Game of Thrones had a good run with Season 6, and Season 7with its delayed schedule, finished filming by the end of February. Season 7 is the first season of the show which had its filming continue into the same years as that of the premiere, which was recently announced to be on July 16th. For now, the stars and showrunners seem to be having a bit of free time on their hands, and as we had previously reported, Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, and Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, were on the Game of Thrones panel the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), accompanied by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, and the panel gave some much awaited details about Season 7, and Season 8 of the show. Read on!

Maisie and Sophie played the moderators for the SXSW Game of Thrones panel, but answered a fair amount of questions themselves. The questions which were actually written by Dan Weiss, and it seems like the showrunners wanted to give us a few bits to make up for the delay in season premiere, this time.

Starting off, we got the confirmation that Season 8 will only have six episodes, which actually hurts, because it feels like Season 7 and 8 will be just one season, considering how we are getting 13 episodes instead of 20. It was also revealed that Season 8 will have four writers, with Dave Hill writing the first episode, Bryan Cogman writing the second one, and Benioff and Weiss writing the other 4.

Talking about Season 7, they revealed thatTyrion Lannister will have the best line in the season, and that the season had three visual effect teams working on it at the same time. It seems like the visuals are going to be mind-blowing, and even more so than usual, this time. Benioff was asked if a dragon could be controlled by a White Walker, to which, he said :“Maybe.” That legitimately scares us.

The showrunners skipped the question where they were asked ifDaenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow would meet, because it would be too much of a spoiler. They also complimented Maisie and Sophie, saying that they were proud of the two having grown up so well in the spotlight. However, when faced with the tough choice of calling their favorite between the two, they chose Maisie :

“Who of us do you like better?” @Maisie_Williams & @SophieT to @gameofthrones show runners Benioff & Weiss. #sxsw #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/6fnPhHhikV

— SuperHappyNerdTime (@SuperHappyNerd) March 12, 2017

Sophie said that she was proud of filming the wedding night scene with Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), which has led to discussions about rape, which she has previously written about. Maisie said that her proudest moment was moderating the panel. David and Dan said that the scene showing Theon, Jon, and Robb shaving was “the worst scene we’ve ever written.”

Various other details were also revealed. David and Dan revealed thatPeter Dinklage and Sean Bean were the first actors who were cast for the show, and thatJason Momoa (Khal Drogo), was the hardest death for them, in terms of killing of a character. They also said that they loved working with Noah Taylor (Locke), so much that they delayed his death to Season 4, from Season 3. Talking about actors and characters they wish they could bring back, they pickedMichelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) and Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon.)

Talking about the on-set fun, David and Dan recounted a prank they played on Kit Harington, where they wrote a scene in which Jon Snow would have to get his face burned while trying to rescue Lord Commander Mormont from a wight, telling Kit that it was because he looked too “Disney.” The pair ultimately gave up on the prank when they couldn’t do it anymore without laughing.

The showrunners also said that they don’t want to be involved with a Thrones prequel or sequel series, and that they would rather see some “new blood” take on the project. They also said that they would like to continue writing together otherwise.

Mohpie were as adorable as ever. When the question came up about Sophie having blonde hair, rather than the usual red which Sansa carries, Maisie said, “She’s dead.” We are not sure how seriously we should take that. The duo also surprised fans at the Game of Thrones themed Escape Room at SXSW :

SEVEN HELLS! @SophieT & @Maisie_Williams surprised lucky #GoT fans at #HBOTheEscape at #SXSW. pic.twitter.com/GYruIwzHec

— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) March 12, 2017

Looks like Game of Thrones really stole the show at SXSW this year! What do you think? Talk to us in the comments, below!