Winter is coming, and apparently so is the reveal of the exact day when Game of Thrones is finally going to return to the small screen for the premiere of its eighth and final season.
If you want to find out when we get to see the long-awaited conclusion of the epic fantasy series about the seven kingdoms of Westeros and who will finally sit on the Iron Throne — turn on HBO around 8:50 p.m. eastern or so this Sunday, January 13. Right before True Detective kicks off its third season at 9 p.m. If we’re really, really lucky, maybe we’ll even get some new footage or a trailer, though it’s just as likely HBO will want to prolong the excitement and not reveal everything all at once. Keeping back some footage, in other words, for a separate reveal.
HBO got everybody buzzing about this today when the channel’s official Twitter account shared a screen capture of what’s meant to look like an iMessage conversation between someone labeled “Boss” and, presumably, an employee. That conversation is what points to a reveal of the date of GoT’s return this Sunday. Check it out for yourself:
I’m asking the important questions. pic.twitter.com/dYDiI11d1c
— HBO (@HBO) January 11, 2019
As a reminder, HBO has already said the show will definitely return in April. We’re also already on record here as speculating that April 28 is a good bet for when the show will return. “Bet” being the operative word, since there is some necessary wiggle room to account for until we get the official date.
The eight episodes of True Detective, which begins on Sunday, takes you through March 3 (assuming no skipped Sundays). If you assume a seven-episode show will debut the week after True Detective ends, with no Sunday breaks, that takes you through April 21. The following Sunday, April 28, would be where GoT could potentially pick back up (We also have to tip our hat to the folks at WinterIsComing.net for some of this guesswork). One other reason April 28 likely works, we should add, is that HBO has shown new episodes of the show on Easter Sunday before, allowing for this guess to still fit.
