Though it still hasn’t been given an official premiere date, the penultimate season of HBO’s mega-popular Game of Thrones is expected to air at some point this summer. Though the previous seasons have all consisted of ten episodes, it’s been widely reported that these final two will only make up thirteen altogether (seven for season 7, six for season 8), which could really be looked at as one extra long final season being split in half – with the potential for a suitably massive cliffhanger to boot.
During a recent interview with Time Out, Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams – who already had a few things to say about what she considers to be “childish plot leaks” – confirmed that there will indeed be a “huge cliffhanger” at the end of season 7.
Though this is nothing new for a lot of shows out there (the controversial Negan kills on The Walking Dead, for example), it will actually be the first time Game of Thrones has utilized such a story device. Sure, other seasons have ended with a lot of unresolved plot strands and teases of what’s to come, but by and large we’ve always gotten a proper beginning, middle and end for that particular season’s main arc.
The young actress also revealed the unorthodox way in which she and some of her castmates plan to celebrate if their characters make it to the final 6 episodes:
There are rumours that if you make it from season one to season eight there’s a tattoo that we all get. We’re all waiting to see if we do make it. I was lucky enough to be in season one, even the pilot episode. If I do make it to season eight I will get it. It would be rude not to!
Obviously, Williams has a much better idea of whether or not Arya makes it to the end of the show than she’s prepared to discuss here, but the rest of us are just going to have to wait and see how the youngest Stark girl gets on when Game of Thrones returns to our screens in a few months’ time.