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So, why do we have to wait until 2019 for 'Game of Thrones' to come back?

Following months of uncertainty, HBO confirmed last week that Game of Thrones’ final season won’t air until 2019. Why do we have to wait so long, and when next year might it premiere?

If you caught Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, hopefully you took a screenshot: That's likely the last time you'll see the Mother of Dragons with the King in the North for a long while.

Following months of uncertainty, HBO confirmed last week that Game of Thrones' final season won't air until 2019.

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Deep breaths, everyone.

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In case you don't like math, that means at least 16 months will pass between seasons of Thrones — and that's presuming the next episode airs sometime in January 2019. Fans across the globe met the news with shock and despair, but the announcement came as no surprise to people keeping up with the  production.

So, why won't we be getting new Game of Thrones this year?

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Writing not quite on the Wall

As early as season 5, Thrones was reaching the end of what George R. R. Martin had covered in the books on which the show is based. By the end of season 6, there was hardly anything left; the show had caught up to Martin. Even with an idea of the endgame — Martin told them how he saw the rest of the series roughly unfolding — showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss still had to fill in the gaps and complete the story for themselves.

The scripts for the final season weren't finished until around the time season 7 aired. That meant it would be months until all the pre-production work — design, casting, set construction, site booking, etc. — would be far enough along for filming to just begin.

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In this case, production started in earnest in October, with a long road ahead of it.

With characters meeting for the first time (or reuniting at last), the need for distinct...
With characters meeting for the first time (or reuniting at last), the need for distinct units has diminished. (Helen Sloan / HBO)

Bringing everyone together

By the later seasons, with storylines as sprawling as the opening credits implied, Thrones often had three different filming units working simultaneously at various locations. But now that the plot has condensed — thanks to more than a few character deaths — there's reportedly only one unit filming the entire season. Without those extra units, and with tons of footage to shoot (see below), the time it'll take to film the season is further extended from the norm.

A lot to build up, a LOT to go down

Don't let that six-episode length fool you: Thrones is gearing up to throw everything it's got into its farewell. With a budget that's reportedly ballooned to at least $15 million an episode, Thrones is handing Miguel Sapochnik, director of  the show's grandest war episodes, two of the six this season. This all but ensures at least two major battles, and while we can't be sure what precisely they'll entail, the construction of two massive (spoilery! spoilery!) sets drops serious hints.

Set construction on this scale takes a long time, but so do battles — the Battle of the Bastards took almost a month to shoot. Two battles would tack on a significant amount of time to the schedule, but each of the final episodes may also be (close to) movie-length, chock-full of intrigue, romance and betrayal. Throw in having just one unit to film, and you've got a long shoot ahead.

Don’t forget the dragons!

And filming isn’t the end of it! There’s a ton to be done in post-production — editing, sound work, visual effects, to name a few. Keep in mind that Daenerys’ children aren’t real; a huge chunk of time and budget goes towards creating dragons, direwolves and wights once primary filming is over.

Getting it all done right, in a season that'll likely feature more special effects than any other by a country mile, will take months. (For season 7, even though filming ended around February 2017, some touches for the last episode were reportedly still being made mere weeks in advance).

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So, when will we get Game of Thrones again?

Barring some calamity — or Jon Snow's wedding to Ygritte getting too rowdy — shooting is expected to end this summer (perhaps early, or perhaps August. Who knows?). With post-production likely to stretch well into the fall afterwards, a premiere date in January isn't impossible, but this writer wouldn't bet on it. A late winter or early spring premiere feels more probable.

Benioff and Weiss emphasized to EW last year a desire to stick the landing and give Thrones the ending it deserved. To that end, they expected to work on the final season for around a year and a half. After the rollercoaster that was season 7, which somehow felt rushed even on an extended production schedule, the showrunners ought to take as much time as they can.

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With the most anticipated show in the world — and a boatload of prequels in the wings — HBO won't mind the wait, and neither should we.

For more on Game of Thrones, follow Hunter on Twitter @HJuncensored.