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Earlier this year, HBO announced that True Blood will end its run in 2014, after the network recently renewed the series for a 7th season. Thankfully, it’ll be its last. 

The final season, which launches next summer, will consist of ten episodes.

“True Blood has been nothing short of a defining show for HBO,” said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “Alan Ball took the books by Charlaine Harris, assembled a brilliant cast led by the magnificent Anna Paquin in the role of Sookie Stackhouse, and crafted a show that has taken its many devoted fans on an unforgettable journey. Alan passed the baton to Brian Buckner, who led our fantastic writers and crew in crafting a spectacular sixth season, and he will lead us through the seventh and final season of this amazing show. Together with its legions of fans, it will be hard to say goodbye to the residents of Bon Temps, but I look forward to what promises to be a fantastic final chapter of this incredible show.”

In terms of what to expect during the final season, one thing that fans of the series would likely be interested in knowing is that Lafayette, the character played by Nelsan Ellis, will be getting a new boyfriend, says TV Line.

Lafayette’s getting a new boyfriend — and a serious one at that. After spending much of Season 6 in the shadows, Nelsan Ellis will sashay back to the forefront in True Blood‘s final season — with a little help from Drake. Described as a cross between Jim Morrison and James Dean, this brooding and insanely good-looking vamp is a compassionate protector with a poet’s edge. 

The series-regular role has yet to be cast apparently.

Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, True Blood takes place in a world where vampires and humans co-exist, after vampires have come out of the coffin, thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood that means they no longer need humans as a nutritional source.

The 6th season of the series (a series that I just never got into, and stopped watching after the first season or so) concluded over the summer.

Ellis will next appear on the big screen, playing Bobby Byrd, James Brown’s longtime friend and musical collaborator, in Tate Taylor’s biopic that stars Chadwick Boseman.