HBO confirms epic runtimes of Game of Thrones’ final episodes

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The final season of GAME OF THRONES is the shortest ever at six episodes, but we’ve been told by those behind the series that it all evens out a bit thanks to episodes that run much longer than ones in the past. This morning HBO confirmed this by announcing the official runtimes of all six episodes, along with the air dates for each one. What can we take from this? Well, just prepare to carve out a big chunk of your Sunday evenings for the next month or so come April.

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According to the press release from HBO, the first two episodes of the season – airing April 14 and 21 – run at a little under an hour, which is not all that different from past episodes. However, the third episode and onward leap into cinematic territory with the final episodes pushing almost an hour and a half each. These are basically movies – short movies, granted – but still something that could play in a theater and feel no different in length than your average film. That’s a ton of backstabbing, dragon riding, wine drinking and zombie bashing for you.

Here is the full list of runtimes:

• Episode 1
  • Debut date: Sunday, April 14 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 0:54
• Episode 2
  • Debut date: Sunday, April 21 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 0:58
• Episode 3
  • Debut date: Sunday, April 28 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 1:22
• Episode 4
  • Debut date: Sunday, May 5 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 1:18
• Episode 5
  • Debut date: Sunday, May 12 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 1:20
• Episode 6
  • Debut date: Sunday, May 19 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); Estimated running time: 1:20

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While we now have the runtimes we still don't know the titles of each episode, leaving a bit of mystery still in the air. One of these long episodes is no doubt dedicated to the Battle of Winterfell, of which executive producer Bryan Cogman said, "This final face-off between the Army of the Dead and the army of the living is completely unprecedented and relentless and a mixture of genres even within the battle."

We are officially less than one month away from the final season airing, and with this news, I'm starting to get goosebumps. This is the biggest show in terms of scale we've ever seen, and in terms of fandom, possibly the biggest show ever, period. Between this and AVENGERS: ENDGAME this April will be one for the books, and for the tears. Prepare thyself. 

The final season of GAME OF THRONES starts April 14 on HBO.