Total runtime of Game of Thrones seasons 2019

The total runtime of each season of Game of Thrones shows that the first six seasons were all considerably longer than the final two, with the latter seasons each under 450 minutes (7.5 hours). A show of epic proportions, both culturally and in substance, GoT was well known for its lengthy episodes, and the first season had a total runtime of almost nine and a half hours. However, the formulaic ten episodes per season that viewers had come to know was altered towards the tail end of the program’s air-time, with the final season only six episodes long. This decrease in air-time given to explore George R. R. Martin’s elaborate world left many fans disappointed with the closing seasons.

Game of Thrones episode length

Producers of the show looked to create longer episodes to make up for the decrease in instalments, but this detrimentally affected the overall run times of the final two seasons. The creative choice was taken at a point where the TV show was diverging further and further from Martin’s original work. Indeed, by the time the seventh series was being produced, material sourced from the books was reduced as the production of the television series turned over faster than new volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, and showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss announced their intention to conclude the TV show. Despite this, appetite for the series did not diminish, and the season finale brought in record numbers of viewers.