Winter is indeed coming, and it will surely be a long one, as we must wait until next summer for season 7 of Game of Thrones to begin. However, with this next season comes the foreboding knowledge that, like winter, the confirmed end of Game of Thrones is coming with season 8. Not only is this a sorrowful thought for fans, but also HBO, who has seen some of the highest ratings ever on the network with the series based on the hit George R.R. Martin novels. Anyone familiar with humorous depictions of TV executives knows that the heads of HBO will be desperate to keep the dragon train a-rollin’, and we may have some insight now into their plans.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, HBO Programming President Casey Bloys confirms that the network is discussing a follow-up series with George R.R. Martin. “I would say it’s still kind of preliminary ongoing talks,” said Bloys on what the current status is for a new prequel series to show events occurring before Jon Snow joined the Night’s Watch and Daenerys ate a horse heart. “There are areas we are exploring, but I wouldn’t point to any one and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’” When pressed about the episode count for the remaining seasons (7 episodes for Season 7 and 6 episodes for Season 8), Bloys also responded “I’ll take as much as we can get.”

It also seems that HBO would prefer to not have any more of the Game of Thrones episodes be featured in theatrical releases, so as to give HBO subscribers an exclusive experience. When asked about this still pending strategy, Bloys said “I want everything I can get for HBO, I’ll just leave it at that.” The executive also confirmed that Westworld, Insecure and Divorce, which are HBO’s newest series, will all be returning for second seasons. It will be sad to see Thrones go, but I’m happy it has stayed as long as it has, so I can accept that indeed, Valar Morghulis. What do you guys think? Will you watch a prequel Game of Thrones series? What are you most looking forward to seeing in the final two seasons? Let us know in the comments down below!

In other TV news, have you seen the new trailer for HBO’s new documentary Beware the Slenderman or  the promos for the new X-men Legion series for FX? Read about these stories and future Game of Thrones news here on Don’t Feed the Gamers!