When the sixth season of HBO’s landmark fantasy series Game of Thrones wound to an end, there was the promise of an epic battle for the Iron Throne. And as the first trailer for the show’s penultimate season shows, war is coming to Westeros.
The most recent episode ended with the Mother of Dragons having assembled her army and finally crossing the sea to (presumably) take on Cersei, newly crowned Queen of the seven realms. But the Lannister regent is left with few allies, after blowing most of them up in dramatic, wine-sipping fashion.
Meanwhile, Jon Snow knows nothing about his Targaryen roots, but has united the North in preparation for the forthcoming fight to end all fights.
Season seven looks to fully flesh out the intricate backstories of all the characters, while finally moving the remaining cast members into the same place for the first time. Dispersed families will be reunited and new relationships will be forged. And all your favourites will be brutally murdered.
The bad news for fans is that the usual 10-episode season has been reduced to just seven. To add insult to injury, the show’s usual springtime broadcast has also been pushed back to July 16th, where it will simulcast on HBO and Sky Atlantic.
The worse news for HBO is that the later-than-usual air date rules Game of Thrones second-last season out of contention for this year’s Emmy Awards. Having claimed 12 of its 23 nominations in 2016, 2017 will be a fallow year before the show comes back to end with a bang.
Take a look at the trailer in full below:
