Back to your desk, George R. R. Martin! In what goes down as the least surprising news of the month, HBO has confirmed that it will be commissioning another two seasons of the writer’s beloved fantasy epic. Season four is currently airing to colossal audiences on both sides of the Narrow Sea Atlantic, prompting the US network to take the unprecedented step of green-lighting two more seasons.
Season four’s premiere drew 6.6m viewers on Sunday, a 52 per cent spike on last series’ figures. In fact, the demand for dragon-y exploits in the Seven Kingdoms was so great that HBO Go, the network’s streaming service, crashed.
“Game Of Thrones is a phenomenon like no other,” enthused HBO programming president David Lombardo in a statement. “[Series creators] David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, along with their talented collaborators, continue to surpass themselves, and we look forward to more of their dazzling storytelling.”
The pressure on Martin to get the saga finished is still manageable enough for the bearded genius to go to the shops without HBO execs popping up from behind the cheese counter and tapping their watches. He’s currently at work on book six, The Winds of Winter, of a planned seven-part series. HBO are still on book three, A Storm of Swords, divided in two for seasons three and four.
You’re probably already enmeshed in season four’s Machiavellian power struggles, but if you’re not and need a refresher on the goings-on in Westeros, head over here for a season primer.