We’re just one month away from the Game of Thrones season 7 premiere, and the hype machine is churning ahead at full speed. Case in point: Empire Magazine interviewed a bunch of cast members to get their insights into what fans can expect. We already covered one spoiler-y reveal involving Jon Snow’s birth name. Now let’s look at the rest of the spread, pages from which have been posted all over the internet.
A warning: there are SPOILERS beyond this point.
Empire’s kicks off its spread with some striking images and an intriguing tagline: “From psycho sailors to pop-star cameos the Game of Thrones cast reveal 15 things you need to know about the penultimate season.”
"Empire Magazine cover Game of Thrones season 7 part 2"
The pop-star cameo is Ed Sheeran. , and the psycho sailor is Euron Greyjoy, a character we’ve heard relatively little about up until now.
And here’s a look at the full spread.
[Scans] Empire UK - July 2017 (via feo-oliau/tumblr) pic.twitter.com/dpc6fATK9c
— dragon's daughter (@yeahclarke) June 16, 2017
Okay, let’s hit some of the juicy parts.
The Hound heats up
Although the show put off filming last year to shoot during colder months, Liam Cunnigham (Davos Seaworth) said that shooting season 7 was actually “f**king hotter” than before. That’s on account of the actors having to wear thick winter-wear inside a warm, heavily lit studio. It got so bad that Cunningham and some of the other actors were given special undervests that piped in cold water. According to Cunningham, Rory McCann (the Hound) was especially thankful.
"That poor man wears the full f**king armour and has to fight. I said, ‘You need to get that vest on.’ He said, ‘What f**king vest?!’ And when he put it on and plugged it in, he almost started weeping."
The bit about the Hound in full armor is interesting. I mean, he’s worn full armor plenty of times on the show, but…Cleganebowl = confirmed, get hype?
Later, McCann says that he got to work with more actors this season, which is a change from being “on a road trip on my own,” which was what it was like for him on the last few seasons. It also sounds like the Hound gets involved in a lot of intense scenes this year. “I think my body can only take one more season. I’m sore.”
Circling back to weather, not everyone spent most of their time cooking under studio lights. Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy) got a full blast of the “grey, grim weather” the production wanted.
"They needed the darkness so much, but you’re looked after well, even if you’re in the water for a long time. We’re taken care of with foil blankets."
Euron Greyjoy will make Ramsay Bolton look like “a little kid”
We haven’t gotten a ton of face time Euron Greyjoy yet, but actor Pilou Asbæk is talking a tough game. Euron will make Ramsay look like “a little kid?” Those are fighting words.
Talking about his approach to the character, Asbæk discussed his points of reference.
"The psychos I’ve encountered have so many different sides to them. So each scene I’ve done with Euron, I pick a new thing I wanna show. ‘This scene I want to be charming.’ ‘This scene I wanna be a molester.’ ‘This scene I wanna kill someone.’ After this season, Ramsay’s gonna look like a little kid."
Asbæk also assured fans that while there are only seven episodes this year, the production spent as much time on them as it did on 10. “They really raised the bar with production values.”
Sophie, Sansa, and high stakes
Talking about Sansa Stark, Sophie Turner once again hinted that there could be some tension between Sansa and Jon Snow this year. “Team Snow? I don’t like that,” she said. “I’m on Team Stark.”
"[Sansa] has this newfound power, but not as much as Jon. This season is all about her struggles with that."
In less foreboding news, Turner also said that, with the White Walkers on the way, there’s more at stake this year, and you’re going to see characters coming together to deal with them. “People who you’ve always rooted for to meet, and you didn’t know if they’d get along, are meeting in order to form alliances.”
There’s tension between Cersei and Jaime
Speaking about everyone’s favorite incestuous twins, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) hinted that Cersei may be considering suiters, and said that Jaime has to “tep up and take his father’s place.” Also, Empire notes that while Cersei has adopted a new black-and-silver color scheme for her outfits, Jaime is still wearing Lannister red and gold. They could be sailing into choppy waters here.
Sam strikes out on his own
If Empire can be believed, Sam Tarly and Jon Snow will not reunite in season 7. “Jon and Samwell have said goodbye a lot,” said actor John Bradley. “But you felt there was a finality to that last goodbye between them. This season I’ve never felt more cast into the wilderness, really.”
Figuratively, maybe. Literally, Sam is training to be a maester at the Citadel in Oldtown, where he’ll spend a lot of time with actor Jim Broadbent, a pretty big get for the show. While we’re on that topic, Empire confirms that Broadbent will play Archmaester Marwyn, a character from the books.
Bran has a big part to play
As we learned recently, Jon Snow’s birth name is [SPOILER]. Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) says his character is in a “precarious situation” — He knows about Jon’s birth at the Tower of Joy, he knows how the White Walkers were created, and if reveals this information to the right people he “could change the entire story.”
Grey Worm and Podrick: the spinoff
Not really. But that’s what actors Daniel Portman (Podrick Payne) and Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) suggest when prompted for spinoff ideas. “Podrick and G-Dubs, friends forever,” Anderson sings.
These two seem to have a good time together in general. When asked how they handle people who ask for spoilers, they say they just lie. Anderson goes all out, and tells people that the show will feature “purple unicorns” this year.
With four weeks remaining until the premiere, this kind of in-depth look helps with the Game of Thrones withdrawals. We can’t wait to see the new season, sans purple unicorns, on July 16.