HBO
Tonight we begin the second half of the final season of Game of Thrones with Season 8 Episode 4. Last week’s episode was almost 90 minutes long. How long will tonight’s be? Read on for details and the schedule for the rest of the season.
Tonight’s episode is 1 hour and 20 minutes long, but the runtime is listed as 1 hour and 18 minutes total in length (aka 78 minutes.) That’s more than 20 minutes longer than the first two episodes of the season, but about four minutes shorter than last week’s The Long Night episode. According to the show’s TV listings, tonight’s episode will start at 9 p.m. Eastern and end at 10:20 p.m. Eastern (aka 8 p.m Central to 9:20 p.m. Central.) Technically, the runtime for tonight is 78 minutes long, so the credits and trailer will probably add a few extra minutes, allowing the show to end at 10:20 p.m. Eastern.
As of the time of publication, there are no official titles yet for tonight’s episode. This isn’t unusual – HBO usually doesn’t release the Season 8 titles until either right when the episode airs or right as it’s ending. TV Guide currently lists the synopsis for tonight as being: “The Night King finally breaches the Wall alongside a full-grown dragon under his command; the new alliances and betrayals will determine the fate of everyone in Westeros.” This has obviously been the same synopsis that TV Guide has run for every episode of Season 8, so it’s not revealing anything new and it’s pretty outdated. The episode number is Episode 71.
Here are the lengths for each episode in the final season.
- Episode 1: 54 minutes
- Episode 2: 58 minutes
- Episode 3: 1 hour 22 minutes
- Episode 4 (tonight): 1 hour 18 minutes
- Episode 5: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Episode 6: 1 hour 20 minutes
Episode 3 was directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed The Gift, Hardhome, and Battle of the Bastards. Tonight’s Episode 4 is directed by David Nutter, who directed Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 5 is directed by Miguel Sapochnik again, which is why many people are predicting another battle in Episode 5. And Episode 6, the finale, is directed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Be sure to check back on this author’s page from time to time, as I’ll be posting theories and discussions about the episode after it airs.
The longest episode in Season 6 was the Season 6 finale, Winds of Winter, which clocked in for 68 minutes. The Season 7 finale was much longer: 79 minutes and 43 seconds. Last week’s episode was the longest episode for Game of Thrones yet, a little more than 2 minutes longer than the Season 7 finale. Tonight’s episode, clocking in at 78 minutes, is just a little bit shorter than the Season 7 finale, but a full 10 minutes longer than the Season 6 finale. It helps to put things in perspective, so we don’t take for granted the episode lengths we’re receiving this season. We’re actually getting some great, nearly movie-length episodes, even though the season itself is shorter than most fans would prefer.
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