Ever since Joffrey had Ned Stark beheaded at the close of Season One, the possibility that absolutely anybody could die at any moment has always been a key component of the Game of Thrones offering.

Now it appears that they could all ultimately be headed for the chop, after a senior HBO executive described how characters in the show will die off “one by one” in the show’s eighth and final season.

HBO’s Francesca Orsi, who took part in a panel discussion entitled “The Best of HBO” at the INTV conference in Israel, described a table read of the script of the final episodes, which are scheduled to air in 2019, and was quoted in a report in Variety as saying: “It was a really powerful moment in our lives and our careers. None of the cast had received the scripts prior, and one by one they started falling down to their deaths.”

Orsi said that at the end of the read, the cast stood up and applauded for 15 minutes. “It was amazing,” she said. “By the very end, everyone looked down and looked up and tears were in their eyes.”

(And no, she didn’t suggest the tears were triggered by the realization that they would soon be out of a very lucrative job.)

Some speculation has recently suggested that Bran Stark may ultimately ascend the Iron Throne, which would leave the way clear for pretty much the whole of the rest of the cast to be burned to a crisp by airborne flame throwers, should the showrunners so decide.

Orsi also said there were up to five GoT spinoffs in the works, saying it would be “corporate malfeasance to not continue” with the show in some form.

At the same discussion, another HBO executive, programming president Casey Bloys, accused streamers such as Netflix and Amazon of churning out too many shows.

“They’re in the volume business, we’re in the curation business,” said Bloys.

In a controversial moment from the conference, Orsi was forced to apologize after she said HBO was “short of raped” during the renegotiations for Big Little Lies, which stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, as they had not locked in an option with the cast for a second series.

“Obviously, I am embarrassed by my poor choice of words,” Orsi said afterwards. “We are extremely proud of Big Little Lies and excited for the second season.”