When you play the Game of Thrones you should expect the unexpected. And that’s exactly what the season seven premiere delivers. Last night in Los Angeles the cast, crew and a handful of journalists witnessed the first official screening of the season opener at the spectacular Walt Disney Concert Hall - and GQ was one of the lucky few with a ticket to the party.

Notoriously, HBO security is more brutal than the malevolent Mad King who sparked events at the start of the epic fantasy saga. Guests were warned on pain of death by dragon fire not to reveal plot details from the episode, but there was plenty we gleaned without sailing brazenly into spoiler territory with the homicidal barbarism of Euron Greyjoy. Here are 10 of the best to tide you over until the episode airs on Sky Atlantic in the early hours of Monday morning.

Don't trust the Game of Thrones plot leaks

© Sky

All summer, Thrones-starved fans have been spoonfed tantalising tidbits, hearsay and rumours from “insiders” - including what purported to be a leaked script of the entire season. The good (or bad, depending on your perspective) news is that not all of the leaks are true. HBO went out of its way to film fake scenes in order to put prying eyes off the scent - Kit Harington alone spent more than 15 hours filming with the "fake unit". And the smokescreen appears to have worked. Don’t believe everything you’ve read: episode one opens in an entirely unanticipated - and beautifully serendipitous - note.

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There are almost no new cast members

We’re used to new players entering the Great Game with every season, but Thrones is now entering its endgame, and the biggest cast in TV is now, finally, running out of red herrings and blackfish. Aside from a memorable guest turn from Jim Broadbent as the unorthodox archmaester coaching Samwell Tarley at Oldtown's Citadel, expect familiar faces only. Having said that…

Expect big-name cameos

With only 13 episodes left across the final two seasons, some of the biggest names in pop and rock have been clamouring to join the likes of Coldplay’s Will Champion and Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody in stealing a few seconds of GOT screen time for posterity. There’s at least one other major musician joining The A Team of choral cameos this season - with considerably more screen time than his predecessors.

Gendry has finished rowing

Remember Gendry? Arya's original faithful travel companion was deposited in a row boat in the third season by Davos, who was helping him escape Stannis and Melisandre. Joe Dempsie was at the premiere and GQ can confirm his character is back in season seven, although you'll have to wait until mid-way through to find out the significance of his role.

Game of Thrones gets darker

“Listen, I still have nightmares about that shadow baby,” Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos, told GQ at the premiere. “But it gets incredibly dark in season seven. How could it not? This isn't about political factions any more: there’s an army of 100,000 undead soldiers marching on the Wall and they aren’t stopping for anyone.”

Game of Thrones' geography is restricting

© Sky

The title sequence at the start of episode one tells you everything you need to know: Emilia Clarke’s sultry dragonista Daeneyrs Targaryen and her armies are on a collision course with Westeros and the action is finally - for the first time since the series began - confined to one continent. Shit is getting real, people.

Everything is bigger

The dragons are bigger for a start - they’ve now grown to the size of 747s, but that’s not all. Expect epic, sweeping battle scenes worthy of a big-budget Hollywood action movie rather than TV as we know it - even by Thrones standards. As Cunningham said in his exclusive chat with GQ: “We spent the same amount of time shooting seven episodes this season as we normally do for ten. That’s given the crew and post-production team a lot more time to perfect everything - and the results are absolutely stunning: incredibly cinematic.”

Expect family reunions

Bran is well on his way to Winterfell, where his sister Sansa and adoptive half-brother Jon Snow now rule, but there are other more unexpected reunions on the cards too: Tyrion is headed back to Westeros and a potential showdown with his sister, the ruthless Queen Cersei, and there is more than one member of the Mormont clan now coming to the fore. Meanwhile Cleganebowl is still very much on the cards, not to mention Daeneyrs’ long-anticipated meeting with her secret nephew Jon Snow.

There's still room for humour

One of the biggest cheers in the auditorium last night was for the Little Bear, Lyanna Mormont, whose take-no-shit primary school age ruler of Bear Island is back with a vengeance. Jerome Flynn also swore his much-loved character Bronn will be blazing an “expletive-laden” trail across season seven. “Bronn’s sardonic wit is probably the only reason he’s still alive and long may it f***ing continue!” he said.

Expect Game of Thrones spin-offs

© Sky

HBO has confirmed at least one spin-off to come after season eight ends next year, and much of the talk at the star studded after-party in LA was about which, if any, of the surviving characters might have a role to play. Flynn had his own suggestion: “How about a spin-off where Bronn gets together with Daenerys?” he told GQ. “I think she needs somebody with a sense of humour and Bronn would give her that - and so much more.”

Prophesies are going to be fulfilled

Whether Tyrion or Jaime is ultimately the valonqar (“little brother”) who will kill Cersei, they’re both now back within striking distance. But after the revelation in season six that Jon Snow is a secret Targaryen, who is the third head of the dragon? And who exactly is Azor Ahai? Samwell Tarly is getting closer to discovering the latter, and we’ll all be along for the ride come 17 July. As a major cast member says in the final line of episode one: “Shall we begin?”

Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres exclusively on 17 July on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV at 2am, repeated at 9pm on the same day

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