Game of Thrones season 8 episode 6: what time is the finale on in the UK tonight, episode length and latest news
We've had almost two years to wait for Game of Thrones' finale since the penultimate season came to an end, zombie dragon and all. Now, six weeks into the the hit fantasy epic's final season, we have mere hours left. Mere hours in a swan song which has reunited long lost characters, killed off some of our favourites (and least so) and toyed with our emotions like never before.
In fact, though many of us weren't quite ready for what was to come after witnessing the game-changing massacre of The Bells, the countdown is officially over.
Nonetheless, if you're not from the US and didn't brave the 2am UK start this morning, you have an absolute shocker of a series finale ahead. One people will be talking about for many years to come (and, in the necessity of being spoiler-free, you can make of that what you will).
Dear Lord of Light, you better prepare yourself...
What time is season 8 episode 6 on tonight?
The finale of Game of Thrones season eight aired on Sunday 19 May on HBO at 9pm Eastern time in America, while UK fans tuned into the simulcast at 2am on Sky Atlantic in the early hours of this morning.
The replay can be seen at the more reasonable and sleep-friendly time of 9pm tonight (just be sure to stay well away from social media today – spoilers are everywhere).
If you can't wait until tonight, read our review of episode 6, The Iron Throne.
How long is the final episode?
While the eighth season only has six episodes, some of them are much longer than the one-hour slot they’ve filled in previous seasons. The finale is also the second longest of the series, thankfully, as there were lots of burning questions that needed to be answered.
The first couple of episodes were disappointingly short:
Episode 1: 54 minutes
Episode 2: 58 minutes
Episode 3: 82 minutes
Episode 4: 78 minutes
Episode 5: 79 minutes
Episode 6: 79 minutes
As noted by Winter Is Coming, the first episode was also the only one without an ‘Adult Content’ warning.
In a crushing blow for Thrones fans, HBO head of programming Casey Bloys has hinted there could be another agonising wait between the end of Game of Thrones and the beginning of the first spin-off show, saying “you’re not going to see anything air anytime close to the season 8 finale.”
What was the budget for season 8?
Reports suggest season 8 of Game of Thrones cost HBO over $90 million (£69 million) - making the show the most expensive TV series of all time, even though season 8 has the fewest number of episodes since its inception.
With roughly $15 million (£11 million) to spend on each episode, it's no surprise we've seen dragons, direwolves and Night King-induced death unlike ever before.
Who is in the cast of the final series?
All the main cast members have returned for the final series. As this is Game of Thrones, however, we can’t be sure who will survive until the very end. The Battle of Winterfell shocked us all when every one of our favourite characters came into danger of the Night King. After the loss of Eddison Tollett, Beric Dondarrion, Theon Greyjoy and Lyanna Mormont - who we must mention, all died a hero saving a fellow character - we can only feel nervous about what's to come in the Last War.
Although it is an ensemble show, the cast’s salaries could indicate which characters will be given the most prominence in the final season: in 2017, Variety reported that five cast members — Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime), Lena Headey (Cersei), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) — were all being paid $500,000 (roughly £380,000) per episode.
Other returning cast members have included Liam Cunningham (Davos), Sophie Turner (Sansa), Maisie Williams (Arya), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne). Ghost, Jon Snow's faithful albino direwolf, has also made a return to the final season.
Read our complete guide to all of the cast in Game of Thrones.
What happened at the season 8 premiere?
The cast premiered the first episode of the final season in New York in early April - albeit with some rather strict, Littlefinger-fated allusions for anyone who dared to leak major plot spoilers.
Aside from the epic opener of the new season - including Jon Snow finding out his true identity - the premiere was filled with glamorous outfits and sweet reunions between the cast.
Take a look at the best photos from the Game of Thrones season 8 premiere here.
Latest Game of Thrones trailer
Episode three, The Long Night, wasn't only the longest episode in the show's history, but the most epic, most grisly and most shocking. We all thought, surely, Game of Thrones can't possibly top an episode like the Battle of Winterfell?
Then, in the episode five, The Bells, The Last War happened and Daenerys burned Kinds Landing to smithereens.
After watching the trailer for the finale - in true GoT style - we know nothing. We can only hope one of the few deserving Westerosi ends up on the Iron Throne and Mad Queen Daenerys gets added to Arya's kill list.
Who is directing season 8?
Collider revealed David Nutter (who directed the infamous Red Wedding episode, The Rains of Castamere) will be directing episodes one, two and four. Miguel Sapochnik, who’s become known for action-heavy episodes such as Hardhome and Battle of the Bastards, will be directing episodes three and five. Showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff will co-direct the sixth and final episode of the show.
Who has written season 8?
The final series will keep the show’s four-man writing team of DB Weiss, David Benioff, Dave Hill and Brian Cogman. Although George RR Martin was a guest writer for a few episodes in the show’s first four seasons, he will not return for season eight.
Hill wrote the season premiere, Cogman wrote the second episode, and Benioff and Weiss have shared the remaining four episodes between them.
Where can I watch Season 8?
Season 8 of Game of Thrones has been airing weekly on Sky and NOW TV.
If you want to catch up on seasons 1-8 while you wait for the finale, you can watch it on NOW TV right now with a 7 day free Entertainment Pass trial and if you want to relive your favourite moments, read our round up of the best Game of Thrones episodes of all time.
Find out everything you need to know about watching Game of Thrones in the UK.
What will happen in the Season 8 finale?
We've been on an endless shock stream throughout season eight and, with just over an hour left, we are left with more questions about Game of Thrones than ever before.
Who will sit on the Iron Throne? Will Jon Snow have to kill Daenerys? What did the Night King want with Bran Stark?
Our best hope would be a leaked script or two and, according to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff were already writing scripts for the final season during post-production on season seven. It’s not impossible, despite HBO’s careful attempts to keep things under wraps.
In November 2016 an anonymous Reddit user leaked details of the entire plot of season seven in a post which has since proven to be largely accurate (one spoiler, for instance, predicted that Viserion would be killed and revived by the Night King). If it happened once, it could happen again.
The cast have also dropped hints that the ending will be divisive, to say the least.
“To be able to act out the way that it all ends, it was really satisfying for us,” Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, told IGN.
“Who knows if it will be satisfying for the fans? I think a lot of fans will be disappointed and a lot of fans will be over the moon, I think.”
Further information has been released throughout the slow lead up to the finale. Weiss and Benioff revealed that season 8 would open with Daenerys and her army arriving in Winterfell - and she did.
We also already knew the series' final major battle episode would be the long-awaited showdown between the Army of the Dead at Winterfell.
“It’s brutal,” Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, told Entertainment Weekly. “It makes the Battle of the Bastards look like a theme park.”
Emmy winning director Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the infamous season 6 episode Battle of the Bastards, directed the episode in question and the final battle reportedly took 55 days to shoot (with Sapochnik spending additional weeks on a sound stage).
Generally, the climactic episode of each Game of Thrones season is the penultimate episode; we’ve seen with episodes The Rains of Castamere, Battle of the Bastards and Beyond the Wall. As intense as it was, it certainly wasn't a chapter finisher.
With this in mind, the events of the final episode are completely up in the air.
What do fans think will happen in Season 8?
There have been some particularly inventive fan theories about what to expect from the final series, ranging from the mostly plausible to the downright silly.
Some of the more interesting ideas include: that Tyrion Lannister might turn out to be a member of the Targaryen line (as the illegitimate son of Mad King Aerys), and the idea that Bran Stark will (through a mystical, as-yet-unexplained McGuffin) turn out to be the Night King. Difficult, of course, as he didn't die in tandem with the icy warlord, but not implausible considering the Seven Kingdoms' relationship with magic.
When asked about the latter theory Isaac Hempstead, the actor who plays Bran, told Esquire he thought it “a bit far-fetched… but this is Game of Thrones, and anything is possible.”
How will the final season tie in with George RR Martin's books?
The TV series has already overtaken its source, George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The plot of the final series will be based on his notes from the final two unfinished novels, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
Martin has already released several excerpts from The Winds of Winter on his website, suggesting that progress is well under way. In January 2017, he told his fans he expected the book to be published before the end of the year.
While that estimate turned out to be unrealistic, it does suggest he has nearly finished the long-awaited time.
What do you think will happen in Game of Thrones season 8?
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