Game of Thrones Returns for Its Final Season in April

After a long, long wait for winter to come, we now have—if not a premiere date or trailer—a relatively precise window in which HBO mega-hit Game of Thrones will return for its grand finale. Season eight of the epic fantasy series premieres in April 2019, as revealed Tuesday via the show’s official Twitter account. The Emmy-obliterating series’ return will come more than a year and a half after its season seven finale, which aired Aug. 27, 2017.

Every battle.
Every betrayal.
Every risk.
Every fight.
Every sacrifice.
Every death.
All #ForTheThrone. pic.twitter.com/WReVt473SH

— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) November 13, 2018

The accompanying teaser, made up of repurposed footage from throughout the show’s run, reminds us of the many deaths, betrayals and other such dramatic touchstones from the series so far, chalking it all up to the eternal struggle #ForTheThrone. However, as Jon Snow reminds us towards the end of the clip, the real end-all, be-all battle is between humankind and the Night King’s undead horde, a climactic showdown we can finally witness come April.

Perhaps said showdown is the battle scene so enormous, it took the Game of Thrones crew 55 straight nights to shoot. Perhaps not! We won’t need to speculate any longer once April rolls around and Game of Thrones’ long-developing endgame is revealed at long last (spoiling the series-concluding George R.R. Martin novels we were likely never going to get, anyway). That’s what we’re trying to say here.

Stay tuned for more on the final season of Game of Thrones—including its actual April premiere date and maybe even a trailer—and look ahead to HBO’s forthcoming prequel, working-titled The Long Night, right here.