With the Game of Thrones Season 3 premiere (sort of) around the corner, David Benioff and Dan Weiss have especially exciting news for viewers:

They will be in for more pillaging than previously thought, as the 10-episode season will feel more like 11.

“There’s almost another full episode’s worth of extra minutes spread across the season,” Weiss tells Entertainment Weekly. “One of the great liberties with HBO is we’re not forced to come in at a specific time. We can’t be under 50 minutes or over 60, but that gives us a lot of flexibility.”

Season 3 will cover approximately the first half of George R.R. Martin’s "Song of Ice and Fire."

“Last year we had a lot of 52-minute episodes. This year is a lot of 56, 57," Benioff added, referring to this as a "super-sized season."

Look for the final to actually exceed an hour in length.

Game of Thrones returns on March 31 and the Games of Thrones Season 2 DVD comes out on February 19.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.