Game of Thrones season 8 release date announced by HBO

Mark your calendars - the final six episodes are coming

HBO has announced the exact date that Game of Thrones will return.

After over a year of speculation, and following an earlier announcement confirming its month of return, it has been revealed that the Emmy Award-winning drama will begin its final season on 14 April 2019.

The news was confirmed in a trailer named “Crypts of Winterfell” that aired before the third season of True Detective, which stars Mahershala Ali.

The Game of Thrones teaser features characters Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). Fans have been busy hunting for clues in the video – the biggest one of which is detailed here.

This is earlier than what fans of the fantasy series had predicted: taking into account the forthcoming second season of Big Little Lies, they estimated that Thrones‘s eighth run would land on 28 April. It’s expected that Sky Atlantic will simulcast and broadcast the premiere the following evening (29 April).

Following the confirmation, fans can officially begin the countdown to the final six episodes of the cable network’s biggest ever show.

Teasing the final episodes, which will showcase the show’s most elaborate battle yet, co-executive producer Bryan Cogman said: “It’s about all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death.”

HBO has a huge year ahead, with the end of Thrones ushering in a new era for the cable network.

New shows set to premiere throughout 2019 include the Jordan Peele/J.J. Abrams horror drama Lovecraft Country, Kathryn Hahn comedy Mrs Fletcher and a “remix” of Watchmen from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, whose acclaimed drama The Leftovers concluded on the channel in 2017.

You can find a compilation of everything we know about the final season of Game of Thrones here.