'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Has Been Delayed—and for a Very Good Reason

So here's some news that precisely NO ONE wanted to hear—we're going to have to wait even longer than usual for new Game of Thrones (opens in new tab).

The hit HBO series has traditionally debuted its new season in April, but showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have now revealed that they're looking at a later launch in 2017.

"We don't have an air date yet, but this year will probably be a little bit later," they revealed on the UFC Unfiltered (opens in new tab) podcast.

"We're starting a bit later because at the end of this season, 'Winter is here'—and that means that sunny weather doesn't really serve our purposes any more.

"So we kind of pushed everything down the line, so we could get some grim grey weather even in the sunnier places that we shoot."

Makes sense—not that it helps to soothe our broken hearts.

Game of Thrones season seven will be the show's second-to-last outing—with reports of just seven episodes instead of the customary 10 (opens in new tab), too—and a final season is expected to follow in 2018.

In memoriam: remembering those we lost (opens in new tab) in the Game of Thrones finale:

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