Sophie Turner Teases 'Incredibly Emotional' Final Season Of Game Of Thrones

If you thought season seven of Game of Thrones was intense, you (apparently) have a big storm coming. 

Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on the series, recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the upcoming eighth season of the beloved HBO fantasy drama, teasing that the overall feel of the new episodes is "incredibly emotional," "epic," and "very personal."

"It's exciting, shooting these scenes, knowing how it ends now, finally, after years and years of being kept in anticipation," Turner said. "Finally, now we know what happens. We're shooting all of our final scenes. It's getting incredibly emotional. It's very real now."

Tensions and emotions will run especially high now that the White Walkers are making their way towards King's Landing, meaning that the war for the Iron Throne will take somewhat of a backseat to the immediate threat of death. Turner explained that the season will maintain that quintessential Game of Thrones grandeur, but will deliver fantastical elements like the White Walkers in a way that serves to bolster more "character-driven" stories. 

"It's definitely more epic this season, for sure. It grows and grows and grows. There are bigger and more fantastical elements, which have always been underlying throughout, but this time, it's really emerging and there are very big roles this season. But we still very much managed to maintain those human relationships and stories that bring it back to reality and keep it resonating with the audience," the actress stated. "The thing with Game of Thrones and the reason why I believe it works so well is we have these fantastic elements, which are balanced so perfectly with the real human elements–the character-driven plot points and things like that, where you get that escapism, but it's also very personal. It's really key to keep that going."

She added that the magic of the series is now more than ever in conversation with each character's narrative, and the two work together to craft a conclusion that is truly special. "The greater the fantastical elements become, and the more epic it becomes with the fighting and everything, the greater the character-driven storylines become as well, and the more epic they become. There are more relationships formed this season than any other, and more people meeting and more conspiracies and plotting and forming of alliances," said Turner. "We have had to parallel the two, just to insure we keep that balance just right. It's a special, magic recipe."

And now that Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) is out of the picture, Turner's Sansa is reigning as the Lady of Winterfell while Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is off fighting battles with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and co. The actress hinted that Sansa will be in a pivotal point in her life during the final season. "She's now only surrounded by people she trusts. For the first time, we're seeing her very satisfied and happy–but you wonder, what's next for Sansa? What's going to motivate her?" Turner said. "Is it just about keeping Winterfell as it is in this currently good place? Is it the rising threat of the undead? It's a very strange place for her. Where do her motivations lie now? Now that she's run out of people to manipulate, I wonder if she feels a little bit lost!"

Overall, Turner said that doing the final table read for Game of Thrones season eight was "a shock to the system," but it was wonderful as well. "Saying goodbye to it means putting parts of our hearts and souls behind. But we also know we've given it everything that we've got," she concluded. 

The final season of Game of Thrones doesn't yet have a premiere date, but Turner previously mentioned that it will return in 2019.