BY NADIA BABAR ’19

After a painfully long, two-year wait, the final season of “Game of Thrones” premiered on April 14. The eight-season series is based on George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire,” an epic high fantasy series first published in 1996, opening with the novel, “A Game of Thrones.” Set primarily on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, “Game of Thrones” follows seven families as they struggle for the Iron Throne. The television series premiered in 2011 and has since established itself as one of — if not the most — popular television series of this decade. Created by Dan Benioff and D. B. Weiss, Martin also serves as an executive producer for the series, which smashed HBO’s ratings record with the premiere of its eighth season on Sunday.