Game of Thrones' sound designer, Paula Fairfield, has suggested that every episode of season eight — the final season — could be feature-length, when speaking at Con of Thrones in Nashville, TN, this past weekend (June 30-Jul2).

It's almost become a cliché to point out that many Game of Thrones episodes feel like mini-movies; with the average episode budget now said to be over $10 million, they certainly benefit from film-like production values.

But as the HBO show draws to a close, it sounds as though the episode runtimes are going to be approaching movie length, too. HBO has recently revealed that the final two episodes of season seven, which debuts on July 16, will stretch to 71 minutes and 81 minutes respectively.

Previous seasons of Game of Thrones have featured 10 episodes, but seasons seven and eight will be shorter, featuring seven and six episodes respectively. "[But] you're getting like nine shows' worth of material," Fairfield revealed at a panel event attended by popculture.tv. "The finale, I've heard, it will be six shows, but I've heard they'll be feature-length."

The sound designer also shared some exciting news for fans of the show's lavish but relatively infrequent dragon scenes. "Each year, they get a budget for a few more dragon shots and they have to be very careful how they use them," she said. "Not so much this year. Not so much anymore. There's not so much having to hold back and plan, because there's a lot of dragon action this year, and it's fabulous."

Bring it on — and whet your appetite for season seven by checking out the latest trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mlhnt0jMlg

Are longer Game of Thrones episodes necessarily a good thing? Or would you prefer a greater number of regular-length episodes instead?

Let us know in the comments section!