‘Game of Thrones’ season 7: Premiere date speculation, possible episode count for HBO titan

Tonight, “Game of Thrones” says farewell to season 6 with what will more than likely be one of the biggest episodes that we’ve seen to date. “The Winds of Winter” is running over an hour, and we know that there is a tremendous amount of ground that the show does need to cover by the time we make it to the end credits.

Yet, there will be plenty of conflict unresolved, given that there are still two more seasons of the show to come, at least. Most of the current intel out there suggests that there are in total 13 episodes still to go, and they will be broken up in some way where there is a decent chunk spread over the course of the two years. Our feeling is that if the order stays the same, we could have seven episodes next year before six more come in 2018, effectively closing off the series.

Is it still possible this could change? Absolutely. Thirteen seems to be the desired amount for executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, but maybe in a conversation with HBO or George R.R. Martin that changes. We’ll have to stay tuned for what happens there.

The premiere date for season 7 is also a little enigmatic now, and could vary depending on what the network decides that it wants to do with their schedule. Typically, we’d just assume that it would air in April, but with there being presumably fewer episodes, maybe they will kick it off in May, closer to the end of the broadcast TV season. Or, it could premiere once again in April and end earlier than usual. It’s all speculation, but we assume the final season of “The Leftovers” will occupy the primo timeslot on HBO early in the year.

We’ll have more on the show’s future (hopefully) soon. For now, head over here to preview the finale further, or sign up over at this link to get some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: HBO.)