Game of Thrones Showrunner Explains Delay of the Final Season

by Natalie Zamora

This year's Emmy Awards were full of excitement and jokes, but perhaps the best dig of the night came from co-host Colin Jost, who poked fun at Game of Thrones and something so painfully true.

Following Peter Dinklage's win for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Jost came on stage and told the audience, “I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan, and I’m so glad Peter didn’t start his speech and then wait a year and a half to finish it." The camera panned to Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, and other GoT stars all hysterically laughing in the audience.

Though hilarious, Jost's joke just reminded us even more how much longer we have to wait for the final season. The Season 7 finale of Thrones premiered last August, and we still have a while to go. Season 8 is ​due out in the first half of 2019, but we have no idea what month it'll be.

It was only expected then, that when the GoT ​cast and crew arrived at the Emmys press room after their big win for Outstanding Drama Series, they were asked what the holdup was about.

"The final season is taking a long time because it's the biggest thing we've ever done," co-showrunner David Benioff stated. "Even though it's six episodes, it was nearly a full year going out there and shooting."

"No one's gone on vacation, no one's slacking off," Benioff added. "It's [bigger] than anything we've ever attempted before and it's taking a really ... long time."