HBO boss says 'Game of Thrones' had to push back to make the best show possible

The long winter is here, and by that we mean the agonizing wait between Seasons 7 and 8 of Game of Thrones. After HBO confirmed that Season 8 won't premiere until 2019, network president Casey Bloys insists that this was a calculated decision – not just a way to draw out the pain of waiting for and losing this show.

“It wasn’t necessarily a delay,” Bloys told TVLine. “It was based on when they felt that they could deliver a show that they are most proud of."

"They" of course means show runners David Beniof and D.B. Weiss, who must be eyeing an ambitious final season full of battling zombies, dragons, and more.

"They take the time they need to do the show at its highest level of quality," Bloys elaborated when speaking with Entertainment Weekly. "As the show has gone on, it’s gotten bigger — big battle scenes, big special effects. These things take time."

"Here’s the one thing I can assure you: Dan and Dave were not sitting around on a beach waiting to go back to work," he added. "They’re perfectionists and this is the soonest it can come back at a level of quality that they are comfortable with.”

Thrones has previously outdone itself with nearly feature-length episodes and massive budgets.

“I suppose we could’ve said to them, ‘You must deliver by this date,”‘ Bloys told TVLine. “But we’ve worked with them a long time and I trust them to tell us, ‘This is the time we need to make it good.’ So I don’t know that it’s a delay as much as it is ‘This is the time required to deliver at the level that they think the fans expect.'”