Game of Thrones Season 8 could have feature length episodes

The seventh season of Game of Thrones is still two weeks from appearing on TVs around the world, but the eighth and final season is still on the horizon. We know already that there’s the possibility it may not return until 2019, but some news out of this weekend’s Con of Thrones might make that extended wait worth it. Series sound designer Paula Fairfield spoke at a panel at the convention (via Vanity Fair) and noted, in addition to the 82-minute Season 7 finale, this year, the show’s producers are considering feature-length episodes for Game of Thrones Season 8.

Fairfield just said the Season 7 finale of GAME OF THRONES will be 82 mins. Final season they’re considering making each ep feature length! — David Chen (@davechensky) July 1, 2017

Game of Thrones Season 8 is slated to have just six episodes as the closing chapter, but the possibility of an extended run time for each could make up for the shortened season. There’s still plenty of development time for the final episodes of the series, however, and plans could possibly change surrounding the final stretch.

RELATED: Comic-Con 2017: HBO’s Westworld & Game of Thrones Panel Details

At the end of last season, Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) dragons and her immense army were finally on the way to Westeros, where Cersei (Lena Headey) has now become Queen after the death of her children. The Night King’s (Vladimir Furdik in Season 6) army is heading south, and a battle appears to be imminent.

The show is based on the novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin. Last season, however, the TV series moved past the point where the books have stalled.

It was also recently revealed that the new Game of Thrones season will over both the longest and shortest episodes of the show to date. Two season seven episodes are said to exceed 60 minutes in addition to the planned 82-minute finale. A shorter, 50-minute episode will also air.

The executive producers of Game of Thrones Season 7 are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield; co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, George R.R. Martin and Bryan Cogman; and producers are Chris Newman, Greg Spence and Lisa McAtackney.