Game of Thrones season 7 will only have seven episodes, as opposed to the usual 10. To make up for this, some fans have been hoping that the episodes will be longer than usual. And while we’re not getting insanely supersized episodes, so far it looks like that’s the case.
Take the example of the season 7 premiere. It’ll run a healthy 59 minutes, equal to the season 4 premiere (“Two Swords”) and behind only the series premiere way back in season 1 (“Winter is Coming”). The second episode of season 7, meanwhile, will run for 59 minutes, the longest second episode in the show’s history.
Now, it looks like the third episode of season 7 will follow suit. HBO’s website reveals that it will be 63 minutes in length — that’s the first third episode to go over an hour.
For reference, here’s how the other third episodes stack up:
- Season 1 (“Lord Snow”): 58 minutes
- Season 2 (“What Is Dead May Never Die”): 53 minutes
- Season 3 (“Walk of Punishment”): 57 minutes
- Season 4 (“Breaker of Chains”): 57 minutes
- Season 5 (“High Sparrow”): 60 minutes
- Season 6 (“Oathbreaker”): 53 minutes
- Season 7, Episode 3: 63 minutes
Now, an extra five or 10 minutes isn’t going to make a huge difference when it comes to how long the episodes feel — it’s not like Episode 3 is going to be feature film-length. But fewer episodes to work with, every minute counts.
Game of Thrones season 7 premieres on July 16.
h/t Reddit