After an agonizingly long Facebook Live session that mostly involved millions of people logging in to watch a huge block of ice melt (because why not?), Game of Thrones finally announced the premier date of the seventh season: July 16 2017
It was followed by a teaser with all the house sigils:
The seventh season is going to be shorter than the previous seasons, with seven (instead of the usual 10) episodes. The makers have also confirmed that there’s going to be only one more season for the series.
So we decided to round up everything we know so far about the upcoming GOT season. You can stop reading here if you don’t want any potential spoilers for season 7.
New characters
Harry Potter actor Jim Broadbent and Merlin’s Tom Hopper have been confirmed for season 7. While the Oscar winning actor is going to play an ‘old professor character’, Hopper is supposedly going to replace Freddie Stroma as Dickon Tarly (Sam’s brother). Even though it’s not yet confirmed, Broadbent is reportedly going to help Sam learn the way of the maesters.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor was rumoured to join the cast as a pirate in Euron Greyjoy’s crew, but he later denied this in an interview with EW. “”That was everywhere and I’ve never even heard about it! I heard about it once after [a fight], backstage in the dressing room,” he said. But knowing the GOT cast’s proclivity to lie in order to hide spoilers, we will choose to wait and see, thank you.
Dany and Jon
A recently released poster indicated a collision between fire and ice that led to fans speculating a ‘Dany-Jon’ meet cute, only less romantic-comedy-ish and more murder-y. These theories were fuelled further when photos of Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke on set were leaked last year.
The plot has hinted a possible alliance between Daenerys’ Dothraki forces and Jon Snow’s Wildling+Night’s watch army and even a dynastic marriage of sorts to combine their forces. The fact that Dany is most definitely Jon Snow’s aunt is not something that will prove deterrent in this equation because, and we might be paraphrasing Cersei a little, ‘Incest is best’.
A Jon Snow and Daenerys union is also possible because of the looming threat of the White Walkers. Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos) suggested that this season they’ll be fighting ‘a common threat’, which would mean the Night King, so Dany’s dragons might have another use after all.
Reunions
More leaked photos from the sets suggest possible reunion in the coming episodes. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Brandon Stark) were spotted together on set, which might indicate that the two characters will finally meet for real or as a part of Bran’s visions.
There is also a possibility of a rather violent reunion between Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy (as this leaked photo suggests). Even though Theon is well on the road to redemption, it’s still satisfying to imagine Jon Snow punching him in the face for basically ruining his brothers’ lives.
We might get a showdown between the two Clegane borthers- the Hound and the Zombie Mountain . “I did notice a lot of people were talking about the Cleganebowl — people were waiting for me and my brother to fight,” Gregor Clegane (the Mountain) actor Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson told Digital Spy.
Whether we’ll get the Cleganebowl we deserve or not, we’re definitely getting an ‘epic fight’ that will, according to Emilia Clarke, make last season’s ‘Battle of the Bastards’ look like this:
Since the Ironborns are definitely going to clash this season, it’s only fair to assume that the ‘epic fight’ is going to involve Euron, Yara and Theon Greyjoy.
Recurring characters
While the major players — Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner — are definitely returning for the season, we might be seeing some surprising comebacks.
Even though Gendry’s conspicuous absence so far has provided us with some memorable memes, fans have been rooting for his return since a long time. Actor Joe Dempsie denied any involvement in the upcoming season but admitted that he would have ‘loved to be involved’. But you may recall that we alluded earlier to the GOT cast’s love for hiding the truth from the fans, so we were not surprised when it was reported that Dempsie was spotted landing in Belfast and Spain (the shooting locations) and was spotted shooting a scene with Tyrion and Ser Davos.
Iain Glen was spotted on a flight to Belfast indicating that Ser Jorah is also back, seemingly cured of his Greyscale problem.
Fan favourite Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) is also returning, and so is Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle).
#Irishthrones #watchersonthewall #Gameofthrones Another appearance in Corbet last week, Northern powers are meeting!! pic.twitter.com/b8UrXv7LRb
— pap4u (@PAP4U) October 10, 2016
There’s a possibility that Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) might be making an appearance up North, possibly in a dream-fantasy sequence because he is as dead as our hopes for a Saturday night without Netflix+Pizza binge. Momoa was spotted in Ireland with the showrunners and had posted a picture with Kit Harington. And then there’s this post:
As for the fans hoping for the resurrection of Catelyn Stark in all her Lady Stoneheart glory, they will reportedly have their hopes dashed. For the TV universe, Catelyn Stark is still as dead as she was after the Red Wedding, a fact that director Mark Mylod confirmed when he admitted that was no discussion about Lady Stoneheart’s appearance in the series.
