(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

This weekend, HBO made waves at the Television Critics’ Association by confirming that Game of Thrones would be ending after Season 8. That’s the timeline showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had been giving the press for a while, so we all sort of saw it coming.





But then Buzzfeed talked to someone from HBO, and the network made it sound like we may have misinterpreted the relevant comments. According to Buzzfeed, an HBO representative told them:

Casey did confirm Season 8, but didn’t really say for sure that’s the end.

Oh, really? Well, that’s intriguing.

For reference, here’s exactly what Casey Bloys, HBO’s incoming programming president, said at the TCA, according to Entertainment Weekly: A reporter asked Bloys if he planned to go along with Benioff and Weiss’ plan to end the show after eight seasons. “Bloys said yes, that is the current plan – the first time somebody at HBO has confirmed this,” EW wrote. Then there’s a quote from Bloys:

Yes, they have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do. Believe me, as the new [programming executive] coming in, if I could get them to do more. I would take 10 more seasons. But we take their lead on what they think they can do the best version of the show.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 30: President of HBO Programming Casey Bloys. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

That sounds specific, but doesn’t foreclose the possibility that Bloys or someone else at HBO could prevail on Benioff and Weiss and get them to change the plan, hence HBO’s confirmation.

What we do know for sure is that the upcoming seventh season of the show will be seven episodes long. Benioff and Weiss have floated the idea of making Season 8 six episodes long, but Bloys said the exact number of episodes wasn’t final yet. He also talked about the possibility of a Game of Thrones spinoff after the show ends.

It’s something I’m not opposed to, but of course it has to make sense creatively. I’m not sure that [Benioff and Weiss] could really wrap their heads around it when they’re just about to start production [on season 7]. It’s a pretty intense production, they’re about to start production soon. I’m open to it. The guys weren’t opposed to it, but there’s no concrete plans for it at this point.

We’ll see if HBO offers any further clarifications.