Benioff and Weiss Talk Game of Thrones Season 7 and Beyond

Warning: Spoilers for the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale

Though the sixth season wrapped up this Sunday, it’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s Game of Thrones Season 7. Speaking with Deadline, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talked about what to expect next year and just how many more hours of the series are left.

“That’s what so much of next season is going to be about; finding out what Cersei’s mind-set is,” Weiss said about the finale’s reveal that Cersei sits on the Iron Throne. “Who is she? While Cersei has certainly done a lot of horrible things in her life and she could be a very cruel person, the one thing that was redemptive about her was, she genuinely loved her children. Now they’re all gone, and I think that is very interesting for us. Who is she without her children? The answer is something you’ll find out next season. That’s so much of what is to come that I’ll just give it away if I start delving into it now.”

David Benioff also reiterated that the final two seasons will be broken up over 13 hours.

“It’s two more seasons we’re talking about. From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now… We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end. As Dan said, we’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it. Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. Daenerys is finally coming back to Westeros; Jon Snow is king of the North and Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them. The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game.”

Production on Game of Thrones season 7 is set to begin in July to premiere next year.

Based on the popular book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin, the hit Emmy-winning fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom. The ensemble cast for the series includes Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Diana Rigg, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner.

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