The final episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ season six brought on an exhilarating air over its audience as a number of major fan theories were confirmed.
HBO executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discussed the story behind the trending episode, ‘The Winds of Winter,’ and the possibilities for its characters in season seven.
In the season six finale, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) took the throne and sent a message to her adversaries. After getting rid of her enemies in King’s Landing with one quick move, the former Queen Regent was forced to face the truth that her only remaining child, King Tommen, committed suicide. After Cersei’s wildfire explosion killed Tommen’s wife, Margaery, the king decided to take his own life.
"While Cersei has certainly done a lot of horrible things in her life and she could be a very cruel person, the one thing that was redemptive about her was, she genuinely loved her children,” Weiss explained in an interview with Deadline. “Now they're all gone, and I think that is very interesting for us. Who is she without her children?”
Meanwhile, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) has transitioned from being a bastard son to a newly-crowned royal after being proclaimed the King of the North, although the well-loved character is yet to face more challenges in future episodes of the HBO series.
Fortunately, his half-sister Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) gave her efforts in bringing Lord Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen) together with the Knights of the Vale to save Jon’s forces. However, the subject of power could be a crucial issue for the siblings after Jon has sat down as King of the North.
"In some ways, the evocation of the first one is meant to be a bit worrisome because it was a very triumphant moment when Robb was named King of the North, but it didn't go so well for the previous King of the North, so we have to be a little bit worried for Jon,” Benioff said.
After the ‘Winds of Winter’ episode, the story has been set for the great battle in the Seven Kingdoms, including the war with the White Walkers and the arrival of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in Westeros, which are story arcs that fans should look forward to, as Benioff suggested.
"The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game,” the producer added.
The showrunners confirmed that there are only 15 episodes left in the award-winning series, suggesting that the seventh and eighth seasons will each have less than 10 episodes.
Benioff clarified that ‘Game of Thrones’ is different from other TV shows in such a way that it does not call for more episodes than what is needed.
“We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end,” Benioff stated. “As Dan [Weiss] said, we’ve known the end for quite some time, and we’re hurtling towards it.
HBO is yet to make an official announcement for the premiere date of ‘Game of Thrones’ season 7.
