Winter is coming: final season of 'Game of Thrones' to air in April 2019

The eighth season of Emmy-winning drama series Game of Thrones wrapped production in July 2018, but details about when the show will air have been vague - until now.

Winter is coming – in autumn 2019.

HBO first said the new season would release in the first half of 2019, and has now confirmed via Twitter that the final season of dragons-and-ice-zombies epic fantasy Game of Thrones is scheduled to premiere in April 2019, a year and a half after season seven aired.

The short teaser that accompanied the announcement contains no new footage or clues to the new season's events but is made up of key scenes from past seasons, including Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) at the Battle of the Bastards, a young Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) about to be married, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) on a walk of penance, the execution of Ned Stark (Sean Bean), the Red Wedding, and the dragons in battle.

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die," says Cersei via voiceover.

Fan favorites Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) are also glimpsed.

WATCH | The Game of Thrones season 8 trailer

HBO's tagline for the clip adds: "Every battle. Every betrayal. Every risk. Every fight. Every sacrifice. Every death. All #ForTheThrone. The final season of Game of Thrones returns in April."

The official YouTube account followed this up with a series of videos recalling big moments from the last few seasons, including those featured in the promo.

This will be the shortest season of Game of Thrones, with only six episodes.