Sorry, 'Game of Thrones' fans: It looks like season 7 is headed toward a 'huge cliffhanger'

By Stephanie Topacio Long February 1, 2017

game of thrones season 7 cliffhanger s6e6 2 — Macall B. Polay/HBO

You have to accept a certain amount of pain as a Game of Thrones fan, whether that be agonizing over the fate of Jon Snow after season 5 or waiting for the series to return from its lengthy offseason. That torture will continue. Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, has revealed that season 7 will bring “a huge cliffhanger.”

The actress dropped the warning during a recent interview with TimeOut London. She has been promoting her new Netflix sci-fi flick iBoy, but the Game of Thrones questions have just kept coming. When asked about the final two seasons of the series, she dropped a few tidbits about season 7.

“It’s just kind of tumbling now,” she told TimeOut London. “We’ve come to the climax, and it’s rolling down to the end. It’s exciting. I really felt like at the end of last season, everything was set up for how it was going to end. Every character came to a little junction in their lives. Now we’re all going to crash down together to however this show ends.”

Williams also issued her warning about the big cliffhanger ahead, but beyond that, she said the cast doesn’t “know a thing” — even which of them will survive to star in season 8. Since Game of Thrones characters are always in danger, the season 1 holdovers who make it to the last season will celebrate in a big way: with tattoos, she said.

“We’re all waiting to see if we do make it. I was lucky enough to be in season 1, even the pilot episode. If I do make it to season 8, I will get it,” she said of the tattoo. “It would be rude not to!”

In the meantime, we fans need to prepare ourselves for the agony ahead — as well as keep a lookout for any of the stars displaying fresh ink.

Game of Thrones season 7 is scheduled to premiere this summer.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Stephanie Topacio Long

Contributor

Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

Entertainment

Why Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power can’t be a Game of Thrones rip-off

Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power.

Even before Game of Thrones went off the air, there was rampant and wild speculation about which show might emerge that could replace it. Game of Thrones was, according to some, the end of an era where TV fans would all watch the same show and then spend the following week discussing the latest episode and speculating about what was to come. Recently, House of the Dragon has attempted to prove that Game of Thrones can be an heir to itself, but another show that has also entered the fray hopes to become something of a phenomenon.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has often been described as Amazon's version of Thrones. The company has invested enormous sums of money into the show, and it's set in a similar fantasy universe as Thrones, with flying creatures and human actors wearing bad white wigs. George R.R. Martin, the mind behind Game of Thrones, was a huge J.R. Tolkien fan, and wrote his own fantasy series essentially in response to Tolkien's totemic works. That's part of the reason why, whatever Rings of Power turns out to be, it has to be more than just a riff on Game of Thrones, even though its source material was created long before anybody sat on the Iron Throne.
Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are not the same thing

Entertainment

Can House of the Dragon save the Game of Thrones franchise?

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey in House of the Dragon.

Game of Thrones was a revolution. The show once not-so-eloquently described as "tits and dragons" proved to be so much more, introducing a seemingly never-ending parade of compelling characters likely to die from one episode to the next. High production values and genuinely impressive CGI further contributed to the show skyrocketing into the apex of pop culture, but Thrones' secret weapon was always the writing.

Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens; Thrones knew that. Its action episodes were thrilling and massive -- from Stannis' invasion of King's Landing to the infamous Battle of the Bastards. However, most of the show's most iconic clashes were verbal; think of Littlefinger and Varys' snarky remarks to each other or Cersei and Tyrion's surprisingly honest conversations. Guided by George R. R. Martin's sprawling source material, Game of Thrones was a writer's dream. Enhanced by the delicious readings of a cast of icons at their prime, the dialogue in Westeros was a writer's dream come true. Thrones was the perfect combination of cleverness and wit mixed with political intrigue, high stakes, ambitious world-building, nonstop violence, and yes, "tits and dragons."

Entertainment

Game of Thrones: How George R. R. Martin’s world can expand in animation

Young Princess Rhaenyra with her dragon Syrax looming behind her.

The recent Warner Bros. Discovery merger seems to have added a layer of tense unpredictability regarding the state of WB's IPs, but it seems that writer George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones world will stay the course with the upcoming House of the Dragon around the corner.

It would be bizarre if it didn't, as it is HBO's most historic TV series and proved to be a cultural phenomenon in the process. And with reports of many spinoffs in the works, the network should look to animation as another worthy avenue to explore. Per those reports, there are at least some such projects already in development, and taking advantage of animation's newfound appreciation could prove to be something more than worth doubling down on.
Exploring uncharted territory
House of the Dragon | Official Trailer | HBO Max