• Ahead of the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones, here’s a refresher of everything you need to know from season 6.(Check out our guides for seasons 1-5 and 7 and our list of essential.
• Sansa Stark: Game of Thrones Cheat Sheet - Duration: 4:05. UPROXX 61,322 views. Game Of Thrones Season 5 Episode 8 Q&A - White Walkers and The Night's King - Duration: 10:29.
• If you need more context and information, HBO has an official online viewer's guide that breaks Game of Thrones' complex world by house, characters, season, location, and history. Watch Game of Thrones exclusively on HBO every Monday at 9AM, with an encore telecast at 9PM the same day.

The stars of Game of Thrones have promised viewers plenty of 'twists, turns and bloods' during the award-winning show's final season. Season eight premiers on Foxtel on the 15th of April.

Enter the world of Game of Thrones with official maps of the Seven Kingdoms and interactive family trees that capture the rich backgrounds of the characters and locations featured in the HBO series. Explore interactive family trees, the map of #Westeros and more on the @GameofThrones Viewer’s Guide. Game of Thrones Season 7 is only two weeks away. So, if you need a reminder of everything that happened last season, we've got just the thing. Behold, your official cheat sheet for everything that.

First look at The Final Season (8) of Game of Thrones Kit Harington as Jon Snow and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBOSource:Supplied

Some Game of Thrones fans are deeply knowledgeable about every obscure corner of the world. Then there are some who still describe main characters as “the girl with the hair.”

If you’re the second kind of fan, this is a New York Post guide for you.

This show is so big, it’s impossible to avoid — but not everyone has time to rewatch (or even watch!) previous seasons. If you’re only vaguely familiar with the story but you don’t want to miss out on attending watch parties, here’s a handy guide so you won’t have to annoy everyone by asking questions.

THE CONFLICT

Going into the final season, there are two main issues at hand:

1) Who will ultimately end up on the world’s least comfortable chair, the Iron Throne (if anyone — maybe it’ll dissolve into a democracy!).

2) How will humanity defeat the encroaching threat of zombie-like White Walkers to ensure that there even is a land full of humans to rule, when all is said and done?

For the first conflict, there are three main contenders for the throne. There’s Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), who’s already on it. She obtained it through shady means (literally blowing up her enemies) and will do anything to keep it.

Game of Thrones star Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister. Picture: Helen Sloan/HBOSource:Supplied

Then there’s Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), whose father ruled before the events of the show. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a great job and, uh, burned his own subjects alive for fun. He was removed from power and Dany grew up far away from Westeros in order to stay safe from political enemies. She’s finally back now, and she sees the Throne as her birthright.

Then there’s Jon Snow (Kit Harington). He doesn’t want the Throne, he’s not a natural politician and he’s spent most of his life as an outcast. He’s risen to power not because he wants it, but because he’s stepped up when he has to.

Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, with one of her dragons. Picture: SuppliedSource:Foxtel

Going into Season 8, Jon doesn’t actually know yet that he has a claim to the Throne. Few people do. Unbeknown to most, his real father is secretly Dany’s older brother, which puts Jon ahead of her in the line of succession. To further complicate the matter, Jon has sworn allegiance to Dany and, uh, they’ve become a couple.

So that should be interesting when the news of Jon’s real parentage is revealed.

As far as the second conflict, the encroaching zombie army, goes, not everyone believes that White Walkers are real. They’ve grown up being told it’s a myth, fake news, etc. So it’s hard to rally the realm to fight a threat only half of them believe in.

Zooming in on the individual characters, there are a lot, yes. But luckily, there are several main families who are most central.

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington as Jon Snow. Picture: HBOSource:Supplied

THE STARKS

The Starks began the story as our wide-eyed heroes, the honourable family who rule the North in a fancy house with a cool name (Winterfell). Along the way they’ve suffered terrible losses — most notably, both parents and the oldest brother. The four surviving members — Arya, Sansa, Bran and Jon — have been separated for long periods of time, and all have gone through terrible ordeals.

Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams and Sansa and Arya Stark in Game of Thrones. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Arya (Maisie Williams) is now an assassin, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) has weird magic powers, Sansa (Sophie Turner) has become a shrewd politician, Jon has died and been resurrected. Jon is currently the leader, known as the King in the North. None of them (except Bran) know that Jon is really their cousin and not their father’s son.

So as the show winds down, they’re in for tearful reunions, family drama and dramatic revelations.

THE TARGARYENS

Members of House Targaryen are known for their silver hair, and they’re a rare breed, as most have been slain by political enemies. Daenerys thinks she’s the last living Targaryen. So both she and Jon are in for a shock when they discover that he too is secretly a Targaryen.

Emilia Clarke is one of the breakout stars of Game of Thrones. Picture: HBOSource:Foxtel

Since Dany’s dad (and Jon’s grandfather) was such a terrible king before the events of the show, most people won’t be enthused about the prospect of Targaryen rule by either Dany or Jon. Also, they have dragons, which are a big deal because they haven’t existed for hundreds of years.

THE LANNISTERS

There are three Lannisters left standing: twins Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Cersei, who have been lovers for most of their lives (yes, yuck). And Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), who was only close with Jaime. Both Cersei and their late father hated him for being a dwarf. A convoluted series of events led to him killing their father (which makes Cersei hate him even more, and she wants to kill him).

Cersei and Jaime Lannister, played by Lena Heady and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Cersei currently sits on the throne while Tyrion is an adviser to her enemy and rival, Daenerys. At the end of Season 7, Jaime also got fed up with Cersei’s megalomania and left her, riding North to help fight the White Walkers (the invading army of ice zombies threatening all human life — no big deal).

Back in Season 1, they began the story as antagonists of the Starks. But going into Season 8, both Tyrion and Jaime are their allies, and only Cersei is their real antagonist.

Peter Dinklage portraying Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. Picture: SuppliedSource:AP

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and is republished here with permission

Let’s get one thing out of the way: The Season 6 finale of Game of Thrones was one of, if not the best episode we’ve had so far. Season 6, and even 5 for that matter, could sometimes feel as though each character’s story was always building to something, but that something was always out of reach. Not after the finale. Finally we saw all those long-gestating storylines fall into place in an explosive episode that served as a clear sign that an epic conclusion is on the way.

However, once the euphoria of the finale went away it also highlighted some potential problems for the upcoming seasons. While they’re problems that need to be addressed, the showrunners definitely have time — especially now that Game of Thrones‘ seventh season has been delayed because of weather. Here are three issues that could be a problem over the final seasons.

1. The pacing is getting inconsistent

According to Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, we’re looking at about 13 more episodes of the series — seven episodes in Season 7 and six for Season 8. This can of course change as HBO certainly wouldn’t be opposed to more of a series that continues to add viewers every season, but this has been the timetable discussed for several seasons now. So here’s the question: Do you think the Game of Thrones story can be completed in a satisfying manner in 13 more episodes?

Sure, the pieces are finally falling into place, but there’s also a feeling that the storylines are moving forward in a way that doesn’t seem consistent with the pacing we’ve grown accustomed to. To put it simply, it feels rushed. Daenerys Targaryen is finally on her way to Westeros, but the way in which it all came together — with Yara and Theon Greyjoy’s sudden arrival and Dorne’s involvement — feels sudden even if it’s what we’ve been waiting for forever.

In many ways, the plan for Game of Thrones‘last two seasons feels similar to the final season of Breaking Bad when showrunner Vince Gilligan used 16 episodes (divided in two) to show Walter White’s final rise to kingpin and his downfall, moving forward in time liberally. While it worked for the most part in Breaking Bad, the big question is if we want things to move that fast now in Game of Thrones. After waiting 60 episodes for Daenerys to reach Westeros and the White Walkers to arrive, can 13 episodes really be enough?

2. The White Walkers still don’t feel like real villains

Game of Thrones Source: HBO

Game Of Thrones Cheat Sheet Season 3

Here’s something Game of Thrones writers are going to have deal with sooner rather than later if they really intend to only have 13 more episodes: The White Walkers need to feel more meaningful. Up until now it’s almost felt like a running joke that the supposed big-baddies of the series have been roaming around the North while life goes on more or less normally in the South. But the real issue is that the White Walkers don’t really seem all that interesting. Yes, they look cool and have thousands upon thousands of wights ready to attack, but do we really care?

If the White Walkers are really intended to be the ultimate villain in Game of Thrones, it feels like an issue that we don’t yet have a sense of what motivates them. As of now, the White Walkers impending (?) arrival is akin to a storm coming in a disaster movie — there’s no personality behind it, we only know it’s going to be a force that goes up against our heroes.

As of now, the White Walkers are simply not as interesting as a Ramsay Bolton, Cersei Lannister, or Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. Will the death of the Night King feel as satisfying as of the other key deaths in the series? It doesn’t feel like it.

Game Of Thrones Season 6 Summary

3. The story is starting to feel predictable

Game Of Thrones Cheat Sheet Season 2

Maybe this is only a temporary problem, but it feels like the unpredictability we’ve grown to love about Game of Thrones took a hiatus in the sixth season. There were certainly some surprises and deaths (Tommen’s suicide being one of the best), but overall the characters we liked seemed to grow stronger while the characters who were more or less evil got their comeuppances.

Now to be honest, it feels great to know that none of our favorite characters took the plunge at the end of the season, but you can’t help but feel as though it’s felt like a different series recently. Daenerys is still busting up heads with dragons, Jon is now the King of the North, Arya’s back and using her new skills, and on and on.

That being said, don’t be at all surprised if over the next two seasons you see Game of Thrones use these soaring highs to bring us all back to speed. You should also remember the visions that both Daenerys and Bran Stark have had, which showed the Red Keep destroyed and abandoned, with either snow or ash falling in from the crumbled ceiling. So while it’s easy to say things are looking great right now, we should all enjoy it while we can and brace ourselves before the next season begins. It might not be so cheery for long.

Game Of Thrones Cheat Sheet Season 6 Week 1

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