Unlike Jon Snow, ‘Game of Thrones’ still has a heck of a lot more life left in it.  (Sorry, too soon?)  Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have repeatedly stated that the hit fantasy series would run for a total of seven, with six currently shooting.  That meant that fans would only have that and one more season of the political maneuvering, backstabbing (literal and figurative) and sex sex sex to look forward to, but now rest knowing that there is at the very least an eighth season planned, if not more.

This good news comes courtesy of HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo, speaking at the Television Critics Association’s press tour, who said that after speaking with Benioff and Weiss, they have agreed that the program, based on George R.R. Martin‘s hit (and currently unfinished) book series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, will go and revealed:

“Seven-seasons-and-out has never been the [internal] conversation.  The question is: How much beyond seven are we going to do? Obviously we’re shooting six now, hopefully discussing seven. [Benioff and Weiss] feel like there’s two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds, but that’s what we’re looking at right now.”

Lombardo also stood his ground against outcry over some of the heavy violence in Season Five, namely the rape of Sansa Stark, pointing out that violence has been a signature of the series from its inception:

“In the pilot episode we see a 7-year-old boy pushed to seemingly his death from a tower.  This show has had violence from the first episode. I can’t speak to any single person’s particular taste, but I think the show is phenomenal. It went to 20 million viewers this year, it went up over 1 million viewers from the prior season. The show continues to grow dramatically. There are no two showrunners who are more careful about overstepping what they think the line is—and everybody has their own line. [What they show] is critical to the storytelling.”

What comes after ‘GoT’ does actually end?  The idea of a prequel series was raised, but Lombardo, though open to the idea, stated, “We haven’t had any conversations about that at this point.”

But sadly, despite the good news, there was some bad (but not unexpected) news.  Lombardo seemed to nix any rumors that Jon Snow might not be really dead.  Despite actor Kit Harrington being spotted near the Belfast set, the president admitted, “Dead is dead is dead.  He be dead… Everything I’ve seen, heard and read, Jon Snow is indeed dead.”

Is ‘Game of Thrones’ even worth going on without the dreamy black sheep of the Stark family?  Are you looking forward to seeing what further unfolds?  Or are you worried that the show may jump the shark if the creators have to scrape to fill additional, unplanned seasons?  (Especially since the show creators are rapidly running out of book material from which to pull.)  Comment below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly