Brace yourselves, the end is coming. HBO’s president of programming, Michael Lombardo, revealed on Thursday that he anticipates just three more seasons of Game of Thrones before the show is done.
“I think ‘seven seasons and out’ has never been the conversation,” Lombardo says. “The question is how much beyond the seventh season we’re going to do. Obviously we’re shooting six now and hopefully discussing seven. They’re feeling like they’re probably two more years after six. I’ve said before, I would always love for them to change their minds but that’s what we’re looking at right now.”
Asked if a prequel series would be possible, given all the backstory laid out by George R.R. Martin, Lombardo replied, “I would be open to anything that Dan and David wanted to do about Game of Thrones or almost any subject matter. It really would depend fully for us on what they wanted to do. I think you’re right, there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel if George and Dan and David decided they wanted to tackle that. At this point, all the focus is on figuring out the next few years with this show so we haven’t had any conversation about that at this point.”
Lombardo has previously gone on record admitting that he wants to see “Game of Thrones” run for a decade: “We started this journey with David and Dan. It’s their vision. Would I love the show to go 10 years as both a fan and a network executive? Absolutely. We’ll have an honest conversation that explores all possible avenues … What I’m not going to do is have a show continue past where the creators believe where they feel they’ve finished with the story,” he said earlier this year.
Author George R.R. Martin, whose book series provides the basis for the HBO hit, has planned seven books in his series. The books will certainly be outpaced by the show, as there is still no release date in sight for the sixth installment, The Winds of Winter.
The HBO boss also weighed in on persistent criticisms about graphic content on “Game of Thrones,” particularly scenes of sexual violence. In Season 5, a little girl was burned alive in one episode and the rape of the character Sansa was a major flash point, though Lombardo noted that shocking violence has been part of the formula from the very beginning.
But the most important question of all fans was saved for the very end of Lombardo’s executive session.
Is Jon Snow (Kit Harington) dead?
“Dead is dead is dead is dead. He be dead,” Lombardo says. “Yes. Everything I’ve seen, heard or read, Jon Snow is dead.”
