'Game of Thrones' Season 7 News and Spoilers: Filming Has Officially Begun in Spain, Iceland, Ireland; What Could This Mean For Season 7?
Winter is here. The seventh season of HBO's biggest television series, Game of Thrones, has officially started filming Monday, Aug. 29, in northern Ireland, according to Entertainment Weekly. Additional shooting for the show's penultimate season will also be done in Spain and Iceland, with directors Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Matt Shakman and Alan Taylor at the helm of Season 7.
Of course, this being Game of Thrones, there are always hints from the smallest details: Iceland means more time in the North of the Wall, so we can expect more Sansa-Jon drama and possibly Bran Stark in play. Northern Ireland is for King's Landing, for the inevitable standoff between queens Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen; and Spain for Dorne, where Dany could make a base invasion and further cement her alliance with Olenna Tyrell and Ellaria Sand before heading to King's Landing.
What to expect: New cast, characters?
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HBO had previously announced that the next season will premiere summer 2017, and will only consist of seven episodes. Earlier, GoT veteran Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the Emmy award-winning series, made the rounds on social media saying "nothing will prepare you" for the next seasons after reading the script.
Meanwhile, the official start of shooting coincides with an earlier announcement that veteran Broadway actor Jim Broadbent (Horace Slughorn from the Harry Potter series and Harold Zidler from Moulin Rouge!) has joined the cast to play a "pivotal" role. What this means or who he will play remains close to the cast.
Fun fact: Broadbent is the latest among HP-related casting calls made for the series, with Natalia Tena (Tonks) as Osha; David Bradley (Argus Filch) as Walder Frey, Ciaran Hands (Aberforth Dumbledore) as Benjen Stark, among others.
Where we left off
Next season will be picking up after a huge number of key events. Daenerys has sailed for Westeros, with her three dragons and a large army to boot. Cersei rules King's Landing following the tragic death of her last child, Tommen (who committed suicide after his beloved Margaery Tyrell and Cersei's other enemies perished in wildfire).
In the North, Jon Snow is announced King with Sansa and Petyr Baelish looking on. We've also finally confirmed what we've known all along: that he is the son of Rhaegar and Ella Stark, making him Sansa's cousin and Daenerys' nephew. Whether or not he makes his own play for the Throne remains to be seen.
New theory: D + J?
Speaking of Jon, we've already rounded up the list of things we've predicted for the upcoming season: from Daenerys defeating Cersei, to Jaime killing Cersei (there's a lot of predictions involving Cersei), but perhaps we can also discuss one more prediction: the possibility of Daenerys and Jon marrying.
Incestuous? Absolutely, but remember: the Targaryens used to intermarry to keep the sanctity of royal blood within their lineage. The Song of Fire (Daenerys with her dragons) and Ice (Jon with his Winterfell lineage) certainly points to them, and it would be pretty kickass to see them rule Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms together. Plus we'd know they'd have beautiful, gorgeous children.
But as we've all learned in basic science, theories, while fun, remain so until they're proven correct. So let's all huddle together as we wait for Season 7 of Game of Thrones, which premieres summer 2017.
