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 the final season will consist of.
In the meantime, fans will have to wait a bit longer for season 7, which will return in summer instead of April, because production needed to start later to film in more wintery locales.
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.
This article originally appeared on EW.com.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next
- The Reinvention of J.D. Vance
- How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your Mind
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
- Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
- The Many Lives of Jack Antonoff
- 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
- Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women
Contact us at letters@time.com