HBO just gave us the absolutely vaguest date for the return of Game of Thrones

A dream of spring, indeed: We finally sorta know when Game of Thrones is returning for its final season, and it seems in line with the date Maisie Williams dropped earlier this year. During the Television Critics Association press tour on July 25th, HBO programming president Casey Bloys, in true Game of Thrones fashion, kept things very vague when discussing the premiere date for Season 8 of the juggernaut fantasy drama series. He revealed that the series would air during the “first half” of 2019, which seems to suggest that the date given by Williams in January isn’t too off-base. In an interview with U.K. newspaper Metro in January, she revealed that the final season was set to air in April 2019.

While technically, Bloys’ statement could mean the series will return any time from January to June, we’re definitely dreaming of a spring return. As for how the final season is shaping up, Bloys was even more vague, saying only that it was “pretty great.”

Yes, but like, who – if anyone, because EVERYONE COULD DIE — ends up on Iron Throne?

In addition to dropping the teeniest of truth bombs about the final season of GoT, Bloys also gave an update on Jane Goldman’s GoT prequel series. While the series is still in search of a director and a cast, the HBO boss said they’re hoping to start shooting the series sometime next year.

The prequel series is set centuries before GoT and will likely follow the Long Night period in GoT’s vast history — George R.R. Martin even suggested The Long Night as the prequel’s title on his blog — during which the White Walkers and Westeros came into conflict for the first time, leading to the creation of the Wall and its guardians, the Night’s Watch.

Well, it appears we have plenty of time to brush up on our GoT history and prepare for a final showdown between the White Walkers and our beloved Westerosi heroes before Game of Thrones returns at some pointduring the first half of 2019.