Tyrell Security Forces

Lore & Background

The penultimate season focuses on the convergence of the show's main plots in preparation for the final season. Daenerys Targaryen arrives in Westeros with her army and three large dragons and begins to wage war against the Lannisters, who have defeated her allies in the south and west of Westeros. Jon Snow leaves Sansa in charge of Winterfell and visits Daenerys to secure her help to defeat the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead. He mines the dragonglass at Dragonstone and begins a romance with Daenerys. Arya and Bran (now the Three-Eyed Raven) return home to Winterfell; the Starks kill the treacherous Littlefinger. Tyrion persuades Daenerys not to destroy King's Landing, reminding her that she does not want to be simply a queen of ashes. Instead, Jon goes north of the wall to capture a wight to prove to Cersei that the fearsome army of the dead exist and are coming; in doing so, his group is pinned down and nearly killed. Daenerys rescues them with her dragons but the Night King kills one of her dragons and makes it part of his army. The undead dragon later destroys part of the Wall and the dead march through. Bran learns that Jon is really his cousin, Aegon Targaryen, the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne.

In Their Own Story

HBO ordered the seventh season on April 21, 2016, three days before the premiere of the show's sixth season and began filming on August 31, 2016. The season was filmed primarily in Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia and Iceland. Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast, including Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington. The season introduces several new cast members, including Jim Broadbent and Tom Hopper. The series received 22 nominations for the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards and won for Outstanding Drama Series and Dinklage won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Reader's Guide

Filming began on August 31, 2016, at Titanic Studios in Belfast, and ended in February 2017. In an interview with the showrunners, it was announced that the filming of the seventh season would be delayed until later in the year due to necessary weather conditions for filming. The showrunners stated 'We're starting a bit later because, you know, at the end of this season, winter is here, and that means that sunny weather doesn't really serve our purposes any more. We kind of pushed everything down the line so we could get some grim, gray weather even in the sunnier places that we shoot.' Girona, Spain, did not return as one of the filming locations. Girona stood in for Braavos and parts of King's Landing. It was later announced that the seventh season would film in Northern Ireland, Spain and Iceland, with filming in Northern Ireland beginning in August 2016. The series filmed in the Spanish cities Seville, Cáceres, Almodóvar del Río, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo. Spanish sources announced that the series would be filming the seventh season on Muriola Beach in Barrika, Las Atarazanas, the Royal Dockyards of Seville and at the shores of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, an islet belonging to the city of Bermeo. The series returned to film at The Dark Hedges in Stranocum, which was previously used as the Kingsroad in the second season. Some scenes were filmed in Iceland. Filming also occurred in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which is used for location of King's Landing. The scene where Arya was reunited with Nymeria was filmed in Alberta, Canada.

Did You Know?

• The seventh season consisted of only seven episodes, unlike previous seasons which had ten each.
• The season premiered on July 16, 2017, and concluded on August 27, 2017.
• The 81-minute finale was the series' longest episode until it was surpassed by the Season 8 episode 'The Long Night', which is 82 minutes.
• Filming began on August 31, 2016, at Titanic Studios in Belfast, and ended in February 2017.
• The scene where Arya was reunited with Nymeria was filmed in Alberta, Canada.