New Game of Thrones EW cover finds Jon, Daenerys embracing before the end

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While it’s difficult to accept (and some might not even want to), GAME OF THRONES is coming to an end next year – and with only a six-episode season. That will be a ton of drama and chaos packed into a few episodes, and we haven’t seen so much as a glimpse at any of the epicness. Today is the day we come the closest to that first, somewhat revealing promotional material as EW has dropped a look at the cover of their new issue, which finds Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) embracing in the blowing snow.

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This final season will have a lot of plot threads to tie up, and the end of season seven introduced one of the most talked-about angles yet. At the close of the season, we saw the two new lovebirds kick off their romantic relationship, made all the more shocking when we found out that they’re related by blood. It’s hard to know how to feel about that when they look so perfect together.

Co-executive producer and writer Bryan Cogman spoke about what this season has in store, echoing statements of the past that this will be a “bittersweet” finale to this long, epic journey.

“It’s about all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death,” co-executive producer Bryan Cogman says. “It’s an incredibly emotional haunting bittersweet final season and I think it honors very much what [author George R.R. Martin] set out to do — which is flipping this kind of story on its head.”

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Though the season will only be six episodes long those episodes will run much longer than ones in the past and will feature the biggest sets and battles of any of the previous seasons. The shoot lasted 10 months, which Harington called “relentless,” saying that, “scenes that would have been a one-day shoot five years ago are now a five-day shoot.”

Clarke said that while everything took longer to do it’s because everyone knew everything had to be perfect for this final outing, including the production design and costumes.

“[Camera] checks take longer, costumes are a bit better, hair and makeup a bit sharper — every choice, every conversation, every attitude, has this air of ‘this is it.’ Everything feels more intense.”

Digging into Cogman's quote a bit, this final season seems to be all about these characters, who we have all been following for all these years, becoming the people they truly want to be, or perhaps who they truly are. That means some of them will be making tough choices that will define them forever, and that will probably shock us all in the end. We've heard from the author of the books, George R.R. Martin, and various cast and crew that this will not have the happy ending many may want, but it will hopefully be shocking, which will certainly make for excellent television. 

GAME OF THRONES season 8 premieres in 2019.