Look, we get it, we're all excited about Game of Thrones season 8, and, because there's an extra year to wait for it, we've got to fill the void somehow. And a lot of people have been doing it with rumours.
With speculation at an all-time high, we thought we'd take the black and swear our undying loyalty to the truth – by grabbing Longclaw and cutting down myths like they're an army of wights.
Or, to put it another way, we did some research.
The myth: The cast are having their lines fed to them via earpieces
Where it started: So this one came from an interview with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who discussed how the Game Of Thrones cast have been affected by the increasing interest in the show.
"The first season we got the scripts like you should get them and then you could sit and do notes and stuff," he said.
"And then after a couple of years, they got paranoid because there was some leaks so we had to get them only digital, on a PDF file.
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"[After] the hack happened, we're not even going to get the script.
"Now we are going to do a scene, we will be told what's going to happen and then we roll.
"We're all going to have earpieces for the scene and then someone's going to tell you the line and then you're going to do the line."
The facts: We're pretty sure Coster-Waldau was joking about this one, especially when we get to some of the later myths on this list. Still, his throwaway observation was reported on by approximately one billion websites, so we figured we'd better cover it. And if you want to know how HBO is keeping us all spoiler-free, have a look here.
The myth: There are going to be two-hour episodes
Where it started: This one's mostly based on the fact season 8 is shorter than usual episode-wise. With just six episodes to deliver the finale of one of the largest fantasy book series ever adapted by telly (and with no books to help, because George RR Martin is busy right now, okay?), it didn't come as a surprise when it was revealed that each episode would be feature-length.
Wow, feature-length? Movies can be two hours long – that means that season eight is going to be packed with two-hour episodes, right?
HBO executive Casey Bloys seemed to confirm the rumour. "I imagine [the episodes will] be longer but… I'm not sure [how long]," he said at the time. "We haven't had that discussion yet because I don't know how long the episodes are going to be. Two hours per episode seems like it would be excessive, but it's a great show, so who knows?"
The facts: Season eight won't feature a single 120-minute episode. Bloys has since corrected himself. "Not two hours," he told Entertainment Weekly. "Yes, they are not going to be [two hours long]. Not that I've seen, anyway."
The myth: The scripts exploded after the cast read them
Where it started: Uh-oh, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's at it again.
"They're very, very strict. It's reached a crazy level this year," Nikolaj said.
"We actually get the scripts, and then when we've shot the scene – and we only have it digitally – and then when you've done the scene, it just vanishes.
"It's like Mission: Impossible. 'This will self-destruct.'"
The facts: Believe it or not, this one is actually true – from a certain point of view.
Just ask Sophie Turner: "Yeah, it's all true. I mean, we wouldn't get anything physical. We would have it on an app. We would get sent sides for the scene [we were shooting] the next day. So we would have to learn it all the day before.
"And once you've read it, it disappears 24 hours later, and you can never access it again. It's tighter than the White House security!"
Still, whether they self-destruct or not, the fact that there are actual scripts does make that whole ear-piece thing seem a bit more like a silly joke.
The myth: They're shooting multiple endings
Where it started: HBO president Casey Bloys claimed that producers David Benioff and DB Weiss would definitely, definitely be shooting multiple endings.
"I know in Game of Thrones, the ending, they're going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens," he said.
"You have to do that on a long show. Because when you're shooting something, people know. So they're going to shoot multiple versions so that there's no real definitive answer until the end."
The facts: Unconfirmed, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau doesn't believe it will happen (and he should know!).
"I mean if it's true, I don't believe it, but I don't know. Maybe. I mean, I haven't read the script, so unless they will show several endings that could be a twist, they're not going to waste that money.
"They know how expensive it is to shoot.
"You're not going to waste $100,000 a day to shoot something you're not going to use. It's not going to happen."
The myth: The spin-off will shoot this year
Where it started: The Belfast Telegraph announced that shooting on the Game Of Thrones spin-off would start before season 8 had even aired, this October – according to their sources.
The facts: "We are doing a pilot that Jane Goldman wrote," HBO programming president Casey Bloys said when asked about the spin-off.
"We'd be lucky to get one that we're very, very excited about, and we did get that," he added of the five planned spin-offs. "We're just starting the search for a director... we have to cast it. We hope to be shooting sometime in the new year." Here's where the spin-offs are currently at, by the way.
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Freelancer writer
Sam is an entertainment writer with NCTJ accreditation and a twenty-year career as a film journalist.
Starting out as a staff writer at Total Film, moving up to Deputy Online Editor, Sam was responsible for Total Film’s YouTube channel, where he revolutionised the magazine’s approach to video junkets, creating influential formats that spread to other outlets.
He’s interviewed a wide range of film icons, including directors such as David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay and Sam Raimi, as well as actors such as Meryl Streep, Nic Cage, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Anne Hathaway, Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman, Kermit the Frog, all of the Avengers and many more.
Sam has also interviewed several comic creators, including Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and he has a zombie cameo in The Walking Dead comic.
In 2014, Sam went freelance, working directly for film studios including Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox and Disney, as well as covering red carpet events for film marketing company PMA Productions.
Sam is the co-host, producer and editor of the Arrow Video podcast, which has seen year-on-year growth since its creation in 2017, gaining over half a million listens in that time.
His byline has appeared in outlets such as Yahoo, MTV, Dazed, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Good Housekeeping among others.
In 2012, Sam made it to the final of the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition, and went on to become a filmmaker himself, directing three features that have all played major festivals, and secured distribution – starring in two of them.
Jim Carrey once mistook Sam for Johnny Cash, and John Carpenter told him to ‘Keep up the good work.’ He promises to try his best.
