Filming is wrapping up for Game of Thrones Season 7. What have we learned so far about the coming season from the images leaked?
What do we know about Game of Thrones Season 7? Officially? Other than “It will not be eligible for the 2017 Emmys which means it debuts post-May 31”, nothing.
Unofficially though, this season has been a turmoil of leak drama behind the scenes. perhaps even more so than Season 5, when someone leaked the first four episode screeners on line the night before the show premiered. Some of it has been a function of the filming locations–since moving bag and baggage to Spain for the tax write offs, the production has found itself filming more scenes out in the open than ever before. Some of it has been a function of one person having one moment of unprofessionalism and taking to Reddit with what he claimed was the entire outline of the season. (We assume his short lived career in television is now over.)
So what do we know? We know that–for those who read the Reddit spoilers–they were either legit or an awfully good guess. Not that a good guess couldn’t carry the day. After all, for a person who made a study of Martin’s tactics in A Song of Ice and Fire, and then Benioff and Weiss’ own decisions in how to bring it to the small screen, one can at this point guess the major plot points of what will happen this season.
- Characters will come together in ways we’ve never seen before, and some in ways we haven’t seen since Season 1. That includes a reunion of the remaining Stark siblings. Jon and Tyrion, together again for the first time since Season 1. Main characters who’ve never been at the same place at the same time finding themselves all filming on the same beach at once, including (but not limited to!)
- Dany’s crew of followers
- The Ironborn
- Jon Snow and the Wildlings (someone needs to name an indie band that, stat!)
- Now there are rumors that there will be even more characters coming together in a grand meeting of the minds in King’s Landing. And there was a scene filmed where literally every major character left was in the hotel in town at the same time. But, perhaps thankfully, the production managed to keep the filming of that scene under wraps.
- Major battles, lots of them, which is serious stuff for a foreshortened season like this. Over the course of filming we saw at least two separate major battles staged, as well as something that looks like it could in fact be a skirmish on par with Hardhome in season 5. But thankfully, like the meeting of the minds, enough of that was kept under wraps that nothing can be confirmed.
What don’t we know? That is a much, much longer list. Will Cersei lose her crown? Will Dany take the iron Throne? Will Jon Snow and Dany hit it off in a love story for the ages? Will Sansa finally clear out that Littlefinger problem? Will Arya take down more of the people on her list? And what in heaven’s name is Bran going to do with his “Tree wizard” powers? (His phrasing not ours!)
Next: Game of Thrones Season 7: Could Spoilers Not Make it Through?
Finally, the major question we’ve been asking now for years. If Winter is finally here, how long until the Night King takes his forces across the Wall, knocking it down once and for all? We still don’t know, and it’s going to be a long wait until we do. But what we do know is that with filming ending, that means cast interview time begins soon.