Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones, the massively popular fantasy series based on the books of George R.R. Martin, will bow on the premium network July 16th, but devoted followers will soon notice (if they haven't already) that this penultimate season is the shortest one yet. Seasons 1-6 have all featured 10 episodes, each roughly an hour long on average; Season 7 will only feature 7 episodes. While those missing three hours of swords-and-sorcery action will surely be felt, the fact that some of these episodes are the series' longest yet will go a long way towards closing that gap.

As the HBO page for Game of Thrones confirms (via community page Watchers on the Wall), three of the upcoming season's episodes will exceed an hour in length, with the two final episodes each breaking the record for the show's longest episode so far. That record was set by last year's Season 6 finale "The Winds of Winter" which weighed in at 68 minutes. Take a look at what's in store for Season 7 episode runtimes below and be sure to set your DVRs accordingly:

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  • Episode 1: 59 minutes.
  • Episode 2: 59 minutes.
  • Episode 3: 63 minutes.
  • Episode 4: 50 minutes.
  • Episode 5: 59 minutes.
  • Episode 6: 71 minutes.
  • Episode 7: 81 minutes.

For the mathematically inclined, that's 7 episodes worth 7 hours and 22 minutes of Game of Thrones, well short of the average season length of 9 hours and 15 minutes, but the most we've ever seen in a 7-episode run. Basically, it's looking like Episodes 1-5 are going to be the standard fare that fans have come to know and love, all setting the stage for the mini-movies that are the final two episodes.

Be sure to let us know your thoughts/hype/hopes in the comments! In the meantime, take a look at our most recent coverage of Game of Thrones provided at the links below:

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