‘Game of Thrones’ Leads Emmys With 22 Nominations

Game of Thrones has returned to the Emmys with 22 nominations.

After a long gap between seasons 6 and 7 kept the popular HBO fantasy drama from being nominated for last year’s Emmys, Game of Thrones has returned to lead the pack, garnering a total of 22 nominations for the 70th Emmy Awards, more than any other series this year. Following behind Game of Thrones in total nominations is NBC’s Saturday Night Live and HBO’s Westworld, each of which drew 21 nominations.

The nominations, announced live from the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood by The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Samira Wiley and New Amsterdam‘s Ryan Eggold, include two nods for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s performances, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Lena Heady’s performance, and Outstanding Drama Series, among others.

Due to the timing of the series’ previous season, Game of Thrones had been out of Emmy contention last year, leaving room for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale to win Best Drama, marking the first series from a streaming platform to take home the honor. The 70th Emmy Awards will see the Seven Kingdoms and Gilead go head-to-head for the accolade this year, along with FX’s The Americans, Netflix’s The Crown and Stranger Things, NBC’s This Is Us, and HBO’s Westworld.

While Game of Thrones‘ seventh season premiered nearly a year ago, potentially harming the series’ chances of taking home any wins given that series like The Handmaid’s Tale only just debuted new seasons, the HBO drama recently wrapped filming on its eighth and final season, which is set to premiere sometime in 2019.

According to fan site Watchers on the Wall, the drama finished filming its final scenes on Friday, July 6, at the set that has become home to the largest city in the Seven Kingdoms, King’s Landing, where it is believed a major battle will eventually take place.

As filming on the series wrapped, several stars took to social media to bid their characters and the world of Westeros a final farewell, including Arya Stark’s Maisie Williams, Daenerys Targaryen’s Emilia Clarke, and Nathalie Emmanuel’ Missandei.

Former and current cast members also came together to celebrate the end of the series at a cast wrap party held in Belfast on July 1.

Season 8 of Game of Thrones premieres in 2019. The 70th Emmy Awards will telecast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 17 from 8 – 11 p.m. ET on NBC and will be hosted by Saturday Night Live‘s Colin Jost and Michael Che.