Ryan Kwanten, Anna Paquin

True Blood left fans with their jaws dropped last Sunday as progeny met maker in a fight to the death. Kristin Bauer van Straten was on hand at Saturday's Comic-Con panel to talk about Pam's role in the death match, but Alexander Skarsgard was not. Before you freak out about what that means, know that upcoming footage screened at the beginning of the panel did include Skarsgard, which should give Eric fans some hope.

Get the latest scoop from Comic-Con

As for the rest of our favorite Bon Temps residents, vampires and humans alike will face an uphill battle as the war on vampires heats up. Who will survive? The cast and executive producer Brian Buckner teased what's in store below:

1. Spoiler alert: The spoiler-filled sneak peek (at upcoming episodes (watch it below!) offered brief glimpses into the peril that awaits out favorite characters. Among the highlights: Sookie (Anna Paquin) is at a funeral, Sam (Sam Trammell) and Nicole (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) are hooking up, Bill (Stephen Moyer) storms the compound, but seems to end up in that room he's seen in the prophecy — and he doesn't look OK.

2. Bill and Sookie on the rocks: The pair haven't been on good terms since she stabbed him in the heart with a stake. "One minute it's, 'I love you' and then throwing plates at your head and, 'You're dead to me,'" Paquin says. Is there any chance they could ever get back together?

3. Benlow: Could Sookie find love with Warlow (Rob Kazinsky), the vampire-faerie hybrid who has been hunting her down for decades? "There's a part of Sookie that's distrustful of everyone at this point," Paquin said, noting that Sookie is "wary, but also drawn to him." Unfortunately, her interaction with Warlow has led to the truth about her parents planning to kill her when she was a child. "That's kind of a bummer," Paquin joked. But there could be hope since Kazinsky questions whether Warlow is truly evil. "You're going to see some gnarly stuff," he said.

4. Tara, the protector: As she moves from being emotional toward being more assertive, Tara (Rutina Wesley) will find herself taking on a new role in the coming episodes. "Tara is becoming a protector and a big sister of sorts to certain other characters," Wesley says. She added that she will cross paths with Eric's new progeny Willa (Amelia Rose Blaire) again soon.

5. Jessica's self-hatred: After draining all but one of Andy's (Chris Bauer) faerie children, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) has found herself locked up in the vampire internment camp alongside the rest of our favorite vamps. "Jessica is going to have to pay dearly just in her own heart for what happened," Woll says, noting that she may have to answer to Andy at some point. "It's going to take her a long time to forgive herself. Right now she hates herself and we'll see if she comes out of it." Unfortunately, this means that Jessica may not want to prevent the prophecy from coming true.

HBO renews True Blood for Season 7

6. Jason's future: Ryan Kwanten notes that his main intention is to save Jessica, but he's also motivated by finding his parents' killer. Still, he may make some hasty decisions in his quest to find answers. "He likes to think he's Rambo, but he fails miserably," Kwanten notes.

7. Death match: Maker met progeny for a fight to the death last week as Eric and Pam were each given a stake to take the other out. "Pam is scrappy," Bauer says, but wouldn't divulge whether or not the fight would turn out well. "I can take him," she added with a laugh.

8. Sam's on the lam: After Sam rescued Emma and saved Nicole from the wrath of the werewolves, the rag-tag group will be on the run. "The werewolves are dangerous," Trammel said. "I've kind of screwed with the wrong people. Alcide is not a small guy. Joe Manganiello added: "Don't punch big angry werewolf dude in the face. It's a bad idea." Sure, Sam and Nicole will be on the run, but based on the promo, it looks like Sam and Nicole will find some time for some extra-curricular activities in the shower.

9. The Newlins: With Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp) on the war path to rid the world of vampires, she isn't really focused on her love life. But she will cross paths with Jason once again to settle some unfinished business. Meanwhile, Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) also still carries a torch for Jason, but will be focused on his vendetta against Eric for killing Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare). "He's always had a strange, codependent relationship with Sarah," McMillan says. "He's kind of clinging to her and hoping to get through this unscathed."

10. Sibling rivalry: Just wait until Pam finds out about her new sister Willa! "She doesn't play well with others and she's never had to share Eric before," Bauer said. "We're going to find out pretty soon how she feels about that... There's a deep bond there between Pam and Eric and that's going to be tested this year."

11. Finale tease: While the cast remained coy about the finale, Buckner said the season-ender would streamline the series. "You're going to feel that the show is going to return back to its roots and be about this gang of people living in Bon Temps," he said. "We're going to try to condense the number of stories we're telling and really make this feel like we're going home."

True Blood airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO. Watch the trailer for the rest of the season below:



