The first six seasons aired ten episodes each. In season 7, there were seven episodes. There are only six episodes in season 8. Much of the thrill shared by the fans about the eighth and the final season of Game of Thrones is due to an interesting reason. The final series is said to feature a large amount of original content we do not find in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George R.R. Martin. In fact, it will adopt a material that Martin has made known to the makers of the show from the upcoming novels in the series ‘The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring’.
The makers of the TV show had spoken with Martin regarding the end of the series and it appears that the book as well as the TV shows will have an ending that will be similar in theme. However, Martin has managed to put in some elements of surprise in season 8 to thrill the audience.
Casey Bloys, the HBO Programming President has said in an interview that instead of being styled as feature films, the final season will sport a format like six one-hour movies on the television. He is of the opinion that in several cases, TV shows are more impressive than films. The filming of Game of Thrones season 8 began on October 23, 2017 and lasted till the month of July in 2018.
Talking about the end of the series on the television, Benioff and Weiss said that they wanted to produce a 70 hour movie. However, it is fashioned in the style of having a beginning, middle and the end. They also added that their job would have become much tougher if they had lost any members in the core cast. Fortunately, they could keep the entire team till the end of the production and they are moving to a finish that they actually wanted to give the audience. A week after the series finale will be aired, the audience can watch a two-hour documentary titled Game of Thrones: The Last Watch’ that will describe the making of season 8. This documentary is scheduled to be broadcasted on May 26, 2019.