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Game of Thrones season seven finale has aired and it's been a rollercoaster ride.

The seventh season premiered on HBO on July 16 and ran for six weeks - a shortened run compared to normal.

Like the sixth season, the seventh is based on the two final unpublished novels by George R.R. Marti's A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

Now winter is here.

To catch you up on everything that happened - because a lot happened - we've got a nifty little guide for you.

Beware there are no spoilers if you're up-to-date, and major ones if you're so far behind people are laughing at you.

How to watch it?

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Game of Thrones aired on HBO in the USA and Sky Atlantic in the UK.

You can also watch episodes on Now TV if you don't have a Sky. There's a 14 day trial. That said, it's only £7.99 (£6.99 until 15th of August then £7.99 thereafter) a month, so much cheaper than the whole Sky package, sign up here .

How long is it?

This season is shorter than normal but took just as long to shoot. Apparently this is because the "size and scale" of each episode increased. If you've seen it you'll know why...

The Great War is Here

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This is the tag line for this season. The book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. We saw these forces go head to head.

Reviews and full episode guide

Episode 1

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The series started with an episode Mirror reviewer Andrew Snell said 'gets the job done'. We saw Arya dish some revenge, Jon and Sansa bicker, Sam doing some boring jobs at the Citadel, and Daenerys finally landing at Dragonstone. Of course, there was the cameo that everyone was waiting for, too: Ed Sheeran.

The episode finished with Daenerys landing in her ancestral home and saying 'Shall we begin?' Indeed.

For a full review, click here.

Episode 2

Whilst the first few series of Thrones was known for its courtroom scheming and politicking, season seven has been getting through the action qiuckly. There's a lot to resolve, after all. A lot happened in Episode 2: Grey Worm and Missandei got to know each other a bit more, Jon left for Dragonstone to meet Dany, Arya met her direwolf again, Sam did some ad-hoc surgery that was disgusting and Euron cemented his new status of Westeros' most daring and likable villain.

Our Andrew gave the episode four stars, so for a more detailed account of the episode, click here.

Episode 3

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The meeting that the whole Thrones fandom had waited years for finally happened: Jon Snow met Daenerys. The meeting was awkward with Dany insisting that Jon "bend the knee" whilst Jon lecturing her on the "army of the dead".

Jon's position was strengthened by Euron's exploits, as well as Tyrion's strategic failings.

We saw Cersei extract some imaginative and cruel revenge before celebrating with some intercourse with her brother - as you do - and Arya on her return to Winterfell where Bran had just made it to.

The ending of this episode had a fantastic twist, with Jaime learning from his mistakes, and quite simply the best dying words yet from a fan favourite. Click here for Andrew's hot take.

Episode 4

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Episode 4 started normally: Cersei and the Iron Bank talked money, Arya made it back to Winterfell, there was a weird Stark reunion as it dawned on Sansa that Bran and Arya had changed somewhat and Davos and Jon bantered about Dany's 'good heart'. Then things heated up. Putting the Battle of the Bastards, Hardhome and Blackwater Bay in the shade episode 4 gave us the best battle scene yet as Dany finally rode Drogo into battle.

The resulting chaos was exciting and horrifying all at once and viewers were torn as favourite characters battled against one another. A truly fantastic episode and sure to go down in the annals of history. Read the full review here.

Episode 5 - Eastwatch

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Jamie and Bronn return to King's Landing. Daenerys has Drogon burn Randyll and Dickon alive to sticking with Cersei. Jorah arrives at Dragonstone and reunites with Daenerys.

Maester Wolkan alerts Jon and the Citadel about the approaching wights to the Eastwatch by the Sea.

Jon decides to travel beyond the Wall and capture a wight in order to convince Cersei for a temporary alliance.

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Davos smuggles Tyrion inside King's Landing, where he secretly meets with Jaime and offers an armistice, which Cersei accepts, telling Jaime she's pregnant.

Samwell steals several books and leaves with Gilly and Little Sam. At Winterfell, Littlefinger notices Arya spying on him and leads her to take a letter written by Sansa from his room. Jon, Jorah, and Gendry, joined by the Hound, the Brotherhood, and a group of the Free Folk led by Tormund, leave Eastwatch and pass the Wall.

Episode 6 - Beyond the Wall

Littlefinger plots to isolate Sansa. Tensions between Arya and Sansa grow following her discovery of the letter. Sansa discovers Arya's bag of faces she took from Braavos.

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At Dragonstone, Tyrion counsels Daenerys about her upcoming negotiations with Cersei.

Beyond the Wall, Jon leads a raiding party to capture a wight to bring South to show White Walkers exist.

After a successful trip the group is besieged by the White Walker army.

Jon has Gendry return to Eastwatch and send a raven to Daenerys to request her help. Thoros freezes to death overnight. Daenerys arrives and saves the group from the wights, with the help of her dragons.

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The Night King, leader of the White Walkers, throws an ice spear at Viserion, one of the dragons killing it. Daenerys is unable to save Jon. Benjen Stark intervenes and sacrifices himself to allow Jon to escape.

Jon and Daenerys reunite and he pledges himself and the North to Daenerys as Queen. The Night King resurrects Viserion, making the dragon a part of his army.

Episode 7

Daenerys and Jon Snow finally consummated their attraction while on a boat sailing off northward despite his protestations that there's "no time" for romance.

Bran Stark and Samwell finally worked out Jon's parentage - he is a Targaryen. More importantly he's legitimate so has a claim to the throne...that also means Dany is his aunt *cough*

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Cersei Lannister breaks her agreement with Jon and Dany - holding her army back in a desperate bid to cling to the throne.

The Night King's attack destroyed part of the Wall allowing the army of the dead to head into the Seven Kingdoms.

...we can expect season eight to focus on the war against the White Walkers.

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What now?

Rather than spoiler everything take a look at the biggest twists and what's going on with Jon Snow...

Leaks

Hackers released stars numbers, scripts, emails and personal numbers in the latest dump of data stolen from HBO. They demanded a multi-million dollar ransom to prevent the release of the whole TV show series and more personal details.

The last episode was released online before it aired when the demands weren't met.

The cast

(Image: Â©2016 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Lena Headey (Cersei), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime)...all starred in season seven.

They all also signed on for the eight season last June for £885,000 per episode according to reports.

Who was new in season seven?

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Harry Potter actor Jim Broadbent is joining the cast. He played an archmaester.

Ed Sheeran also starred, but less said about that the better.

(Image: Getty Images)

The full cast run down is on Watcher on the Wall .

Who you won't see

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There's no UFC Conor McGregor or Angela Lansbury (shame). They were rumoured, but they're both a no. Freddie Stroma won't be back either as he's on Time After Time. He will be replaced by Tom Hopper.

Recap - trailer for season seven

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The trailer begins and ends with Sansa Stark. She walks through the snow as her mentor (Littlefinger offers up some advice: "Don't fight in the North or the South. Fight every battle everywhere, always — in your mind."

"For centuries, our families fought together against their common enemy, despite their differences — together," says Jon Snow as we are shown images of war. "We need to do the same if we're going to survive, because the enemy is real. It's always been real."

Sansa closes the trailer by echoing Jon: "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies — but the pack survives."

Teaser images

To see the whole range of the tantalising pictures, click here.

What about season eight?

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How many episodes will there be?

We're finally had it confirmed that there will be just six episodes in season eight. Filming on the last season will start in September.

Sophie Turner also let slip she will be back filming Thrones later in the year (so she's safe for now).

The time spent filming for season eight is about the same as usual even though there's less episodes - mostly because the "scale and size of the set pieces" are "more extraordinary" than ever before.

Will there be a spin-off?

George RR Martin seems to be keen. "There is certainly no lack of material," he said. "There are eight million stories in Westeros as well… and even more in Essos and the lands beyond. A whole world full of stories, waiting to be told… If indeed HBO is interested."

Harington denied a spin-off, so probably no Jon Snow then. Benioff and Weiss also have squashed rumours they'd be involved, saying "I'm sure there will be other series set in Westeros," Benioff said at the Emmys. "But for us, this is it."

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Then even more recently: "I think HBO might well do [a spin-off] and I'm looking forward to watching it. [But] I think it's better for them to get new blood in with new visions."

HBO's producer Richard Plepler talking about the possibility in December 2016 said: "It certainly has not escaped Casey and myself that there might be some brand extension that would be exciting. It certainly has not escaped the producers."

He added they are focusing on the Game of Thrones current series before looking at other projects. The more likely possibility though could be a prequel since George RR Martin has the history of Westeros that could be fleshed out.

Movie?

George RR Martin, of course, is also keen for a movie. "Something with a feature budget, like $100 million for two hours. Those dragons get real big, you know," he said.