Latest Game of Thrones photo shows Cersei sitting pretty on the Iron Throne

CNN  — 

“Game of Thrones” fans have something to while away the hours as they wait for the seventh season of the popular TV series to resume in July.

Show producer HBO on Thursday released a series of pictures looking forward to the latest season that its fans are sure to be poring over as they look for hints and clues to upcoming episodes.

Close to 9 million people tuned for the Season 6 finale, which left three characters racing to claim the Iron Throne. And judging from the latest photos, the ongoing themes of revenge and redemption are still going strong. After being punished for her sins of incest, Cersei Lannister is now sitting pretty on the Iron Throne, with a crown on her head and her twin/lover, Jaime, dressed as a knight, at her side.

In the last season, Cersei epically blew up her capital, King’s Landing, and killed off her adversaries – the religious leader, the High Sparrow, and her former daughter-in-law, Queen Margaery.

Cersei’s rivals for the throne are back too – Jon Snow, in his usual fur and leather get-up, and Daenarys Targaryen, looking regal in a dragon-scale-like dress and cape. Jon, newly resurrected-from-the-dead, has been crowned head of his homeland, Winterfell. And Daenarys, last seen sailing clear across the world with her late husband’s people, the Dothraki in tow, looks ready to fight for the crown.

The Hound, a former Lannister loyalist, is also back, perhaps in pursuit of the ones who massacred the peaceful community he sought refuge with in Season 6.

The other photos don’t reveal much. Littlefinger is with Sansa Stark in Winterfell, with Sansa looking solemn in black and fur. The usual suspects are represented too – Davos Seaworth, Arya Stark and Brienne of Tarth – which might be a relief, because the series is known for killing off beloved characters.

And in what is probably the least gratifying plot line, Meera Reed is still dragging Bran Stark off in the snow somewhere.

Based on George R. R. Martin’s novels set in the the Middle Ages, the popular HBO fantasy series is one of the most expensive shows being made, reportedly costing $10 million per episode. It holds the Guinness World Records for Most Pirated TV program, Largest TV Drama simulcast, Most Emmy awards for a fictional series and Most Most Emmy Awards for a drama series (110 nominations and 38 wins).

Game of Thrones wraps up in the next two seasons, with the 7-episode Season 7 starting July 16 and Season 8, with six episodes, sometime in 2018.