Winter has arrived in Westeros and the cutthroat world of Game of Thrones - and hints from its biggest stars suggest the seventh season will be its bleakest yet.
Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark and was last seen in series six on a murderous revenge spree, posted a series of tweets after reading the script for penultimate series seven.
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"Shit gets REAL," she says. "I'd start preparing yourselves now. Scratch that, nothing will prepare you for this."
After dismembering the bodies of her mother's assassins and baking them in a pie, it's hard to think any savage plot turn would surprise the actress.
But then she exclaims: "Holy BALLS." Which was quickly retweeted by Sophie Turner (aka Sansa Stark).
Earlier Kit Harington, who plays the resurrected Jon Snow, warned fans the show is bound to take an even bleaker twist.
"It's important to stress at this point that I haven't had any scripts, so this is all guesswork for me," he told the Hollywood Reporter.
"I think it's going to get very bleak before, if there is a happy ending, if there's any sort of win or heroic moment for Jon and everyone else.
![Apprentice assassin ... Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in season six.](/web/20161029134445im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/s/g/0/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqzmrr.png/1472010281413.jpg)
"I think it's going to get very dark before it gets better. I think what we might see this season is those White Walkers and that Army of the Dead really come into force.
"So that's going to be exciting to see. I don't know what it means. I think with the whole "winter is finally here" business, it means everyone is going to have a really bad time."
![Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) describes <i>Game of Thrones</i> as such a 'Goliath' in his life.](/web/20161029134445im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/6/3/o/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqzmrr.png/1472010281413.jpg)
Harington and Williams received an Emmy nomination for their supporting roles, two of the 24 nods for writing, directing, technical production and acting in its sixth season.
At the end of series five, Jon Snow was raised from the dead by dark magic. Later in series six, he is disclosed not to be the illegitimate child of Ned Stark, but in fact the son of Ned's sister Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen - brother of Daenerys Targaryen no less - and potential heir to seven kingdoms.
![More twists to come ... Jon Snow dies in <i>Game of Thrones</i>, season five.](/web/20161029134445im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/t/u/p/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqzmrr.png/1477172810960.jpg)
Harington said he wept when he heard of his Emmy nomination. Asked what the end of the series meant to him, he said he wanted to maximise his time and enjoyment filming the final two series and regarded Game of Thrones as a gift to his acting career.
HBO has announced the fantasy based on George R.R. Martin's acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire book series will end in 2018 after two more abridged seasons
![Maisie Williams, 19, arrives for the British Academy Television Awards at Royal Festival Hall.](/web/20161029134445im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/p/l/x/w/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gqzmrr.png/1472010281413.jpg)
"This mammoth, Goliath event in my life, which has so much of what my 20s are, is going to come to an end," he said.
"I think I'm going to really make the effort in these next two years to enjoy every moment of it, because I don't know when I'll get something like this coming around again."