Game of Thrones season 7
The seventh and penultimate season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on July 16, 2017, and concluded on August 27, 2017.[1][2][3] Unlike previous seasons, which consisted of ten episodes each, the seventh season consisted of only seven episodes.[4] Like the previous season, it largely consisted of original content not found in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, while also incorporating material that Martin revealed to showrunners about the upcoming novels in the series.[5] The series was adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.
Game of Thrones
- Peter Dinklage
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
- Lena Headey
- Emilia Clarke
- Kit Harington
- Aidan Gillen
- Liam Cunningham
- Sophie Turner
- Maisie Williams
- Nathalie Emmanuel
- Gwendoline Christie
- Conleth Hill
- John Bradley
- Isaac Hempstead Wright
- Hannah Murray
- Kristofer Hivju
- Rory McCann
- Iain Glen
- Carice van Houten
- Indira Varma
- Alfie Allen
- Jerome Flynn
- Joe Dempsie
7
July 16 –
August 27, 2017
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 execute 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.
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.[6][7]
Production[edit]
Crew[edit]
Series creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss serve as showrunners for the seventh season. The directors for the seventh season are Jeremy Podeswa (episodes 1 and 7), Mark Mylod (episodes 2 and 3), Matt Shakman (episodes 4 and 5) and Alan Taylor (episode 6). This marks Taylor's return to the series after an absence since the second season. Shakman is a first-time Game of Thrones director, with the rest each having directed multiple episodes in previous seasons.[36] Michele Clapton returned to the show as costume designer, after spending some time away from the show in the sixth season. She previously worked on the show for the first five seasons, as well as the end of the sixth season.[36]
Writing[edit]
The seventh season contains original material not found in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.[37] Some of the show's sixth season also consists of material revealed to the writers of the television series during discussions with Martin.[38]
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
On July 23, 2016, a teaser production trailer was released by HBO at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. The trailer mostly consisted of voice overs, and shots of crew members creating sets and props.[113] The first footage from the season was revealed in a new promotional video released by HBO highlighting its new and returning original shows for the coming year on November 28, 2016, showcasing Jon Snow, Sansa Stark and Arya Stark.[114][115]
On March 1, 2017, HBO and Game of Thrones teamed up with Major League Baseball (MLB) for a cross-promotional partnership. At least 19 individual teams participated in this promotion.[116] On March 8, 2017, HBO released the first promotional poster for the season ahead of the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, which teases the battle of "ice vs. fire". Showrunners Benioff and Weiss also spoke at the event, along with fellow cast members Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams.[117]
On March 9, 2017, HBO hosted a live stream on the Game of Thrones Facebook page that revealed the premiere date for the seventh season as being July 16, 2017. It was accompanied by a teaser trailer.[2] On March 30, 2017, the first official promo for the show was released, highlighting the thrones of Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, and Cersei Lannister.[118] On April 20, 2017, HBO released 15 official photos shot during the season.[119] On May 22, 2017, HBO released several new photos from the new season.[120] On May 23, 2017, HBO released the official posters featuring the Night King.[121] The first official trailer for season 7 was released on May 24, 2017.[27] The trailer set a world record for being the most viewed show trailer ever, being viewed 61 million times across digital platforms, in the first 24 hours.[122] The second official trailer was released on June 21, 2017.[26] The season premiere was screened at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on July 12, 2017.[123]
Illegal distribution[edit]
The season premiere was pirated 90 million times in the first three days after it aired.[126] On August 4, 2017, it was reported that, two days before its original broadcast, the fourth episode of the season was leaked online from Star India, one of HBO's international network partners.[127] The leaked copy has the "for internal viewing only" watermark. On July 31, 2017, due to a security breach, HBO was the victim of 1.5 terabytes of stolen data.[128] However, "this was not related to this episode leak", according to The Verge.[129] On August 16, 2017, four days before its intended release, it was reported that HBO Spain and HBO Nordic accidentally allowed the sixth episode of the series on-demand viewing for one hour before being removed.[130]
Data from piracy monitoring firm MUSO indicates that season seven was pirated more than one billion times mostly by unauthorized streaming, with torrent and direct downloads accounting for about 15 percent of this piracy. On average, each episode is estimated to have been pirated 140 million times,[131] making Game of Thrones the most-pirated television series in 2017.[132]