It's official, winter has hit Westeros and with it the seventh season of Game of Thrones will be delayed and shorter.
HBO has confirmed the previously rumoured news that its hit fantasy TV show will release seven episodes in 2017, as opposed to the usual 10.
The seventh season will premiere in the northern summer months, delayed from its typical March - April launch, which means it won't be eligible for the 2017 Emmys.
But putting a dent in the trophy cabinet probably won't force a dark night full of terrors on HBO. The show is nominated for 23 awards this year, the third consecutive Emmys where it has more than any other show.
Production will begin this year and be based in Northern Ireland, with other shooting locations in Spain and Iceland.
"Executive producers David Benioff and DB Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing," an HBO spokesperson told media.
"We're moving the debut to [northern] summer to accommodate the shooting schedule."
All men must die and all shows must end; the TV series based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels is approaching its endgame, the showrunners also confirm.
Stars Lena Headey, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau each recently welcomed payrises as the end is nigh. They'll each earn more than US$500,000 per episode for season seven, and in the likely eighth season.
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