Game of Thrones 2017 preview: What’s on the way this year

What are the cast and crew saying about Season 7?

Specifics about what’s next for our favorite Game of Thrones storylines are kept as confidential as possible. That’s especially important now, since the show is well beyond George R.R. Martin’s source material. Still, the cast members aren’t above dropping hints on us every so often.

Lioness Roars Alone

According to an interview Benioff and Weiss gave to Deadline, Season 7 will explore the depth of Cersei’s psyche.

"Cersei has certainly done a lot of horrible things in her life…But the one thing that was redemptive about her was she genuinely loved her children. Who is she, without her children? The answer is something you’ll find out about next season."

Actress Lena Headey didn’t want to spoil too much in a short interview with Mashable, but she did say she’s not necessarily playing Cersei as a villain. “[She] will do exactly what a man would do – which is, you know, murder somebody when you’re in a war. Maybe just not directly.” So we can expect more sneakiness as the newly crowned Queen of the Andals and the First Men tries to keep her spot on the Iron Throne.

Sleep Well

Lady Sansa is apparently taking a turn to a dark side after feeding Lord Ramsay Bolton to his own hounds in Season 6’s “Battle of the Bastards.” The small smile as she walked away from the scene of the crime may be the start of a new character arc.

Speaking to Vulture, actress Sophie Turner said, “You wonder if it’s just a smile because it’s her first kill, because this man is out of her life, or whether she’s going to get a taste for it. Whether she enjoyed it.”

Other notable soundbites from Turner, who was an interview-giving machine for a while:

• From Entertainment Weekly: “She’s seemingly in control for the first time – and it really suits her. She’s kind of having a bit of a power trip. But she’s also becoming more insecure, because there are threats to the power that she holds.”
• From The Wrap: “From Sansa’s perspective, I think she would really like the recognition that she feels she deserves because at the end of the day, she did save the day [at the] Battle of the Bastards…I think she probably would like to be Queen in the North on her own, maybe. Or again, she probably just wants Jon to listen to her.”
• From Gold Derby: “[Sansa and Jon Snow are] equals for the first time. And I think he’s really restoring [Sansa’s] faith in men.“

Sansa has already been through so much, it wouldn’t surprise us if she strayed from the light as winter closes in.

Turner also dropped a bit of a “spoiler-not-spoiler” in this interview with Variety, hinting that some of the cast members will not live to see the final season.

Who exactly is on the chopping block? Those are the questions that keep Game of Thrones fans up at night.

Lady Stark no More?

And what’s next for Arya? Speaking to Variety about the potential for a Stark family reunion, Maisie Williams said, “I feel like Jon would find it difficult to accept Arya for who she is now; he’d want to be loyal and heroic and protect his little sisters, and that’s not a life for her anymore.”

Plus, she offered this lovely summary of what Season 7 has in store for us immediately after reading the scripts:

Succinct. We like it.

Next: Will 'The Winds of Winter' be out in 2017?