The Final Season of Game of Thrones Might Not Air Until 2019

July’s penultimate season of Game of Thrones will come several months later than normal, and now the eighth and final season could face an even longer delay.

HBO’s president of programming Casey Bloys hinted that the last season of Game of Thrones might not air until 2019, meaning the show’s diehard fanbase might have to wait well over a year until they see the fate of Westeros, Entertainment Weekly reports.

When asked in an interview whether the final season could arrive as late as 2019, Bloys told EW: “[The showrunners] have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule. We’ll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing.”

Fans up in arms about the potential delay can take solace in a crucial point — the cast and crew wants to do everything they can to give the series a proper sendoff.

“Making Game of Thrones as good as possible is the No. 1 goal, and then we’ll see about these scripts,” Bloys added. “You’re not going to see a situation where the next show in the Thrones universe launches off the back of this one.”