In our April issue cover story, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss opened up about meeting with the book’s author George R.R. Martin, as well as their plans for wrapping up the series. Below is a more extensive excerpt from that part of their conversation with Jim Windolf, in which the showrunners talk about why they want to end the show after eight seasons—and how Breaking Bad inspired them to stick with their plan.

We'll have much more from Windolf’s conversations with Benioff, Weiss, and Martin in the week ahead. For more from the entire Game of Thrones cast and crew, pick up our April issue, available in New York and Los Angeles—as well as on the iPhone, iPad, Nook, and Kindle—on March 13. The magazine will be on national newsstands and available in an audio edition on March 18.

Jim Windolf: I think you said to Mike Fleming of Deadline Hollywood that you see the show as eighty hours. Is that still the plan – eight seasons, ten hours a season? Are you still committed to that?

Dan Weiss: We know there's an end somewhere in the seven- or eight-season zone. It's not something that goes ten, eleven -- it doesn't just keep on going because it can. I think the desire to milk more out of it is what would eventually kill it, if we gave in to that.

David Benioff: If you look at the shows that we love, it's so rare for a series to go beyond that length and maintain quality. And, you know, looking at Breaking Bad, which is probably the most consistently great show in history, and I think the fact that they decided relatively early, it's going to be five seasons and that's it, I think that was an incredibly smart choice.

Dan Weiss: Would I have watched another season of Breaking Bad? Of course. Would I have watched another two seasons of Breaking Bad? Of course. The fact that I would easily have watched much, much more than I got made the ending so much more poignant and stronger and better for me.

David Benioff: There's a sense when you're reading a good book -- and this is actually why I've started going back to print. For a while I was reading a lot on the Kindle, because with all the travel, it's just so much easier; it's so much lighter and all. And then I realized I just wasn't enjoying books as much. And part of it is that weird thing, when you're really into a book and you know there's only so much left in your right hand -- the weight is getting lighter and lighter. That has the sense of momentum. If we're a series and we're four seasons, five seasons in, and it's indefinite as to how long it's gonna go, then I don't think there's as much pressure as far as, the end is coming, the end is nigh. So, for us, whether it ends up being seven or eight, it's right around there. I think we've always felt -- we just completed the fourth season -- this is the midpoint. And we're coming around the bend right now.

Dan Weiss: You're aiming at something, for all these characters. For most of the major characters, we know the vicinity of where they're headed, for the most part. And it's just the idea of it barrelling toward some conclusion as opposed to just rolling down the road.