HBO's Game of Thrones is a ratings and pop culture juggernaut, but like all giants, this one will eventually fall. The fantasy show's Season 7 is poised to break into open war when the battle for the throne of Westeros ramps up on July 16th, but folks are understandably interested in just when the show's final season will air, what it will entail, and just what is up with those much talked about prequel series. Today, we have our first answers on those fronts.

EW spoke to programming president Casey Bloys about HBO's strategy when it comes to providing Game of Thrones fans with an epic, satisfying conclusion while also considering the launch of new adventures in Westeros. And although the interview offers up some info on the involvement of author George R.R. Martin and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, it also comes with a bit of disappointing news for fans: It might be a while before the final season of Game of Thrones airs, not to mention the prequel series.

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Image via HBO

First of all, Bloys confirmed that D&D will be hard at work on the final season of Game of Thrones, but that it may be some time before we see the fruits of their labor. Say 2018 as expected, or possibly not until 2019:

They have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule. We’ll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing.

But when that final season does arrive, fans can expect to see a very cinematic style on display:

I hesitate to call them “movies,” that sounds a bit grand. But one of the hallmarks of the show has been how cinematic is it. The show has proven that TV is every bit as impressive and in many cases moreso, than film. What they’re doing is monumental. When you see these battles in season 7, and what I imagine season 8 will be, it’s a big, big show. We’ve done a lot of great shows, but this one combines the complex characters we love with a huge cinematic scope. I think this is the first show to prove that can be done — and we’re the first people to pay for it.

Here's Bloys' take on the Season 7 premiere, just to drive home the point:

I don’t want to oversell, but I can’t imagine anybody being disappointed in this season. It’s amazing.

Despite the strong sell on the Game of Thrones final seasons, Bloys is not quite so bullish on the prequels:

And circling back to what I said earlier, that’s why I want to temper the expectation on the prequels. We want to focus on season 7 and 8. If any of these scripts come to pass, you’re not going to see anything air anytime close to the season 8 finale.

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Image via HBO

Bloys elaborated on the prequels a bit more and offered up some context to go along with tempered expectations:

“It should go without saying I love having a show with this much intense interest around it. Even the smallest bit of information is a big deal and I appreciate that. But I wanted to make sure fans know this is a really embryonic process. I haven’t even seen outlines. In the press at large, everybody said, ‘there are four spinoffs’ and they assume that means each one is happening and we’re going to have a new Game of Thrones show per quarter. That’s not what’s going on. The idea is not to do four shows. The bar set by [Benioff and Weiss] is so high that my hope is to get one show that lives up to it. Also, this is a long-term plan.”

In other words, none of these prequels might come to pass, or perhaps all of them will, but the odds are that one will emerge as the frontrunner. One thing is for sure though, Benioff and Weiss want to keep their names off any prequels so they can "enjoy the show as fans and don’t want to worry about the scripts or production issues":

By the time the final season airs, Dan and David will have been at this for 12 years. Which is an amazing fact. They didn’t go and do movies in between seasons, they didn’t set anything else up, they put everything — and are putting everything — into this show. They came into HBO with an idea for a show with a beginning, middle, and end, and they want to see it through. In conversations with them, they feel if their name is on the prequels — even in a passive way — it conveys some sort of expectation or responsibility ... We were hoping to have their names on it out of respect for them, but we understand why they don’t want that.

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Image via HBO

The reason to develop multiple prequels is two fold: one, "There’s enough material to ... contemplate making different prequels ... George has all these histories he’s thought about and that’s one reason why the books are so good," Bloys says. And two, "If you only developed one, everything would rest on that one shot. It’s such a special show. I want to make sure that [any prequel] feels worthy. We have some amazing writers who want to take a shot at this. They’re also looking at different times in the universe and all will have different feels. This increases our odds of finding one that’s unique."

Don't expect any prequel to launch concurrently with the end of Game of Thrones, however, since the production team is focused on giving the popular show a "proper sendoff." But when the prequels inevitably arrive, just what format will they be in?

At this point, everything is on the table. The idea is to find a series. It would be nice to find something that has the legs this one did. But if something works better as a limited series, sure.

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Image via HBO

For those of you wondering just how much Martin will be involved with the new series:

It varies project by project. The writers each have to decide how they operate with George. Some like to collaborate, some look at the source material and do their own thing. There’s no one way, but in all cases, George will be reading the scripts and weighing in.

And don't expect the current cast members to make any appearance in the prequels since the plan is for the stories to take place well before the current era in the show. But since everything here is in early stages, that may change as well. Stay tuned!

For more on Game of Thrones, be sure to get caught up with our latest coverage below:

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Image via HBO