Game of Thronesfans suspected it could happen, and now a HBO executive has confirmed that there wasn't a dry eye in the house during the final read-through of season eight as characters began "falling down to their deaths". Chatting at the Best of HBO INTV Conference, HBO's senior vice president, Francesca Orsi, spoke about the read-through of the season eight finale, explaining: "It was a really powerful moment in our lives and our careers. None of the cast had received the scripts prior, and one by one they started falling down to their deaths."
No one is safe in the large ensemble cast
She continued: "It was amazing. By the very end, everyone looked down and looked up and tears were in their eyes." Sophie Turner has previously opened up about the same read-through, telling Hollywood Reporter: "At the end of the very last script, they read aloud, 'End of Game of Thrones'. As soon as they read that out, pretty much everyone burst into tears. There was a standing ovation. We were all clapping and cheering. It was amazing."
Season eight will be the show's final series
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She added: "We actually realised, reading that 'end of Game of Thrones' line, that that was it. When you're in it, you don't really see an end point. It's just an ongoing thing you're living with. It was a real shock. It was really sad, but there was an immense amount of pride, too." Although the show will finish with season eight in 2019, Francesca spoke about the planned spin-offs to the series, and admitted that they were working out the budgets. "There is a conundrum if we do take off on one of these Game of Thrones spin-offs, where do we start?" she said. "We can't obviously start with the budget of season eight but would it be a Game of Thrones season three budget?"
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