Sophie Turner Says 'Game of Thrones' Ending is "Like a Death in the Family"

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Winter is finally here, and with that, we're getting more information about the eighth (and final) season of Game of Thrones. Per usual, HBO is keeping all the information on lock, even filming different finales for the series just in case anything gets leaked to the public. 

If you can't wait until all of the Westeros madness beginning in April, here's everything we know so far about the final season of Game of Thrones.

The character posters are adding a layer of mystery.

HBO revealed a set of 20 character posters via Twitter moment on Feb. 28 for the show's final season, and they're gorgeous. Clearly, these posters are setting the tone for what's to come in the final battle for the Iron Throne in the final season, while asking "who remains in the realm."

Game Of Thro-mojis?

Along with the new character posters, the GoT Twitter account released some character emojis to coordinate with the upcoming season, which is jarringly adorable considering how...you know, full of death and murder the show is. (Click into the below tweet to see all the emojis.)

We have brand-new images!

In classic GOT style, we got some new imagery from the series on Feb. 6—but it gives away absolutely nothing about the upcoming eighth season. Ooh, Daenerys and Jon! Arya Stark! Cold weather!

The gang's all here, and they're smiling...but we don't know what about quite yet.

Finally, a teaser trailer!

After what felt like a lifetime, we got an extended teaser trailer on Jan. 14.

The atmospheric teaser showed kinda-sibling powerhouse Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, and Jon Snow wandering through the Crypts of Winterfell, a.k.a. the final resting place for all of their ancestors. There are a lot of zoomed-in shots of a feather, which is a nod to the feather in the pilot episode of the show.

Interestingly, one Stark is missing: Bran. Not even the Third-Eye Raven shows up in the crypts. Which begs the question: Where is he?

Also, why does the statue of Jon Snow look noticeably older than the statues of the other Starks? Is this some sort of clue?

Oh, and we got a release date: April 14. Previously, we'd only known that the series would return sometime in April.

Winter brought with it a short new promo.

Back on November 13, viewers were treated with a first look at the new season when HBO released a promotional trailer for the series.

The promo confirmed one detail: The series will return officially in April 2019, but didn't provide a more official date than that. 

Entertainment Weekly provided the world with the first images of the cast from the final season:

The episode count

Unlike previous seasons, the eighth season will bow at six episodes, rather than the standard ten.

Six episodes? But how long are they?

The episodes will be feature length. Meaning 90 minutes plus-long episodes of Game of Thrones. “When you think about it, up until last season we’d have six months to do ten episodes,” said Liam Cunningham. “So we’re [doing] way more than that for six episodes. So that obviously will translate into longer episodes.”

The overarching theme of the season?

Executive producer and writer Bryan Cogman shared with Entertainment Weekly: “It’s about all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death,” Cogman said. “It’s an incredibly emotional, haunting, bittersweet final season and I think it honors very much what [author George R.R. Martin] set out to do – which is flipping this kind of story on its head.”

I heard rumors of a Game of Thrones prequel?

Iron Throne obsessives, we've got some great news for you. While details on the prequel are still on the DL, Naomi Watts has been cast in the prequel, tentatively titled The Long Night.

The series will take place thousands of years before any GoT storyline we've seen thus far, and George R. R. Martin will have a hand in writing the pilot episode. It's expected at the very earliest in 2020.

Who's returning?

As always, it's a surprise who is coming back and who isn't from Game of Thrones, a show that kills off characters blithely—some of whom then turn out not to be a dead as we think. But here's who's confirmed either via personal confirmation, their IMDB page, or photo confirmation:

• Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)
• Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)
• Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)
• Kit Harington (Jon Snow)
• Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth)
• Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark)
• Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)
• Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy)
• Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei)
• Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth)
• John Bradley (Samwell Tarly)
• Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark)
• Hannah Murray (Gilly)
• Rory McCann (Sandor "The Hound" Clegane)
• Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont)
• Conleth Hill (Varys)
• Carice van Houten (Melisandre)
• Jerome Flynn (Bronn)
• Joe Dempsie (Gendry)

Also returning? Ghost, one of the direwolf puppies found by the children of House Stark, raised by Jon Snow. Ghost is set to have a ton of screentime this year!

There's going to be a reunion special!

You heard that correctly. On a show notorious for killing people off, they're getting the gang back together for a one-off Game of Thrones reunion special, Entertainment Weekly confirmed. Yep, that even means Sean Bean, a.k.a. Ned Stark, will be joining the reunion, alongside other members of the series who hadn't made it to the finale.

Bummer news, though: Fans of GoT won't be able to see the reunion special on HBO. Instead, it'll be a special bonus feature in the Game of Thrones box set featuring all eight seasons of the show, so you likely won't see the reunion until after the series finale.

We've got a new trailer!

The latest trailer doesn't say a whole lot, or tell us a whole lot, but it sure is exciting:

The first look features a long-awaited meeting.

It's of no surprise that there will be countless new character combinations and interactions in the final season, given that we're deep into the White Walker war. A new HBO teaser, which featured a look at the new HBO projects for 2019 released during the Golden Globe showed Jon Snow (Kit Harington) bringing Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) to Winterfell for the first time, where she meets Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner).

"Winterfell is yours, Your Grace," Sansa tells the Mother of Dragons. Watch the teaser below, and scream along with me:

HBO dropped the first official full-length trailer.

A month before the final season premiere on April 14, 2019, we were blessed with a full-length trailer. Watch it below:

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Even Sophie Turner wasn't prepared for the emotions.

You’d think that wearing the costumes, sharing lunch with the cast, and seeing the CGI dragons pre-CGI would leave you immune to getting too involved with the end of the show, but prepare to feel all of the feels. Even Sophie Turner, who has played Sansa Stark throughout the eight seasons, has admitted that she’s only just coming to terms with the ending. Anyone else definitely not ready to watch?

"I’m just coming to terms with it right now, it’s like a death in the family," Turner told Harper's Bazaar. "I’m losing the character I’ve played so long."

Anyone particularly good at reading between lines, let us know what that means for the future of the Starks. Thanks.

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