'Game of Thrones' showrunners explain long wait for next season

Winter is coming… it just hasn't gotten there yet.

At the "Game of Thrones" panel Friday at San Diego Comic Con, co-showrunner David Benioff explained why the sixth and penultimate season won't arrive until next summer, months later than usual.

"Winter is here (on the show) and we gotta shoot where there are trees and wait for the leaves to come off,"
he told the crowd at Hall H. "We're waiting to shoot later in the year, so we won't finish shooting until February — and there's no way to get the show out there until summer."

When the show does return to the air, fellow executive producer D.B. Weiss claimed that much of what fans will see now is "still ultimately George (R.R. Martin's) imagination" — despite the fact that that the series has passed the books in the author's storyline.

"The great thing about fantasy is that you are not bound to what happened," said Weiss. "He picked all of the (MOMENTS) he wanted"

One thing viewers won't see is the incestuous relationships found in the Lannister family carrying over to the House of Stark — since Jon Snow had shown a fondness for redheads.

Actress Sophie Turner, who plays Jon Snow's on-screen half-sister (actually cousin), responded rather enthusiastically: "Oh, here we go. Let's get the party started!"

"I swear to God, Dave and Dan, but if you make anything happen, I will kill you," she added towards her employers.

Weiss deadpanned that the thought hadn't occurred to the series producers, "but thank you."

Friday's panel also proved a touching swan song to now cult hero Hodor.

The crowd responded quite lively and emotionally to every word said by the North Irish actor Kristian Nairn, who played the gentle giant until the character's demise last season.

"(THE RESPONSE) has been overwhelming. I didn't expect it to be so crazy," he said. "It's blown my mind."

Even all of the doorsteps in Nairn's hotel had the name Hodor on them. "I said 'really?'"