ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY AND AWARD NEWS FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Winter, and Game of Thrones Season 8, Are Coming After a singularly long, cold winter, the final season of Game of Thrones is almost here. That means the next few weeks will be filled with plenty of breathless speculation about what to expect when the HBO fantasy epic finally wraps for good—and lucky for you, Thrones-ologist Joanna Robinson is here to break down every last detail, beginning with a series of 20 all-new character posters. As Robinson points out, these posters seem inspired by a memorable early Thrones campaign: the key art from Season 1, in which “Sean Bean’s Ned Stark, hunched wearily over his sword as the terrible burden of honor, responsibility, and familial allegiance weighed heavier on him than any crown could. Eight years later, his bastard son (but really, his nephew!), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), strikes an unmistakably similar pose.“ The images give a few glimpses at new costumes—including a shimmering, dragon scale-esque gown for Sansa Stark—but mostly serve to set a tone, while giving away characteristically little about what will actually happen during the season itself. No matter; when real clues arrive, we’ll be ready. The series returns April 14. Elsewhere in HWD, Robinson also mulls over the real reason George R.R. Martin may have turned down a cameo in Thrones Season 8; Sonia Saraiya swoons for Better Things, which is even better now that Louis C.K.has been jettisoned; Lady Gaga dashes dreams by swearing that she and Bradley Cooper are not really in love; and Laura Bradley looks back at the venerable Grey’s Anatomy, which hits a medical milestone tonight.

Watch the Thrones These brooding shots of 20 major and slightly less major characters, posed powerfully on the Iron Throne, should look familiar to any longtime Game of Thrones viewer. READ MORE » Bye, George? George R.R. Martin says he turned down a Thrones Season 8 cameo so that he could concentrate on writing The Winds of Winter. Is that the only reason? READ MORE » Best Things Better Things, a slice-of-life comedy about the joys and indignities of single motherhood, jettisoned Louis C.K. from its creative staff—and turned out its most expansive, gorgeous season yet. READ MORE » Say It Ain’t So Despite their extremely sultry performance of “Shallow” at the Oscars, Lady Gaga insists she and Bradley Cooper are just friends: “I’m an artist, and I guess we did a good job and fooled you!” READ MORE » The First Cut As Grey’s Anatomy surpasses ER as TV’s longest-running medical drama, a look back at one of its favorite recurring story lines: doctors who refuse to tell anyone about their very fancy tumors. READ MORE »