Contains spoilers for the Game of Thrones season six finale
It's only been a few days since we finished watching the electrifyingThe Winds of Winter - and now that we're done toasting Queen Cersei (with wine, wine and more wine), cheering on Daenerys's dragons and revelling in that Walder Frey moment, we're suffering a severe case of Westeros withdrawal.
To remedy that, here's a quick round-up of the big questions surrounding season seven of Game of Thrones.
1. When will season 7 of Game of Throne be released and how long will it be?
We don’t know exactly when season seven will be released, but HBO has confirmed that it'll be in the summer of 2017, rather than the April (as per previous seasons).
“Now that winter has arrived on game
of thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” said HBO programming president Casey Bloys.
“Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
We also that there are probably only going to be 13 more episodes of the show, spread across two shorter seasons. HBO has confirmed that season seven will be seven episodes long.
"It’s two more seasons we’re talking about," showrunner David Benioff told Deadline. "From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now.
“The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it’s trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it.”
2. Will we finally find out Jon's real name?
As names go, Jon Snow is a pretty good one – who wouldn't want to share a moniker with the British journalist and Channel 4 News presenter?
Sadly, however, the real name of the moody, man bun-wearing Game of Thrones hero is probably much less catchy.
During the season six finale, we saw Lyanna Stark, who had just given birth, whisper something to her brother Eddard Stark. Frustratingly, however, most of her speech was inaudible.
Undeterred by this, one fan has employed the classic "repeatedly watch scene while trying to lip-read" technique, and determined that Lyanna could be revealing her baby's name.
"I have rewatched the new TOJ [Tower of Joy] scene about a dozen fifty times at least now, with captions and without," writesReddit user Sparkledavisjr. "Lyanna starts by whispering 'His name is', and then what follows appears to be a three syllable word that appears to start with a J. I'm not a great lip-reader, but I'm fairly certain what she says is Jaehaerys. The name is not included in the captions, probably on purpose."
The choice of Jaehaerys, an old Targaryen name previously used by Westerosi monarchs, would all but confirm that Jon's father is Rhaegar Targaryen (something not explictly shown in the episode, but which most fans now suspect is almost certainly true, thanks to a family tree that appeared on the HBO website shortly after the episode aired). If this were the case, it would also make sense for Jon to have a Targaryen name – assuming of course that Lyanna eloped with Rheagar for love and that they chose their child's name together.
Baby Jaehaerys? Or baby Aemon? CREDIT: HBO
Either way, we'd recommend giving the original Reddit post a proper read: the author has a great analysis of why Jaehaerys would be a particularly fitting name.
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Not everyone is convinced, however. Other people have watched the clip and opined that Lyanna isn't forming a three-syllable "J" sound at all, but a two syllable "A" word.
If this is the case, fans have suggested, then another likely Targaryen name could be Aemon. This would poignantly link Jon to old Aemon Targaryen, the late maester of the Night's watch. Aegon, too, is a possibility, although this was also the name of Rhaegar's eldest son, murdered as a child along with his mother and sister. Furthermore, in George RR Martin's later books a character claiming to be the long-lost Aegon has mysteriously surfaced to exert his claim to the throne, making it seem unlikely that Martin would also give the name to Jon.
There's also always Aerys, the name of Rhaegar's father – although, considering the fact that Aerys II was both mad and pretty evil, we're not sure it's the likeliest of choices.
We're going to be completely honest: we've watched the clip quite a few times ourselves and, while we can read "His name is", we can't make anything definite out at all when it comes to the name part.
This is probably just our terrible lipreading skills – but it's also conceivable that the actress playing Lyanna doesn't actually form a clear word, and the the team behind the show made the (exceptionally cruel) decision to tease fans by deliberately withholding Jon's name.
3. When will the White Walkers make a move? And will the Wall come down?
The Night King
Yes, the season six finale was pretty fantastic – but amid all the mass murder, suicide, Frey pies, green fire and soaring dragons, the Night King and his blue-eyed boys were conspicuously absent.
In some ways, it felt as if the season was focusing on escalating the show’s many human threads: the brilliantly nasty Ramsay has been turned into the Westerosi equivalent of Pedigree Chum, Jon is in control of the North and Daenerys is now surging across the narrow sea. The early part of season seven will therefore most likely focus on the dragon queen and her battle to take control of Westeros – we can’t imagine Cersei (who we've decided to call "the flagon queen", thanks to her pretty much constant wine-drinking) will go without a fight.
But as we’ve been repeatedly warned, the Walkers are on the march. A number of fans expect that both the show and George RR Martin’s books will end with a climactic final battle between the Others and the dragons (the book series as a whole is called A Song of Ice and Fire, after all).
But before this happens, Game of Thrones will need to up the sense of threat, possibly with another Hardhome-style massacre, and tease us with a bit more info about the Walkers. We already know how they were created (great move, Children of the Forest), but we’re sure there’s a lot more to come. There’s even been speculation that Game of Thrones will surprise us all by revealing that they aren’t so bad after all.
One thing we’re pretty sure has to happen? The great Wall – the icy barrier dividing Westeros from the North and keeping out the Walkers – has got to fall.
An early plot rumour for season six even suggested that this could happen in The Winds of Winter, at the end of season six – but perhaps it’ll now be the dramatic season seven closer instead?
4. What kind of ruler will Cersei make? And how long will she be in power?
Actress Lena Headey, who plays Cersei, has already weighed in on the latter question. Asked by Entertainment Weekly whether her character’s would have time to get comfortable on the world’s most uncomfortable throne, she said: “No. Surely not! Not a chance in hell. It's [Cersei's reign] a moment of punctuation in the madness.”
As to what kind of ruler she’ll make? We’re betting on cruel, chaotic and crazy-as-hell. Forget Aerys II: we reckon Cersei could give the Mad King a run for his money any day.
All hail Queen Cersei: Lena Headey in The Winds of Winter CREDIT: HBO
5. Who will kill Cersei?
Headey reckons it’ll be Arya or Tyrion, according to her Entertainment Weekly interview. But we’re not so sure. That look Jaime gave her, in their final season six scene together – gazing at Ceseri as she sat in splendour on the iron throne – was pretty loaded. Was he proud of his sister and her triumph? Or (much more likely) was he appalled at the lengths she had gone to secure power? And how will he react to the suicide of their implausibly nice son Tommen, and the fact that it was precipitated by Cersei’s actions?
6. That look aside, why else do people think Jaime might be the one to finally kill Cersei?
In both the TV show and the books, Cersei is haunted by a prediction, made to her as a young girl by a woods witch named Maggy.
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Maggy foretells that Cersei will have three children and that she’ll be forced to watch all of them die before her – a prophecy that was proved true in the season six finale, when poor disillusioned Tommen, her last surviving child, jumped to his death.
But in the books there’s a second part to the prophecy, which alludes to Cersei’s own death: strangled at the hands of somebody referred to as “the Valonqar”.
Jaime and Cersei in season six of Game of Thrones CREDIT: HBO
In the Game of Thrones world, Valonqar is a Valyrian word meaning “little brother” or possibly (we don’t know all that much about the language) a more gender neutral “younger sibling”.
In this case, Cersei’s younger brother Tyrion could well be the man. But, many fans have pointed out, Jaime could also be a contender: while he and Cersei are twins, it has been established that Jaime was born after his sister, meaning that he is still her younger sibling.
That said, the killer might not necessarily be a direct relative of Cersei’s at all. Some fans think the prophecy could just refer to a younger brother or younger sibling – in which case Arya just might be the perfect fit.
Previously, fans even speculated that the words meant "the younger brother of your three children" – indicating Tommen. Of course, it was always difficult to see exactly how this would work, given that the prophecy also suggested that Tommen would die before Cersei.
But see the (extremely far-fetched) theory outlined in our final question for one possible solution.
7. Will we see Ser Jorah again?
And if we do, how far will his Greyscale have progressed? If he’s unable to find a cure for Westeros's Worst Skin Disease – something which generations before him have failed to do – then we reckon Jorah might return, perhaps to sacrifice himself for Daenerys in a final act of bravery.
Either that, or we'll catch a heartrending glimpse of him as one of the unfortunate stone men (victims in an advanced stage of the disease).
8. Will we see Lyanna Mormont again?
We certainly hope so: the fiery, frankly quite terrifying 10-year-old leader of Bear Island was one of this season’s most popular new characters, and for good reason.
Either way, we'll definitely be seeing actress Bella Ramsey again soon: while Game of Thrones was Ramsey's TV debut, next year she's going to star in a new CBBC TV adaptation of Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch series (rejoice now, Nineties kids).
Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) on Game of Thrones CREDIT: HBO
9. Will Jon regret letting Melisandre live?
Carice van Houten as Melisandre in Game of Thrones
We don't think Melisandre will turn on Jon, given that she believes him to be long-prophesised hero Azor Ahai (a sort of chosen one of the Lord of Light). But how will the Red Priestess react to being sent away from the man she restored to life and to being separated from the main action? And will Jon miss her magic?
There's also, let's not forget, a host of intriguing fan theories out there about Melisandre's origins. After the shock reveal about her true age at the beginning of this season (not all fans were shocked by the age itself, but there's no denying that that that on-screen transition was pretty effective), it felt like further revelations about the character's background might be on the cards. These never really materialised in season six, but there's no reason why season seven couldn't delve further into the backstory of enigmatic Red Priestess.
10. Will Arya head to King’s Landing? (Contains mild book spoilers)
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones season six
In the books, Catelyn Stark– brutally murdered at the Red Wedding at the hands of the treacherous Walder Frey – is brought back to life through some Lord of Light-related magic.
Unlike Jon, however, who came back pretty much the same as he always was (albeit with a terrible new hairstyle) after his spell in the world of the dead, book Catelyn returns as a frightening, zombie-like figure, hell-bent on revenge against the Freys – whom she begins picking off one by one.
There was some speculation that Arya could take on this role – but, judging by the season six finale, she’s not interested in minor members of the family.
Instead went straight for the Frey jugular (in more than one sense), baking the two eldest sons in a pie, feeding it to Walder – and slitting his throat.
We expect she’ll now head to King’s Landing, to settle her longstanding score with Cersei…which brings us to our (totally ridiculous, but none-the-less intriguing) final question.
11. Will Arya don Tommen's face to murder Cersei?
The answer to this is, alas, is "probably not". Especially given the fact that Tommen’s body will soon be burnt, according to Cersei’s instructions (although we haven’t yet seen this happen). Also, we're not sure exactly what kind of state his face is currently in.
Still, it would make a gruesomely great death scene – and seeing her “son” miraculously restored to life, only for him to murder her, would certainly make Cersei's last moments pretty horrific. It’d also fit nicely in with some of the “Tommen is the Valonqar/Arya is the Valonqar” theories outlined above.
This potential plot twist only occurred to us during the season six finale, after we saw just how advanced Arya's face-switching skills had become. But a quick Google has revealed that other Game of Thrones fans (and advocates of the "Tommen is the Valonqar" theory) had in fact raised the possibility years ago.
"The castle employees would already know Cersei was losing her mind, so when the queen shouted about Tommen being alive again the staff would just nod their heads politely and assume Cersei was hallucinating," reads a 2014 post on the A Song of Ice and Fire forums. "So it's the perfect cover for Arya to operate and then slip back into the shadows. Plus she'd have overheard Cersei yammering about the prophecy, so Arya would use that prophecy as a way of messing with the queen and venting her own vengeance."
Here's hoping...
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Source telegraph.co.uk
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