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HBO has renewed the popular and award winning TV series, "Game of Thrones," to have its 7th season by 2017. Along with "Game of Thrones" renewal, HBO also confirms its order for "Silicon Valley" and "Veep."

Even before "Game of Thrones" season 6's first episode premieres this Sunday, April 24, HBO has already order a seventh season for the award winning franchise based on the novels of George R.R. Martin, GameSpot reported.

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It is said that the move of HBO to renew "Game of Thrones" for its 7th season did not surprise the show's executive producers David Benioff and DB Weiss, as the showrunners were reportedly previously discussing that the series would end after its 8th season.

According to Variety, the show's executive producers have already decided that after season 6, "Game of Thrones" would only have 13 episodes left. This could mean that "Game of Thrones" season 7 may only contain 6 or 7 episodes, and the same number of episodes could go to the eight season of the series, knowing that the showrunners have already revealed their plans after season 6.

If this would materialize, then the number of episodes for "Game of Thrones" season 7 and "Game of Thrones" season 8 are certainly way lower compared to the previous seasons. However, there are still no confirmation yet coming from "Game of Thrones" executive producers if they would still follow their initial plans of making season 7 and season 8 shorter in terms of the number of episodes. Furthermore, HBO, during its confirmation of the season 7 order, did not also reveal the number of episodes that the 2017 season would contain.

On the other hand, even if season 8 may be the final season for "Game of Thrones," the programming president of HBO, Michael Lombardo, hinted that there is a possibility of a prequel, and that "Game of Thrones" season 8 is not going to be the end of the franchise. With this information, fans may see different faces after season 8, but Sean Bean, who plays Ned Stark, and other characters with roles in the past may still be on "Game of Thrones" prequel.

Watch "Game of Thrones" season 6 trailer below: