How many seasons of Game of Thrones will there be?

Game of Thrones season five is almost upon us, but how many more seasons of Game of Thrones do we have to look forward to? You probably know the Game of Thrones TV show is based on a series of books, The Song of Ice and Fire series. And while there are plenty of differences, the crucial plot points of the TV show closely followed the action in the book. Author of the novels, George R. R. Martin has said that there will be seven books in total of which five have already been published. Broadly speaking, the first two seasons adhere closely to the first two books, A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. But, then things get more complex as seasons three and four of the show draw most of their material from book three, A Storm of Swords. So why the departure? Were the makers of the tv show just trying to squeeze out as many seasons as possible? Not quite. Book three is actually a lot longer than it's two predecessors. In fact, in the U.K. it was released in two parts, so there was a lot more for the creators of the show to work through. Book four, A Feast for Crows, is shorter. Although, because by this point, there are so many active characters. This novel and parts of book five cover the same span of fictional time. So expect season five to plow straight into events from A Dance with Dragons, which is another long book. In fact, some of the things teased in season five trailers suggest we'll see events that narratively come quite close to the end of A Dance with Dragons. So these two books could become one season. We don't know when exactly book six and seven will be released, although we do know their working titles, and George R. R. Martin has hinted that each is going to be quite long, which will make them possibly deserving of two seasons each. Taking everything we know into account, it seems as if the TV show is now at a little under halfway through The Song of Ice and Fire narrative that Martin wants to weave, suggesting that TV's greatest fantasy series could reach its gripping conclusion in season 9 or maybe 10. Of course, there are loads of things that could throw that estimate off. The show could depart from the narrative structure of the books, something we've already seen happen in season four. HBO could slow things down to drag the show out, or it could cap things off early. After all, none of the network's most iconic shows have ever run for that many years. [MUSIC] Whatever happens, Game of Thrones is already being renewed for a sixth season, so the world of [UNKNOWN] isn't going anywhere soon. Thank goodness.