Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Game of Thrones’ returns for Season 7
As “Game of Thrones” ended its sixth season, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) was flying high — it helps to have dragons — and Cersei (Lena Headey) looked utterly miserable. So much for gaining much-coveted power.
One glance set up season seven, which starts at 9 tonight on HBO. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Cersei’s lover and brother, saw her ascend the Iron Throne and registered horror at her ruthless, deadly drive.
A furious Cersei seems likely to propel the seven episodes this season and possibly next season, when HBO will offer the final six episodes and reveal who wins the battle for the Iron Throne.
There’s never been a show like “Game of Thrones.” A lavish epic filled with stunning special effects, the drama based on George R.R. Martin’s novels tells a sprawling and complicated plot that challenges and often angers viewers.
With no new material from Martin, series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have gone their own way, thrilling fans and the TV industry, which has bestowed a record 38 Emmys.
The series’ return is the most anticipated TV event this year because the “GoT” team has told its story so well. Fans want updates on Jon Snow (Kit Harington), new king of the North and man back from the dead; Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), resourceful revenge taker; and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), a leader growing into her own and evidently wise to the conniving Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen).
Most imposing, though, is Daenerys, the leader who has the dragons, a huge armada and the support of Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage).
Fans await any scenes between Tyrion and siblings Cersei and Jaime. The incestuous couple have lost their three children, and Cersei may have lost her mind after wiping out the High Sparrow, his cult and many of her enemies.
What’s ahead? The most insightful preview may have come from Headey, who told The New York Times that Cersei can’t wind up on the Iron Throne “because I’m already there,” then she used an expletive to describe her character’s fate.
Things don’t look good for Cersei, but that isn’t the case for the stupendous show around her.