Warning: spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones Season 7.
Game of Thrones will be bigger and crazier than ever when it returns in 2017 for Season 7. HBO hasn't released any footage, but eagle-eyed fans in filming locations have spotted actors on set and in costume. Now, we've gotten some pretty juicy tidbits about an epic scene that will be happening at some point next season. No less than seventeen of the key surviving characters will be meeting in the not-too-distant future. Try not to freak out, and take a look at the list of who will be present:
Cersei LannisterJaime LannisterQyburnGregor GleganeBronnEuron GreyjoyDaenerys TargaryenTyrion LannisterSer Jorah MormontMissandeiVarysTheonJon SnowSer Davos SeaworthBrienne of TarthPodrickSandor Clegane
The list of characters is pretty remarkable, all things considered. Some of these people have spent most of the first six seasons on opposite sides of the world, and many of them were last seen as enemies. The assembly is certainly full of warriors who could turn the meeting into a bloodbath, but it doesn't sound like these seventeen are together to battle it out. Could they be meeting to finally address the threat of the White Walkers?
Okay, maybe not. Addressing the real threat to the Seven Kingdoms before the White Walkers are on their doorsteps sounds a little bit too competent for some members of this motley crew, especially when there are so many claimants to the Iron Throne present. If Jon is there to find allies to fight against the coming onslaught of ice zombies, he may need to choose carefully.
Perhaps even more remarkable than the list of characters is the location where the actors were spotted. They all arrived in Seville, Spain, which Watchers on the Wall reports is the place being used for King's Landing in Season 7. The seventeen characters are actually meeting in the Dragonpit on one of the hills of King's Landing. The Dragonpit was once the place where the Targaryens contained their dragons. Dany seems to have learned her lesson about containing dragons inside for too long, but it makes sense that the group would come together in the Dragonpit now that she is on the scene.
For one thing, it probably hasn't been used for quite some time, so it may be the closest thing to neutral territory in King's Landing. At least some of these characters will have learned that it would be unwise to meet on Cersei's turf, and the presence of some of the Greyjoys makes it a bad idea to come together anywhere near a coastline. Jon has never even been in King's Landing, so he may need to be especially cautious where he agrees to meet with unfriendly folks.
There's no saying how much or how little each of these characters will get to interact with one another. It's probably too much to hope that the episode is a backdoor pilot for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's pitched Jaime/Brienne spinoff, but the reunion of the Clegane brothers could result in the Cleganebowl that some of us have been awaiting for years. A Hound vs. Ser Robert Strong fight could be a bloody brawl worth watching, and it hasn't felt more possible in years.
Only time will tell. Unfortunately, we still have a long wait ahead of us before Game of Thrones returns to HBO for Season 7. Check out our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what you'll be able to watch this winter to pass the time, and see our breakdown of what we know so far about Game of Thrones Season 7 for a peek ahead.
