'Game of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 5 Runtime Teases Another Huge Battle

Game of Thrones continues towards its grand conclusion with another super-long entry for Season 8, Episode 5. With only two more episodes left in the entire series, how does the penultimate episode stack up in terms of total runtime?

Nothing will ever beat Season 8, Episode 3, aptly titled “The Long Night,” which will forever remain the single longest episode in the show’s history — but Episode 5 will come close.

HBO publicly confirmed the runtimes for each Season 8 episode in March, so we already know that Episode 5, airing on May 12, is one hour and 20 minutes long. That’s two minutes longer than Episode 4 and only two minutes shorter than Episode 3. In the big picture, will 80 minutes feel any different from 78 or 82? Probably not.

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Big spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 4 below.

In the fallout of the Great Battle of Winterfell, everybody in Winterfell took part in some victorious revelry. Jaime and Brienne hooked up, Dany named Gendry an official Baratheon (and lord of Storm’s End!), and even Jon Snow had a little bit too much to drink. But very quickly tensions rose as Daenerys mourned Jorah Mormont and realized how alone she’d become.

The episode also brings Ser Bronn of the Blackwater back to remind us of his mission to assassinate Tyrion and Jaime Lannister, but it all led to Dany’s forces moving towards King’s Landing and facing even more devastating losses.

In one horrifying scene, Euron Greyjoy uses anti-dragon scorpions mounted to his ships to quickly kill the dragon Rhaegal. When Cersei has Missandei murdered at the end of the episode, it finally establishes what will be a huge siege of King’s Landing in Episode 5.

On the Wednesday, May 1 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Daenerys actress Emilia Clarke said, “Episode 5 is bigger!” She said all three of the final episodes are “gonna be mental” and “insane.” She also suggested to “find the biggest TV you can.” Start watching at the 4:33 mark below.

It, therefore, seems like Episode 5 could be what we might as well call the Battle of King’s Landing, another huge battle sequence that can rival the Battle of Winterfell.

The battle sequence won’t be nearly as long as Episode 3, but this is definitely the huge final battle leading us to the very end of the series.

Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5 will air on HBO Sunday, May 12 at 9 p.m. Eastern.