The Game of Thrones Season 7 release date is confirmed, and so is the surprise reveal that Ed Sheeran will be making a cameo!
At long last, Game of Thrones season 7 is almost here. While it strangely won't be until after the Fourth of July that the deep freeze of the White Walkers arrives, the hype is building, cracks in the wall are growing, and our excitement remains as consistent as Jon Snow's virtue.
Aye, Game of Thrones season 7 will consist of seven episodes and is arriving on July 16, confirming the icy dread that the Long Night of Winter is here, and the coming summer will be shorter than ever.
“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,” Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, said in a statement. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
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But there is plenty of good news too. Join us in this living and breathing document as we anticipate the coming ice storm...
Latest Game of Thrones Season 7 News
Continuing in the grand tradition of Coldplay's Will Champion and Sigur Rós, musician and pop icon Ed Sheeran will be appearing in Game of Thrones season 7. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss confirmed as much to fans an SXSW panel for the series, revealing that he will have a cameo for eagle-eyed fans in the new year. Apparently, this was done specifically by the Game of Thrones creators to surprise Arya actress Maisie Williams, who is a major fan of the singer.
"For years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie and this year we finally did it," Beinoff told the fans.
We suspect she was much pleased. It would be especially enjoyable if they made Sheeran a Frey who gets in Arya's way...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Release Date
The Game of Thrones season 7 release date is July 16, 2017!
Game of Thrones Season 7 Trailer
In classic Game of Thrones fashion, there is no new footage to be gleaned in this teaser trailer. However, there is an ominious hint at what season 7 will be about. The great wheel of power for Westerosi Houses that Daenerys Targaryen criticized in season 5 (yet seems eager to join in season 7) is here visualized in agonized statues of family sigils vying and fighting for power. Yet, they shall all crumble into snow... and into the pattern of doom that White Walkers seem so partial to. What does war matter when an existential threat that could be the end of all man is right around the corner?
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episodes
First, HBO unsurprisingly greenlit Game of Thrones for a season 7 before season 6 even aired. Building up the week of hype for the premiere, the premium cable network nonchalantly confirmed a seventh season in late April, but tellingly did not reveal the length.
We now know that it will be seven episodes, something that Benioff and Weiss have hinted for months now. But also worth noting is that at this time, season 8 looks poised to only be a mere six episodes.
Benioff and Weiss also confirmed this is the gameplan still while chatting with Deadline after season 6 concluded. On the endgame, Benioff said, "It’s two more seasons we’re talking about. 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."
This would appear to confirm that season 7 will stick to their initial plan as a seven-episode affair. Still, maybe they'll realize they need an extra one or two episodes in season 8, so we'll get more than just six hours for the final year?