Before tonight’s season premiere of True Detective, HBO finally let it out: The official return date for Game of Thrones. This spring we get the eighth (and — pout — final) season of Game of Thrones, which will bring to a close one of the greatest, bloodiest television shows in history.

So here it is: Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres on HBO on Sunday April 14. So mark your calendars, set your alarms, prepare the Google Alerts, man the battlements, etc. April 14. It’s on.

The final season of Game of Thrones will run only six episodes, the briefest Thrones season to date. Three episodes are directed by David Nutter, two are by Miguel Sapochnik. The series finale (the 73rd overall — are there really only 73 episodes?!? It feels like there are so many more) will be directed by Thrones TV creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The returning cast includes Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Liam Cunningham, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and, of course, Kit Harington.

We’ll see you back here on April 14 for the premiere. And the beginning of the farewell! Sob. Wheeze. Sputter. On the bright side, we still have the Game of Thrones prequel with Naomi Watts to look forward to. So that’s something at least.

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