When Does ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 7 Premiere? HBO Announces Date After Ice Fiasco

It’s time to head back to the Westeros. “Game of Thrones” Season 7 has an official premiere date and it’s not as soon as you would think.

On Thursday, following a long and somewhat catastrophic ice-melting Facebook live reveal, HBO announced its hit drama would be returning for its second to last installment on July 16, 2017.

Read: Which “Game of Thrones” character will die in Season 7 first? The odds revealed

The premiere date confirmation comes after a leak on IMDb in January which listed the release date for Season 7 as June 25, 2017. No episode titles were revealed on the site and HBO did not respond to the suspected leak.

“Game of Thrones” Ser Davos actor Liam Cunningham followed up on the rumors in March, revealing the season was originally thought to be premiering this spring, but plans changed. “I’ve been disappointing various people around the world because it was meant to come out in April. It’s July now, I think,” Cunningham said.

Unlike previous seasons of the fantasy series, Season 7 will only contain seven episodes. Actress Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, confirmed the amount of installments earlier this year.

“We’re shooting for just as long, so there’s just as much content. And you guys will not be disappointed,” she said in a Facebook live session.

Season 8 will be the last for “Game of Thrones.” Production on the final six episodes is scheduled to begin this fall.