Game of Thrones creators confirm devastating news about Season 8 of the show

And the biggest villain in Westeros is...

We all know that any hero in a film or TV show is only as good as the villain that they're facing, and in the case of Game of Thrones, we've seen some absolutely ruthless bastards over the years (don't worry, we're certain that they're all really nice people in real life) Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsay Bolton, Walder Frey, The High Sparrow, Ser Meryn Trant, Roose Bolton, Cersei Lannister and The Night King are just some of the nefarious sorts that instantly spring to mind, but we've a new name to add to this list of loathsome characters. Arya Stark is currently working through her own personal kill list, but the decision by HBO to reduce the amount of episodes in Season 8 has been felt like a Red Wedding-esque dagger to the heart of Thrones fans everywhere. Yep, that's right. The final season will only have six episodes in full. HBO is yet to officially announce the episode tally for the final season but in at a panel that took place at SXSW, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were quite sure about the devastating news. Given the fact that Season 7 will have seven episodes, that leaves only 13 more trips to Westeros in total. It’s only going to be six episodes for the final season,” Benioff explained (via EW). “From the beginning we’ve wanted to tell a 70-hour movie. It will turn out to be a 73-hour movie, but it’s stayed relatively the same of having the beginning, middle and now we’re coming to the end. It would have been really tough if we lost any core cast members along the way, I’m very happy we’ve kept everyone and we get to finish it the way we want to.” In a bid to comfort this blow, both men did confirm that a spin-off is looking like it's a certainty but neither of them will be involved with it. "I think HBO might well do [another series] and I look forward to watching it and I think it be great, but I think they should get new blood in,” Benioff said. Weiss and Benioff also revealed at the SXSW panel that they changed their minds about killing off a particular character way back in the show's third season. If you're trying to stay positive, just keep reminding yourself that the world's best show is coming back on July 16 and that everything will have a happy ending. Oh wait...