Yahoo News Game of Thrones star almost had to pull out of season 7
It turns out one major Game of Thrones cast member also missed out on the upcoming seventh season.
A previous trailer tipped that Indira Varma will definitely be back as Ellaria Sand (possibly for a romance with Yara Greyjoy), but what about her trio of deadly assassins, the Sand Snakes?
Their level of involvement in the new season had been a bit murky since actress Jessica Henwick - who plays Nymeria - was cast as Marvel hero Colleen Wing in Iron Fist and The Defenders since we last saw the Sand Snakes.
And initially, it looked as if Henwick's commitment to the Marvel TV universe would cause Nymeria to disappear from the Game of Thrones narrative without a trace (think Gendry) - but luckily there was a last-minute compromise.
"My schedule clashed," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I was filming Iron Fist for six-to-seven months and they wouldn't give me the time off. [Game of Thrones] was so massive for me in terms of my career and building my profile and as an experience in itself, I wanted to return.
"[A Game of Thrones producer explained], 'It's really important that you come back otherwise your character will just disappear'. So I spoke to Marvel and I managed to get a release. I literally was flying back and forth while I was doing Iron Fist in New York to Belfast, even during Christmas break."
Bah humbug! At least Jessica's sacrifice will provide an opportunity for the Sand Snakes to win over viewers in a way that the controversial Dornish characters haven't necessarily done in the past.
"When we left Nymeria she was newly aligned with Olenna Tyrell [Dame Diana Rigg] and was going to start a war," Jessica recapped.
"We pick up right where we left off and get into the nitty gritty very quickly. There is no time wasted this season."
(Dame Diana Rigg in Game of Thrones)
There's so little time in these paltry seven episodes that HBO has actually given six of them an extended run time, including a feature-length finale.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO on Sunday, July 16 and Monday, July 17 on Sky Atlantic in the UK. Watch a previous extended trailer for these new episodes below:
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