It's been exactly one year since the "Game of Thrones" Season 7 finale aired. So one would think that we would at least have an official Season 8 release date by now. Unfortunately, we still don't. But judging by the recent reports, it seems that we're getting closer to that reveal.

Last month, HBO's programming president Casey Bloys gave us every reason to be excited when he said that Season 8 will make its debut in the first half of 2019. That statement led the fans (including myself) to believe that "Game of Thrones" would return to its original "late March, mid-April" premiere slot.

And now, Joe Bauer, the show's visual effects supervisor, shed some new light on when we can expect the final season to air. But don't get your hopes too high, "Game of Thrones" fans, because this time there's nothing to get excited about. Still, it's not all that bad as he did share some news about the prequel as well. So without further ado, let's see what he had to say.

Game of Thrones visual effects supervisor on when the show is going to return

In his recent interview with Huffington Post, Bauer discussed "Game of Thrones" Emmy hopes. To recall, season 7 was nominated for a whopping 22 awards at the 2018 Emmy ceremony, including the one for Outstanding Drama Series. But it was when he discussed the show's future Emmy eligibility, that we received some exclusive information about the Season 8 release date.

"In two years we'll be eligible for the Season 8 work," Bauer said, "which we're just beginning now." He also stated that they are going to be toiling away on Season 8 until May of 2019. And just like that, our hopes for an early 2019 Season 8 release date have been crushed. How you ask.

Well, there's this Emmy requirement that states that the series must air between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019, to be considered for the 2019 awards and Bauer straight up told us that Season 8 will be eligible for the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards, not the 2019 honors.

This, coupled with the fact that they will be working on "Game of Thrones" until May of next year, implies that "Game of Thrones" Season 8 won't air until after the Emmy 2019 deadline, which kicks in on 31 May.

Breaking news about the prequel

Joe Bauer may have just crushed our hopes for an early 2019 "Game of Thrones" release date, but we've at least got some exciting news about the prequel series about the Age of Heroes and the descent into the Long Night.

"The prequel is starting to shoot in February, at least the pilot," he said, "so we'll still have quite a lot to do on season eight when they're beginning."

So who knows maybe this means that we might actually get to see the prequel at some point in the fall of 2019.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED