'Game of Thrones' Creators Reveal Shorter Season 8, Upcoming Ed Sheeran Cameo

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If you're a Game of Thrones fan who didn't like the idea of a short season 7, you're not going to love the latest news about the show's eighth and final season.

After announcing that season 7 will only contain seven episodes -- a break from the show's usual 10-episode schedule -- it was revealed on Sunday that the final season will only contain six episodes.

Series showrunner David Benioff shared the news at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas over the weekend, during a Game of Thrones Q&A.


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However, while the series may not go on for as long as many fans would hope, it was reported that GoT was originally planned as a 70-hour series, and will end up clocking in at 73 hours.

Aside from the truncated final season, Benioff also revealed that the upcoming seventh season will feature one of the biggest guest stars in the show's history -- and an unexpected one at that: Ed Sheeran.


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While they didn't elaborate on the capacity of the "Shape of You" singer's cameo, they did explain that they've been trying to get Sheeran on the show for some time, just as a gift for star Maisie Williams.

"For years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie and this year we finally did it,” Benioff said.


GoT
has featured a number of musical guest star cameos in the past including Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody, Mastadon, Coldplay drummer Will Champion and Sigur Rós.


WATCH: 'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Premiere Date Revealed, 'The Great War' Is Coming

Recently, Williams opened up to ET about the ever-approaching end to her hit HBO fantasy drama, and the 19-year-old actress said it's "going to be really strange" to say goodbye to her beloved character, Arya Stark. Check out the video below to hear more.


Game of Thrones
season 7 will premiere July 16, 2017.