New Game Of Thrones Season 8 Footage Teases The Battle To Come

The end is near for Westerosi folk.

After seven seasons of incredible spectacle and more “what the fuck?!” moments than we can count, HBO’s Game of Thrones is now gearing up for what’s sure to be an epic final run. April 14th is the date for your diaries, at which point the Night King (essentially death incarnate) will be unleashed upon the Seven Kingdoms.

It’s the fateful battle between fire and ice – between the living and the dead – that has fans giddy with anticipation for the new season, and while we haven’t seen a whole lot of it just yet, the promotion is slowly starting to ramp up. In fact, earlier today, HBO dropped a new preview reel on us and though it focuses on a number of their upcoming projects, Thrones gets the spotlight for a few seconds as we see Maisie Williams’ Arya Stark, a dragon and a glimpse of Winterfell.

Of course, it’s not much, but it’s still nice to get another peek at what awaits us regardless. After all, from everything we’ve heard so far, it sounds like we’re in for one heck of a thrilling season. Understandably, HBO’s pulled out all the stops for this last round of episodes and has increased the budget for each one from $10 million to $15 million.

We’ve no doubt that’ll pay off in the end and according to HBO Chief Richard Plepler, who’s seen a workprint of the final season, it’s going to be an epic spectacle.

“It’s a spectacle. The guys have done six movies. The reaction I had while watching them was, ‘I’m watching a movie. They knew the bar was high. They’ve exceeded the bar. I’ve watched them twice without any CGI and I’m in awe. Everybody’s in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production.”

Beyond the expanded budget, we also know that each installment will be longer than usual, which will surely give the creators the space to tell the story they want with the rhythms and pacing they choose. All in all, then, it appears as if Game of Thrones fans are in for a couple of exciting months, and it all gets underway on April 14th.