Game of Thrones director David Nutter: All season 8 episodes are over 60 minutes

David Nutter has directed some of Game of Thrones most iconic moments, including the Red Wedding, the attack on Daznak’s Pit, and Cersei’s Walk of Atonement. And in season 8, the man who killed Jon Snow will be directing three of the season’s six episodes. Hold us.

Nutter hosted his own AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, and while he didn’t give away anything specific, he did drop some interesting tidbits about the final season. First up, how long might the episodes be?

"Season 8 episodes will all I think be longer than 60 minutes. They’ll be dancing around the bigger numbers, I know that for sure."

Well, that’s certainly good news for the fans. Up to this point, the longest episode of the show is “The Dragon and the Wolf,” the season 7 finale, which clocks in at 80 minutes. Having longer episodes may take some of the sting out of having fewer than usual.

RELATED PRODUCT

House Stark Charcoal Dolman Shirt from Game of Thrones

Buy Now!

Buy Now!

But however long the episodes are, the only thing that really matters is if they live up to our expectations. Did Nutter find the ending satisfying?

"I’m completely satisfied with how season 8 ends. I think that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] did a tremendous job, and they took into consideration what the fans want, as well as what is right as far as storytelling is concerned. I guarantee there’s going to be lots of surprises and shocking moments, but it’s really very compelling stuff."

I chose to take this as confirmation that Hot Pie ends up on the Iron Throne.

Plenty of Redditors tried to drag information out of Nutter, and while he stayed strong, he did say a couple of things that could be construed as spoilers if you squint really, really hard. For example, “Well, I’ll be the first to tell you that I have no time travel in my episodes.”

Okay, so Bran won’t be breaking anyone else’s brain, at least not in Nutter’s episodes. Nutter also said this: “Well, I have to say that you will see a direwolf in season 8. That’s all I can say.” Ghost is coming. Get hype.

Fine, but we’re all more than ready to see the final adventures of Jon, Dany, Tyrion and all the rest. Why has season 8 taken so long to materialize?

"Visual effects! Things take time my friends — they take a lot of time to create and GoT is the last place you’re going to find half baked work so it’s all about making sure they fill the frame with as much capacity as possible and making it as real and right as possible. Small price to pay for the amazing quality that comes out of that show."

Feel free to check out the whole discussion. Here are a few other highlights:

• Might Nutter work on any of the Game of Thrones prequels in development? “I’m not involved in it. I’m not sure if I will be involved in it right now but I wish them a lot of luck.”
• On the season 8 security: “Not a lot of paper on the set, like none. No scripts were printed, we only used iPads and things of that nature. It was much more serious than in the past but the security has always been high.”
• “Season 8 in three words — Spectacular, Inspiring, Satisfying.”
• On Game of Thrones’ influence on other TV shows: “It’s made huge impression on the television world and there’re a lot of GoT quote ‘lite’ shows coming out. It’s really a question of if they can hang onto the initial drama and tell that story which is really what GoT has done so well and don’t get caught up in the hype of ‘what they’re supposed to be doing’ but just make it honest and continue to have great storytelling.”
• On season 8’s biggest challenge: “The biggest challenge directing the final season of Game of Thrones is just the importance of getting it right. There was not a second chance to get all of these sequences right, and a lot of sequences had many actors in them and some wonderfully intimate scenes as well. So really it was about taking these characters from point A to B to C to D to E in the various episodes that I did, and making sure that it all balances out properly. We had a lot of rehearsal time and that was really the thing that saved me more than anything else. I’m very happy with the chance to get in there and rehearse with the actors, and I think they were too, and I think it turned out quite well.”

It sounds like we’re in good hands. Now if it can just be April already.

To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels