HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' Season 8 Has So Many Deaths That Made The Cast Get Teary
Game of Thrones fans know better than to expect a happy ending, but the final season is so tragic that it made the cast cry.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention," Ramsay Bolton warned in the third season of the series, and it served as a reminder to the audience over the years to brace themselves for the worst.
Many fan favorites have met brutal and creative deaths over the past seven seasons of the hit show. According to Variety, HBO executives spoke at the INTV Conference in Israel saying that the last season will be no different.
Cast In Tears Over Finale
The table read for the final six episodes of Game of Thrones was particularly emotional, HBO SVP of drama Francesca Orsi recounted.
"It was a really powerful moment in our lives and our careers," Orsi shared. "None of the cast had received the scripts prior, and one by one they started falling down to their deaths."
The final six episodes are reportedly so impressive that everyone at the table read stood to applaud for 15 to 20 minutes when it wrapped up.
"By the very end, everyone looked down and looked up and tears were in their eyes," Orsi said.
Potential Spin-Offs
Of course, the end of Game of Thrones and the beloved characters is not necessarily a goodbye to the entire world that HBO painstakingly recreated over eight seasons. The network is exploring ideas for potential spin-offs that will give the viewers more of the Westeros magic.
There are five scripts contending for at least one series spot in HBO, a report from Entertainment Weekly revealed. Orsi assures that whatever spin-off they opt for will live up to the original, adding that it feels like "corporate malfeasance" not to pursue more of Game of Thrones.
A prequel is likely, although budget is a point of contention when it comes to such projects. Even the George R.R. Martin adaptation started out with a modest budget, which steadily increased over the years.
"We can't obviously start with the budget of season 8 but would it be a Game of Thrones season 3 budget?" Orsi explains the dilemma.
Season 8: What We Know So Far
First, HBO has to get through the Game of Thrones curtain call. As expected, very little has been revealed about the final season of the show, although the cast has been teasing the fans with vague hints.
"Each of the characters this year is placed in a completely alien environment at some point in the season that they've never been placed in before," John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly, tells TV Guide.
Iain Glen plays Jorah Mormont and in an interview with India Today, he reveals that the upcoming season has a lot of surprises in store for the viewers.
"In the next and last season, Ser Jorah will happily become a permanent fixture in Daenerys Targaryen's inner circle, as the battle between good and evil draws to a spectacular finale," Glen says.
Game of Thrones season 8 airs in 2019.
