Fans will be welcomed back to Westeros when season seven of Game of Thrones premieres this year. However, with the new season comes a bittersweet truth: Game of Thrones is set to end after season eight, which means each new battle and betrayal puts us one step closer to the show's ultimate conclusion. While HBO likely won't satisfy us with another four seasons, there is now some hope that we could be getting more Game of Thrones than we initially expected. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , HBO's programming president Casey Bloys revealed that the episode count for season eight might be expanded. Though Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss previously told EW they had planned a mere six episodes for the final season, there is now a chance fans will be treated to more. “[The showrunners] are still figuring out the shape of the season, what they want to do,” Bloys told EW. “I’ll take as many as they want to do. If they give me eight, I’ll want 10. But it’s really up to them. They’ll let me know.” It's not the only promising news Game of Thrones fans heard this week. Bloys stated that he could be onboard to explore Jon Snow's world with a prequel series after season eight bows out — though it sounds like the stars will have to align perfectly for it to happen. “It’s such a big property we would be foolish not to explore it, but it’s a pretty high bar,” Bloys told EW. “We’ll take some shots at it. I’m not going to do it just to do it. It has to feel very special." It's hard to imagine anything from the creators of the uber-popular series not feeling "special" enough to continue. With so many fans already mourning the series' impending end, a prequel series already seems poised for success. Fortunately, we don't have to think about that just yet: with two more years of Game of Thrones to go, anything is possible.