The beginning of the end of Game of Thrones now has an official start date

In an over one minute long chilly House of Stark centric tease (watch the David Nutter directed spot above) just before the debut of Season 3 of True Detective, HBO announced today that the eighth and final season of the blockbuster will premiere on April 14.

While an April launch has long been hinted for the series and was confirmed by the premium cabler last fall, the dropping of the actual debut date tonight is the latest successful salvo in HBO’s slow burn roll out of GoT‘s final six supersized episodes.

Besides Donald Trump repeatedly appropriating elements of the series, so far a couple of still images here and there, a dragon fueled teaser and a snippet in a HBO promo shown during the Golden Globes are all we have seen of the endgame of the David Benioff and D.B. Weiss executive produced show based on George R.R. Martin’s best sellers. HBO previously revealed that the final episode of the epic series was shot over 55 nights in three locations.

The timing of the newest GoT reveal was also undoubtedly intended partially to pump up the profile of the long absent Nic Pizzolatto created crime anthology. Having won the Outstanding Drama series Emmy three times and attracted record viewership, even a slight wave of GoT is the clearly a force that can lift all ships at HBO. And the fact is, the Mahershala Ali led third season of True Detective has not exactly received the greatest critical reaction so far, to put it mildly.

HBO first let it slip online on Friday that the GoT debut date was coming this weekend:

Of course, even once the Night King’s grand invasion is repelled, or not, the new love of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen and Kit Harington’s Jon Snow soars or crashes and burns, Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister and his Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau played royal siblings get into some sword-based therapy and the battle for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms is concluded, if it is, Game of Thrones won’t really be over.

Continuing the saga, a Martin and Jane Goldman penned and Namoi Watts starring GoT prequel is in the works with SJ Clarkson directing the pilot. More series spun off the mothership show are also in the early works from the sprawling and intensely detailed world Martin created starting with his first 1991 published novel in the cannon.

So, for the throne, and then again!