Game of Thrones' final season begins April 2019
April will be dark and full of terrors, kicking off the final six episodes of the series.
The Night King will march on Westeros in April.
Game of Thrones will unleash its eighth and final season in April 2019.
The date was revealed Tuesday on the show's official Twitter account, with a 30-second trailer reviewing some of the biggest moments from the show's previous seasons and giving us the release month for the final run of six episodes.
Every battle.
— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) November 13, 2018
Every betrayal.
Every risk.
Every fight.
Every sacrifice.
Every death.
All #ForTheThrone. pic.twitter.com/WReVt473SH
"Every battle. Every betrayal. Every risk. Every fight. Every sacrifice. Every death. All #ForTheThrone," it tweeted.
We see shots from the Battle of the Bastards, the Red Wedding and the Purple Wedding and a hint that the final conflict will see Jon Snow (Kit Harington) clashing with the Night King (Vladimir Furdik).
The seventh season ended with the Night King riding undead dragon Viserion south into Westeros, having brought down a section of the Wall, with the Army of the Dead following.
Snow's status as a true-born Targaryen was also revealed in the seventh season, though he remained unaware of it as he hooked up with (his aunt) Daenarys (Emilia Clarke). But that's almost a family tradition.
It's worth noting that the show can only premiere on April 7 or April 14 if HBO wants all six episodes to go up for Emmys because May 31 is the eligibility deadline.
The show will end before author George R.R. Martin completes Winds of Winter, the planned sixth novel in the Song of Ice and Fire series upon which Game of Thrones is based. He recently acknowledged that he's been "struggling" with it.
Last month, we learned that British actor Josh Whitehouse will join Naomi Watts as one of the leads in HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series.
First published at 7:25 a.m. PT.
Update at 8:21 a.m. PT: Adds seven season details, Emmys note and background.