HBO

After ‘Game of Thrones’ ends, you’ll be able to visit Westeros (in Northern Ireland) for real.

It’s the end of an era.

It’s official! ‘Game of Thrones’ is getting a prequel series all about the dark history of Westeros.

We’ve come a long way from Game of Thrones keeping battles offscreen, but Season 8 is going all out. New set reports indicate the HBO drama more than doubled its shooting time for fan-favorites like “Battle of the Bastards,” and is only getting started.

The Night King’s army made one familiar addition in Season 7, and Game of Thrones may donate even more fresh meat next year. New set photos seem to suggest the Army of the Dead has some powerful – albeit unwilling – allies near and dear to Daenerys’ heart.

Game of Thrones is no Westworld, but we Westerosi can fall down conspiracy holes all the same. So it was with Ned Stark’s curiously inaudible last words from Season 1, which Sean Bean himself has finally put to rest.

The eighth and final Game of Thrones season hasn’t suffered any major leaks yet, but leave it to dedicated spoiler-hounds to get creative with their sourcing. A key character may yet have a role to play in Season 8, and we’re both impressed and unsettled with how fans figured it out.

Because what better time than a winter storm for ominous Game of Thrones news? That dreadful day has finally arrived, as HBO confirms the eighth and final season will sit out 2018 altogether, finishing its adapted Song of Ice and Fire in 2019.

If there’s one thing we agree on after seven Game of Thrones seasons, it’s that dragons remain as lifelike and awe-inspiring as ever. There may be a good, sexy reason for the former, as new insight from sound designer Paula Fairfield reveals that Drogon’s cries around Daenerys may have a more … uh, “sensual” source in nature.

Game of Thrones employs the occasional subterfuge to thwart spoilers. HBO even hinted at multiple Season 8 endings for exactly that purpose, but a new report suggests not only that cast aren’t certain which ending will air, but also that HBO wants them quiet on social media.

It’s been some time since Game of Thrones’ penultimate season faced a rash of leaks, as did other HBO programs stolen by a hacker extortionist. Now, federal authorities have officially identified the perpetrator as an Iranian national with his very own wanted poster.

We don’t know if True Detective can make Season 3 work, let alone start revisiting past characters, but one hope for a Rust and Marty reunion may be dashed. Woody Harrelson isn’t interested in any kind of return to HBO’s True Detective, even if his partner says otherwise.

HBO will confirm few details of the eighth and final Game of Thrones season; perhaps least of all whether we’ll wait until 2019 to see it. That said, star Liam Cunningham may have guaranteed the fantasy blockbuster will sit out 2018 with an update on production.

The fight is just beginning for one of Hollywood’s most revered comediennes. Veep and Seinfeld favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus took the courageous step of announcing her own breast cancer diagnosis over Twitter, pivoting the discussion to healthcare as HBO answers questions about Veep’s final season.

The final six Game of Thrones episodes are no time to skimp – whether on budget or story – and it seems HBO is going all-out. Reports estimate that Season 8 episodes might cost around $15 million (each!), if not more.

Well, the dragon’s out of the bag now. After Game of Thrones let slip that fan-favorite director Miguel Sapochnik might return for the final season, HBO has stepped up to confirm his and another revered helmer taking on Season 8. Plus – who’s directing the series finale?

We don’t generally look to Game of Thrones for scientific consistency, though it’s noticeable when the series tests physics. One wouldn’t necessarily expect dragons to conform to said physics, but famed scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson actually has strong feedback for Season 7’s take on the mythical beasts.

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin upped the ante on our four potential spinoffs with a fifth, and the secrecy may have been justified. One of the series’ most involved writers is now attached to the fifth, directly partnering with Martin himself.

Well that happened quickly. It feels like just the other day we were making predictions for what kind of bloody, shocking shenanigans would go down in Game of Thrones Season 7. The season finale is just days away, and we’re here to make another set of predictions for “The Dragon and the Wolf.”

Leak or no, Game of Thrones Season 7 secrecy has reached a point where titles are held back days before release. There’s no telling what, if any pre-finale assets will make their way online, but a new report confirms the coming 81-minute closer has a title all about Ice and Fire.