Game of Thrones: Are you ready?

Exclusive report on the epic eighth and final season

What’s inside the April issue of Foxtel magazine?

For seven unmissable seasons, audiences have been on a knife’s edge as the battle for the Iron Throne has played out in what is undoubtedly the biggest show in the history of television.

When the juggernaut series returns to Foxtel on April 15 there is guaranteed to be blood, gore and deaths aplenty as Westeros becomes a battle ground, the ante well and truly upped for the remaining six action-packed episodes. This month, Foxtel magazine takes fans behind the scenes, from the London press day and with an exclusive report from the Belfast set. The makers have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their show from illegal downloads, set leaks and paparazzi invasions. While little is known about how this final season will play out, what we do know is that there is an epic showdown that will make the Battle of the Bastards look like child’s play!

“There is a convergence, as you saw at the end of last season, with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Jon (Kit Harington) and their forces heading back to Winterfell, and Jaime riding north,” co-creator David Benioff explains. “There will be a thrilling and tense intermingling of characters – some of whom have never met and some with messy histories. But now they’re all on the same side, preparing to face the inevitable invasion of the Army of the Dead.”

So will be fans be happy with how the series ultimately ends?

“There are a lot of things that I think people are going to be unhappy about and also, for the kind of classic storytelling conclusions they want, other people are going to be really happy,” teases Isaac Hempstead Wright, whose character Bran Stark may or
may not claim the throne and, because of his Three-Eyed Raven transformation, could just as easily turn out to be the Night King. “But with a show like Game of Thrones, I don’t think there is any possible scenario in which everybody’s pleased with how it concludes.”

As the 2019 AFL and NRL seasons on Fox Sports kick up a gear this month, we turn to the experts to get their predictions for the season, the players to watch and the potential curveballs we can expect.

Former Hawthorn player-turned-FOX FOOTY commentator Ben Dixon and Sharks great-turned-FOX LEAGUE favourite Michael Ennis put their loyalties aside as they share their unbiased opinions– with Dixon citing Tom Lynch (Richmond), Jade Gresham (St Kilda), Chad Wingard (Hawthorn), Lachie Neale (Brisbane) and Dylan Shiel (Essendon) as the five stars-on-the-rise to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, Ennis is putting his money on up-and-comers Kalyn Ponga (Knights), Shaun Johnson (Sharks), Tevita Pangai Junio (Broncos), Josh Hodgson (Raiders) and Luke Keary (Roosters) to shake up the NRL.

All inside the April issue of Foxtel magazine.

-Brad