50 Fun Facts About Game of Thrones Season 7

In which month of 2017 did Game of Thrones season 7 premiere?

The later-than-usual start was so the crew could shoot grim, grey weather for 'winter is here'.

How many episodes did season 7 have, down from the usual ten?

Benioff and Weiss said ten was impossible in their 12-to-14-month production window.

Who directed both the season 7 premiere and its finale?

It was his last work on the show; he did not return for the final season.

Which director returned for season 7's sixth episode after an absence since season 2?

He had directed Ned Stark's death in 'Baelor' and called coming back part of his 'healing process'.

Which first-time Game of Thrones director handled the Loot Train Attack episode?

Shakman had directed Fargo, Mad Men and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia before joining.

Which Spanish city, which had stood in for Braavos, did not return as a season 7 location?

Seville, Cáceres, Zumaia and Bermeo all hosted the cameras instead.

Daenerys's homecoming was shot at San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, an islet off which country?

The islet belongs to the Basque town of Bermeo; the castle interiors were sound stages in Belfast.

The scene where Arya is reunited with her direwolf was filmed in which country?

Alberta stood in for the Riverlands; the real wolf needed North American handlers.

Jim Broadbent joined season 7 as which character?

He shares most of his scenes with John Bradley's Sam at the Citadel.

Tom Hopper replaced Freddie Stroma in which role for season 7?

Stroma had played the part briefly in season 6's 'Blood of My Blood'.

Which musician cameoed as a singing Lannister soldier in the season 7 premiere?

Producers wanted to surprise Maisie Williams, a fan; the song 'Hands of Gold' comes from A Storm of Swords.

Which New York Mets pitcher cameoed as a javelin-throwing Lannister soldier in season 7?

He called the show 'the greatest TV show of all time' and his cameo 'a dream come true'.

How many minutes long was the season 7 finale, then the longest episode in the series?

Season 8's 'The Long Night' beat it by a single minute.

Which season 7 episode is the shortest in the whole series at 49 minutes?

Short but explosive: it ends with the Loot Train Attack and Drogon meeting a scorpion bolt.

Who composed the music for season 7?

He won the Emmy for the finale's score.

Which cast member won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama for season 7?

The season earned 22 nominations and the Outstanding Drama Series award.

Season 7's first trailer set a record with how many views in its first 24 hours?

That made it the most-viewed TV show trailer ever at the time.

Season 7's fourth episode leaked early from which HBO international partner?

The copy carried a 'for internal viewing only' watermark; HBO Spain later aired episode six early by mistake.

Whose face is Arya wearing in the season 7 cold open?

It was David Bradley's final appearance, and the scene was not originally written as a cold open.

Which old friend does Arya meet at an inn in 'Stormborn', last seen in season 4?

Ben Hawkey was given a code name in emails so his return would not leak.

What is the name of the direwolf Arya encounters leading a wolfpack in season 7?

Her 'That's not you' echoes the 'That's not me' she told Ned in season one.

Who jumps overboard and abandons his sister during Euron's attack?

Jon later tells him that saving Sansa from Ramsay is the only reason he is still alive.

Whom does Jon name regent of Winterfell before sailing south in season 7?

She is surprised; Jon also warns Littlefinger off pursuing her.

Whom does Sam cure of greyscale with a forbidden treatment?

Iain Glen sat five hours in prosthetics; crew stood off-camera with buckets of pus.

Cersei poisons Tyene Sand with the same poison Ellaria used to kill whom?

Ellaria is left shackled to watch her daughter die; it was Indira Varma's last episode.

Which Iron Bank representative comes to collect the Lannisters' debt in season 7?

Mark Gatiss returned in the part after missing season 6.

Which castle do the Unsullied capture through sewers Tyrion designed?

It was a trap: the Lannister army had already left to take the Tyrell seat.

Which actress played Olenna Tyrell, bowing out in 'The Queen's Justice'?

Weiss said she 'won her own death scene'.

What object does Littlefinger give Bran at Winterfell in season 7?

It was the blade from the season-one attempt on Bran's life; Bran passes it to Arya, who later uses it on Littlefinger.

Which of his own lines does Bran unsettlingly repeat back to Littlefinger?

He had said it to Varys in season 3; Bran saw it in a vision.

Which dragon is wounded by the scorpion during the Loot Train Attack?

Daenerys dismounts to tend the wound, and Jaime tries a doomed charge at her.

How many 'fire burns' set the Loot Train Attack's stunt record?

Real fire stood in for dragon flame; 20 performers were lit at once in a single shot.

Who tackles Jaime out of the dragonfire and into the Blackwater Rush?

Jaime sinks under his armour; Bronn hauls him ashore at the start of the next episode.

Which father and son are burned by dragonfire for refusing to bend the knee in 'Eastwatch'?

Tyrion protests; the surviving soldiers promptly kneel.

Whom does Davos retrieve from King's Landing, three seasons after his last appearance?

Joe Dempsie learned of his return just before Christmas 2015.

Whose capture and display is the goal of the mission north of the Wall in season 7?

Tyrion's idea: show Cersei the dead are real and win a truce.

The closing shot of 'Eastwatch' pays homage to which 1969 Sam Peckinpah film?

Shakman wanted the walk out of the gate to evoke the gang heading into town for the shoot-out.

Which member of the raiding party dies after an undead bear attack in 'Beyond the Wall'?

The writers had wanted a zombie polar bear for four seasons before the effects team gave in.

Which dragon does the Night King kill with an ice javelin?

He reanimates it, and the blue-fire dragon breaches the Wall in the finale.

Who rescues Jon from the frozen lake and gives him his horse?

It was Joseph Mawle's final appearance as Ned's long-lost brother.

Which effects house, famed for The Lord of the Rings, designed the wight polar bear?

Richard Dormer recalled 'imagining a 12-foot flaming polar bear' in the cold and wet.

Which stunt performer plays the Night King from season 6 onward?

Alan Taylor praised him as 'a full-on actor' under the prosthetics who does all his own horse work.

The Dragonpit summit in the finale was filmed at which Roman ruins near Seville?

The 40-to-50-page scene took six days to shoot after rehearsals in Belfast.

Who carries out Littlefinger's death sentence at Winterfell?

Aidan Gillen's final scene was shot across an entire day, with the ending filmed last.

What is Jon Snow's birth name, revealed in the season 7 finale?

Bran's vision of the Tower of Joy confirms he is Rhaegar's legitimate son and heir.

Whom has Euron secretly sailed to Essos to bring back for Cersei?

His claimed flight from the dead was a ruse; Jaime rides north alone in disgust.

The finale's title refers to the sigils of which two houses?

Their alliance is sealed, in more ways than one, aboard ship in the Narrow Sea.

Who wrote 'Stormborn', the second episode of season 7?

It was his tenth script for the show; the title nods to Daenerys and to Euron's 'I am the storm'.

The cave drawings Jon shows Daenerys depict the First Men fighting alongside whom?

Benioff said prehistoric cave paintings in France inspired the scene.

Where does Melisandre say she plans to go after leaving Dragonstone?

She predicts she will have to return to Westeros one last time.