More Episodes Are Coming: 'Game of Thrones' Renewed for Season 3

File this one under "not at all a surprise": HBO has chosen to renew "Game of Thrones" for season three, following the tremendously successful start to the second season. Not only did the show bring in a new series record of 3.9 million viewers for the season 2 premiere (6.3 million total for Sunday night), but the show retained about 97% of those viewers for the second episode. This is a strong and loyal fan base, clearly.

The question that arises about a third season is this: how much of the third book will HBO be able to fit into one season? The first book in the series runs just over 800 pages, and was fit into 10 episodes without too many omissions. The second book runs 969 pages, and will still apparently be crammed into 10 episodes.

But the third book, A Storm of Swords, runs 1,128 pages. Series creator D.B. Weiss has said in the past that the third book will likely have to be split into two seasons. That could mean that, unofficially, "Game of Thrones" is actually renewed for a third and a fourth season.

As for the current second season, which is in full swing, you can read our "Game of Thrones" recaps right here on Yidio!