Idaho’s public television station recently hosted Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss on their program Dialogue during the 2016 Sun Valley Writer’s Conference. Marcia Franklin sat down with the showrunners to dive into what inspired the series, their experiences on the show, and how they address criticism.

Having little production experience, David Benioff says the two had a “steep learning curve.” While reminiscing about a brutally cold day of filming in Malta, D.B. Weiss reveals what truly inspired the series:

I just remember sitting there thinking: this could be where it all ends. Luckily the clouds cleared and we got what we needed. If we had known what we would have to know to do this well, I think the intimidation factor may have gotten the best of us. But we were just filled with excitement over the prospect. We knew that done right George’s books could really be something tremendous and we just were so excited we just kinda barreled into this situation without really knowing what we didn’t know is that there were unknown unknowns.

Six seasons later and the series really has evolved into something tremendous. Check out part one of the interview below!

Part two of the interview focuses on the economic effect of the series on Northern Ireland, the visual and technical details in creating dragons and direwolves, and the next project for the series creators.

The two even chat about Breaking Bad co-star and Idaho native Aaron Paul!

They end saying they both plan to continue writing but it’s hard to think about what’s next while still working on a series as “totalizing” as Game of Thrones. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!