The first season of Westworld came to a stunning conclusion Sunday night, answering numerous questions while creating many more. (Was that really [spoiler] who died? Are certain robots now fully conscious?)

Unfortunately, while the speculation will continue, the show itself won’t be returning until 2018 at the soonest, as confirmed by showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

In an interview with Variety, the pair cleared up exactly why the wait will be two years despite other shows primarily being released annually.

“It’s an ambitious project, and HBO has encouraged us to take the time and resources that we need to work on each stage of that,” Nolan told the publication.

“I love television. One of the fun things about television is that sometimes you find yourself in this place where you have to wear all these hats at once. You have to write, shoot, and cut simultaneously.

Westworld Finale Trailer

“We wanted to in the second season spend some more time writing, then switch gears into production, then cut. So we’re not going to follow the annual year-on-year tradition of television. Television’s changing. And the ambition of the project is such that we’re going to take our time to get the second season right.”

Nolan said the conversation surrounding an extended period between seasons started with HBO while filming episode two after realising the complexity of the show.

He added: “We both work in the movie business as well, and in the movie business the best that you can possibly hope for with a film franchise is to turn around another instalment in two or three years. So really on that schedule, we’re doing great.”

Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Show all 10 1 /10 Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original CIRCA 1973: Alan Oppenheimer works on a women robot in a scene from the MGM movie "Westworld" circa 1973. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Getty Images Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original Westworld - Michael Crichton's 1973 original

Work on season two has already begun, with Joy saying they have “started working on scripts and outlines.” She continued: “It’s looking good. It’s looking very ambitious. There’s some surprises and bits of it that you won’t see coming. I’m having fun.”