Why ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8 Episode Lengths May Not Be Legitimate

Fans are hoping for any tidbit of information they can get when it comes to the final season of “Game of Thrones.” However, fans should take a recent report about the runtimes for the show’s final six episodes with a grain of salt.

Reports from Premiere magazine, a French publication, on a meeting involving a group of TV networks in France allegedly reveal the runtimes of the six episodes. In the report, it’s claimed that the first two episodes of the final season are 60 minutes each in length, while the final four episodes of the series all run at 80 minutes in length each.

However, the publication noted that HBO themselves have not confirmed the information, and the exact length of each episode has yet to be announced.

However, it’s also worth noting that the numbers are likely inaccurate as well for several reasons. Most notably, the run times are all too precise, something that isn’t usually associated with “Game of Thrones” episodes. To date, only a handful of episodes have had runtimes that ran to an exact hour, with most either coming up just short with a runtime of 50+ minutes or going longer than 60 overall.

In addition, according to Entertainment Weekly, the show’s producers would need permission from HBO to run so many episodes that are over one hour. While it’s likely they would have an okay because of the show’s popularity and the fact that it is the final season when the show’s lack of rounded-off runtimes in the past are added in, it seems these numbers aren’t quite right.

Of course, the times could be estimates which indicate where the episodes could end up, though there may still be a variation. The 60-minute episodes could each be ones that run between 55-65 minutes, while it’s likely the other four more likely run at around 75-85 minutes each.

“Game of Thrones” Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.