The producers of HBO’s Game of Thrones had recently commented that the remaining two seasons would likely have fewer episodes than previous years. They had also let slip the bad news that the next season would not be starting in the spring as it usually has — but when would it start? Now HBO has confirmed both rumors and provided a smidge more information.

The network announced this morning that GoT‘s seventh season will be limited to seven episodes. That’s down from 10 episodes each for the previous six seasons.

The show’s producers had said before the beginning of the sixth season that telling the remainder of the epic story would require around 15 more episodes, and the question was whether to go with one long season or two shorter seasons.

Additionally, the later start to the new season is due in part to the need to film more wintry scenes with actual snow.

“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” said Casey Bloys, president, HBO programming. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

The HBO announcement also confirms that production will return to Iceland, where GoT had previously filmed scenes in the snow-covered lands north of the Wall.

No exact premiere date was given beyond “summer 2017.”

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