Game of Thrones season 7: Showrunners and Kit Harrington tease faster pace

'The wars to come is pretty much here'

(HBO)

With only 13 episodes of Game of Thrones remaining, many fans are questioning whether showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff can wrap up every story thread before concluding.

Luckily, the pair has teased how the upcoming seven-episode season — more pictures of which were released yesterday — will run at a much faster pace than previous seasons.

“Things are moving faster because in the world of these characters the war that they’ve been waiting for is upon them,” Weiss told Entertainment Weekly.

“The conflicts that have been building the past six years are upon them and those facts give them a sense of urgency that makes [the characters] move faster.”

Those conflicts include Daenerys sailing to Westeros to reclaim the throne, Euron Greyjoy sailing to meet Daenerys, and the impending threat from the Night King’s army of dead.

“For a long time we’ve been talking about ‘the wars to come,'” Benioff continues. “Well, that war is pretty much here. So it’s really about trying to find a way to make the storytelling work without feeling like we’re rushing it — you still want to give characters their due, and pretty much all the characters that are now left are all important characters. Even the ones who might have started out as relatively minor characters have become significant in their own right.”

Jon Snow actor Kit Harrington also elaborated, saying season seven ‘is really different’ to what’s come before thanks to an end being nearly in sight.

“A lot of stuff collides and happens much much quicker than you’re used to seeing on Thrones,” he continued. “It’s so different than what everybody is used to. It’s quite exciting.”

Meanwhile, HBO has announced that numerous spin-offs are currently in the works, the main show concluding with season eight next year.

Author George RR Martin — who is still working on The Winds of Winter — revealed he’s working with numerous writers, confirming that five projects are currently in development.

Season seven of Game of Thrones returns 16 July and will contain only seven episodes, rather than the normal ten. Read everything we know about the upcoming season here.