‘Game of Thrones’ Season 5 Premiere Announced – Finally!

The long, painful wait is almost over.

HBO announced this week that its hits drama “Game of Thrones,” based on George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” books, returns April 12 at 9 p.m.

Unbelievably, the upcoming season will be the series’ fifth. (Alert: spoilers below)

The previous season ended with a glorious—and bloody—battle at Castle Black, Tywin Lannister’s embarrassing death at the hands of his own son, and Arya, who was painfully close to reuniting with her sister Sansa, sailing to Braavos.

Last year, the epic claimed the title of HBO’s most watched series: it reached 18.4 million viewers, eclipsing the previous mark of 18.2 million set by “The Sopranos.”

“Game of Thrones” has become so popular that HBO announced it would show two episodes from Season 4 in select IMAX theaters, followed by an exclusive trailer for the upcoming season. The deal with IMAX makes HBO the first television network to broadcast its programming in such a setting.

“We couldn’t think of a series more fitting than Game of Thrones to be the first presented in IMAX,” Greg Foster, senior executive vice president of IMAX Corp. and CEO of IMAX Entertainment, said in a statement. “It has the action, storyline and epic nature that our fans seek in IMAX and we’re thrilled to team with HBO and our longtime partners at Warner Brothers to offer audiences a chance to experience it in the ultimate theatre setting joined by other fans of the series.”

In other news, HBO announced that “Silicon Valley” and “Veep” will also debut April 12. Silicon Valley will air at 10 p.m., followed by “Veep” at 10:30 p.m.

Here’s a look inside last season’s “Game of Thrones” finale: