Video: We discuss the news that Game of Thrones Season 7 will premiere late

Major news today, straight from HBO: Game of Thrones Season 7 won’t premiere until the summer of 2017, and it’ll only be seven episodes long. We couldn’t help but hop in front of the camera to suss out what this means, where it’s going, and what fans can do to patch their grief.

Why is my face so shiny? Apparently even sitting down makes me sweat.

As I said in the video, I do think there are a number of silver linings to this announcement. Sure, we’ll have to wait a little longer to get new episodes of our favorite show, but that’s only because HBO is waiting longer to film them. And the reason it’s waiting to film them? So it can shoot in actual snowy weather, the better to depict winter. In the long run, that’ll make the episodes better.

I don’t even entirely mind the shortened season—if the producers only have so much material left to them, I’d prefer they not pad things out unnecessarily. And even though there’s a lot left to do before our heroes clash with the White Walkers, I think it makes sense that it’ll take less time, considering that so many characters who used to be on separate journeys are now in the same place. For example, Jon, Sansa, Brienne, and Davos all used to have their own story threads—now they’re all part of one thread. We won’t have to spend as much time checking on all of them.

Or maybe it’ll feel hopelessly rushed. I tend to see the glass half full here, but we’ll have to wait until Season 7 to be sure.

And now, a sample of the internet’s reaction to the news:

Someone has a High Valyrian phrasebook.

Perspective is important. Hopefully this comes to pass.

That’s good advice for whenever, really.