Updated 9:17 AM EST Dec 15, 2019Friends, Andals, First Men: it's almost time.The pop-culture juggernaut 'Game of Thrones' returns to HBO Sunday (9 EDT/PDT) for its eighth and final season. The fantasy series concludes its run as the biggest hit in the premium cable network's history.
Season 8 of Game of Thrones angered many viewers, and here are some of the top complaints. The hit HBO series is one of the most popular in recent memory, but the appreciation for Game of Thrones brought even more pressure on how it could end. All of these expectations are put on the shoulders of creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, as well as the various writers and directors on the eighth. The eighth and final season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones, produced by HBO, premiered on April 14, 2019, and concluded on May 19, 2019.Unlike the first six seasons, which consisted of ten episodes each, and the seventh season, which consisted of seven episodes, the eighth season consists of only six episodes. The final season depicts the culmination of the series' two.
But no one aside from the cast and crew really knows what's going to happen when the familiar theme music begins Sunday night. Read on for everything we know about 'Game of Thrones' Season 8. Where did we leave off?It's been 20 months since we saw a new episode of 'Game of Thrones,' so a refresher on the relevant plot details might be helpful. At the end of Season 7, Jon and Dany have sex; Bran and Sam realize Jon is Aegon Targaryen; Arya and Sansa execute Littlefinger; Cersei lies about helping fight the White Walkers; Jaime abandons Cersei; and the Night King breaks through the Wall. Want something more detailed? We recapped every important event from all seven seasons here.
Some of those Season 1 details might just pop up again in Season 8.Don't walk alone with winter coming: All the news, recaps, thoughts and plotline analysis right to your inbox. Polay/HBO Who's still alive?For a show with a death count as high as Thrones', quite a few characters (and dragons and wights and White Walkers) are left standing.
Scroll through some of the biggest characters still on the show in the gallery below, featuring all of them taking a turn sitting on the famed Iron Throne. What can we expect?There's much secrecy surrounding the final season, but we know that it's just six episodes long; that the last four episodes will run longer than an hour; and that there are plenty of unanswered questions to address.
But for now we can obsess by watching the trailer over and over again. Why is 'Thrones' such a big deal, anyway?If you don't watch the fantasy drama that somehow combines dragons, frozen zombies and incest, you may be wondering what your friends have been yelling about since 2011 (and will keep yelling about for the next six weeks). We break down how the series went from everyday fantasy to bonafide phenomenon here. And if you are clued in enough to recite the Azor Ahai prophecy by heart, take a look at our ranking of all 67 episodes and see if you agree.
You can also see if you were keenly observant enough to spot these Easter eggs. What can I possibly watch (or rewatch) before the Season 8 premiere?Not even the Three-Eyed-Raven could watch all seven seasons before Sunday's premiere, but if you want a quick catch-up, we offer important seasons and episodes to check out in the time you have left here. Any ideas about how it will end?We're as clueless as you are, but some of the actors whose characters were killed off in past seasons hazarded a guess. I'm just here for the celebritiesThe stars of the series turned out in full force for the glitzy red-carpet premiere at New York's Radio City Music Hall on April 3, looking more Hollywood than Westerosi.Still want more 'Thrones'? Subscribe to USA TODAY's newsletter, 'Postcards from Westeros' to get our Season 8 recaps delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. And let's hope we all make it out of the season alive.