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Why is Game of Thrones season 7 shorter?

By Brittany Frederick

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: Actress Maisie Williams attends the premiere of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: Actress Maisie Williams attends the premiere of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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Why is Game of Thrones season 7 shorter? We explain why season 7 of Game of Thrones has fewer episodes than any other season of the series.

Why is Game of Thrones season 7 shorter? Fans are asking that question since HBO announced that the upcoming season will have a reduced number of episodes.

There are only seven episodes in Game of Thrones season 7, and it’s not a creative plan because it’s season 7. Nor is it any sign that the series in in danger of going anywhere.

Instead, the reduced episode count is part of a number of changes going into this season of the series. As Entertainment Weekly reported, season 7 was pushed back from the show’s usual spring premiere to a summer 2017 release date.

That delay is because the show’s executive producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, wanted to start shooting later in the year to reflect that winter actually is coming to Westeros. And that wasn’t all.

Weiss and Benioff’s plan also included scaling back the number of episodes, from the 10 that Game of Thrones fans have been used to, to seven installments this season.

According to EW, the producers want to further reduce the number down to six for season 8 and make that the final season, though HBO has yet to officially say that is what’s going to happen in 2018.

So while it’s disappointing to fans that they’ll be getting three less chapters in Game of Thrones season 7, it’s not a portent of doom or anything else sinister. It’s what the producers wanted and have wanted for “several years.”

We’ll be spending less time in Westeros, but it’ll likely be as bloody and suspenseful as ever.

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