seasons. canonical: https://time.com/4620572/game-of-thrones-season-7-wait/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-03T16:40:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:36.659Z og:title: Why You Have to Wait So Long for Game of Thrones This Year og:description: Even though there are fewer episodes og:url: https://time.com/4620572/game-of-thrones-season-7-wait/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0c5e20ddb63c57e/69889808fb4eac2a8188dee2/game-of-thrones-episode-9-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: Game-of-Thrones-Battle-of-The-Bastards-Jon-Snow og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You Have to Wait So Long for Game of Thrones This Year twitter:description: Even though there are fewer episodes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0c5e20ddb63c57e/69889808fb4eac2a8188dee2/game-of-thrones-episode-9-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why You Have to Wait So Long for _Game of Thrones_ This Year > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2e9b0587-a483-4043-b7cb-10586a9282c6&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A History of Dragons [Watch (HLS stream): A History of Dragons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aX3EGE0r.m3u8) (2:51)  _Published 2016-04-22. Professor Christopher Fee discusses the history of dragons in our culture and their relevance today._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 3, 2017 4:40 PM UTC  HBO  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 3, 2017 4:40 PM UTC Although [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/4429346/game-of-thrones-season-7-cast-news/)‘ [seventh season](http://time.com/4387823/game-of-thrones-season-7-directors/) will consist of only seven episodes rather than the usual 10, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have announced that it will air a “little bit later” in the year than previous seasons. While this was previously attributed to the fact that filming was delayed in order to [accommodate for the arrival of winter](http://time.com/4410857/game-of-thrones-season-7-premiere/) in the show, it seemed as though three less episodes would allow them to make up for that lost time. However, during a recent interview with [RadioTimes](http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-12-30/game-of-thrones-is-spending-as-much-time-on-the-next-seven-episodes-as-it-does-on-its-usual-run-of-ten), actor Iain Glen — who plays Ser Jorah Mormont — revealed why that isn’t possible. “They are taking the length of time it takes to shoot 10 episodes to shoot just seven this year, and six next year,” he said. “There are 15 more hours left in _Thrones_ as we understand it, but that may change, but that’s as far as we know. I think the scale and size of the set pieces, the world that is being created it’s just getting more and more extraordinary and they feel they need that time to shoot seven hours as opposed to 10.” The show has not yet announced an official return date. Read more at [RadioTimes.com](http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-12-30/game-of-thrones-is-spending-as-much-time-on-the-next-seven-episodes-as-it-does-on-its-usual-run-of-ten). ## Transcript Well, dragons never seem to go away do they? They occur in culture after culture. They occur in story after story. The idea of. Of being able to live in world full of magical creatures well that offers a certain excitement and joy and curiosity. Dragons are like a canvas upon which we paint our fears and desires as a culture and I think they remain relevant because they change with us. [ MUSIC ] Well in today's world we often define a dragon as a giant, scaly, winged reptilian beast, often can breathe fire. In the ancient world this wasn't always the case. They were very often giant serpents of various kinds. And they could be also multivalent. In the Asian world for example, dragons are often Symbols of good luck, good fortune. While in the biblical tradition, on the other hand, dragons are clearly evil. In the middle ages, dragons were indeed emblems of greed, avarice. Most people in America today would know that through the Hobbit and Smaug the dragon who was clearly developed on that exact theme and that In the Arthurian tradition, dragons are associated with the rise of a mighty, powerful, royal house, as well with omens and portents having to do with their demise. It seems to me that in Game of Thrones, this association with royalty and portents comes most clearly from the Arthurian tradition which Dragons might represents [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] One of the ways that dragons myth spread was through travellers coming back with stories of dragons. So imagine if you will that, you travelled to North Africa from England When the 12th to 13th century and you saw a crocodile wouldn't that appear to you to be a monstrous, demonic beast? In our culture, dragons tell us about that which we fear not just out on the world like a crocodile but within ourselves like greed. Game of Thrones Plays with our sense of light and darkness, the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. And this tension is developed fully in the symbol of the dragon. Because the dragon, Dragon represents great power, but it also represents greed and destruction. And this bring together of these ideas tell us something about ourselves. Both what we fear, what we want, and what we would like to be. 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