With less than two weeks to go until Game of Thrones returns after a year-plus break, HBO has finally released the titles and descriptions for the season’s first three episodes. The cast wasn’t kidding about the layers of extra security, especially now that co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are off-book — they don’t want anyone to know anything about season seven.
These summaries are downright Mad Men-esque.
Episode #61: “Dragonstone”
Debut: SUNDAY, JULY 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Jon (Kit Harington) organizes the defense of the North. Cersei (Lena Headey) tries to even the odds. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) comes home.
Written for television by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Jeremy Podeswa.
Episode #62: “Stormborn”
Debut: SUNDAY, JULY 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) receives an unexpected visitor. Jon (Kit Harington) faces a revolt. Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) plans the conquest of Westeros.
Written for television by Bryan Cogman; directed by Mark Mylod.
Episode #63: “The Queen’s Justice”
Debut: SUNDAY, JULY 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) holds court. Cersei (Lena Headey) returns a gift. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) learns from his mistakes.
Written for television by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Mark Mylod.
Oh good, I was waiting for Jaime to learn from his mistakes. HBO also announced the season’s guest stars: Jim Broadbent, Tom Hopper, Megan Parkinson, and Ed Sheeran. We have Maisie Williams to thank (?) for that last one. Anyway, the most interesting revelation from the summaries is how quickly Daenerys arrives in Dragonstone. In previous seasons, it would have taken her three episodes to get where she’s going, but because of the decreased episode count, the show is picking up the pace. As for Cersei’s gift: it’s probably not a bottle of wine. There’s no way she’s returning that.
