Game of Thrones is finally winding down to the end. The show’s sixth season ended with a bang and now there are just two seasons left—and both are short. It’s now pretty much official that the last two seasons will have fifteen episodes between them, tops, and that’ll be it. That’ll be the end. And the showrunners have reasons for doing that, but let’s face it: The show is definitely, without a doubt, going to feel rushed.

Game of Thrones Season 7 And 8: There Just Isn’t Enough Time

How can we say with absolute certainty that the rest of Game of Thrones will feel rushed? Because it already feels rushed, even with ten increasingly long episodes a season (why didn’t they ever give it twelve?). The big moments in Game of Thrones Season 6 were often very abrupt and weren’t given time to breathe or build. We’re talking Jon Snow’s resurrection and King Tommen’s suicide, both of which just sort of—happened. In the last few seasons, major events like these were developed, fleshed out. Relationships were built up before being tested. Now, the show rests on how we already feel about those relationships. It’s become the Cliffs Notes version of itself.

That happened for a few reasons: The show’s narrative became increasingly expansive, characters were isolated in their own storylines and there were simply more characters. The show has fixed this by bringing the characters back together, or by killing them off (see Dorne). That would normally give it more room to breathe in the last two seasons—except that they’re so short.

The characters left standing have clearly been hand-chosen to reflect the ones needed in the great conflicts to come: the respective invasions of Westeros by the forces of ice (the White Walkers) and fire (Daenerys). Everyone superfluous has been killed or written out. The only conflict left in King’s Landing, really, is between Cersei and Daenerys. It’s not quite good against evil, but it’s definitely hero against villain and that’s a lot less interesting. All ancillary conflicts have petered out.

It’s all going to be epic fantasy from here on out and that’s okay, mostly. But the show made its name and gained its fame for its complex plotting, its sophisticated portrayal of politics in a fantasy world and its engaging, complicated characters. With just a little over a dozen hours to go, much of that will be lost as the forces of “good-ish” come together against their enemies. They’ll barely even play the game of thrones anymore.

Prove me wrong, show. But I don’t see how it can be avoided.