Yahoo News Game of Thrones bosses tease "whole bunch of reunions"
Game of Thrones' showrunners are teasing that season seven will feature the character crossovers and reunions that fans have long been waiting for.
In the run-up to next month's episodes, speculation has been rife that characters who've been apart for seasons will find one another again while others will cross paths for the first time as Winter arrives.
Now, showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are hinting to Entertainment Weekly that fans can expect to see at least some hugely-anticipated encounters play out at last.
Weiss explained: "There's a whole bunch of reunions and first time meetings that people have been waiting for for a long time and when you put it on paper you just want to do justice to the work that these guys have done building these characters over so many years. You want to give them as much as you can."
"Everyone steps up their game every season," Benioff added. "I know you probably get sick of hearing us say that. We say it every year. But it's kind of astounding to us. We were looking at a battle scene and we set more stuntmen on fire in one of these shots than have ever been simultaneously set on fire… But every department constantly improves, from the effects to the acting.
"[Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner] have been great from the beginning and how they've grown as actors - I mean everybody in the cast has, but in them it's especially pronounced since they started as kids. Now we're coming into the final season and it's very gratifying. We've managed to keep everybody on the same path moving the same direction for so long."
These reunions have been made possible, the showrunners say, because they've been ruthless in killing off major characters over the years.
"If you kill enough people, if you kill a couple dozen characters, the people who are left just by default need to carry more dramatic weight," Weiss joked. "As the worlds start to converge characters who haven't met each other before start to meet each other and there are more and more main characters together in each other's storylines than there have ever been before.
"Ever since Tyrion crossed the Narrow Sea and met Dany it's been the show's general direction. And for us, it's so much fun because these guys don't get to spend too much time together except when they pass like ships in the night passing to and from storylines. So having them on set together is a real privilege for us because we get to spend more time with then."
Game of Thrones returns to HBO on Sunday, July 16 and Monday, July 17 on Sky Atlantic in the UK. Watch an extended trailer for these new episodes below:
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
You Might Also Like
