‘Game of Thrones’ Season 7 Spoilers: Ed Sheeran Guest Stars as Surprise for Longtime Fan Maisie Williams; Teaser Trailer Hints Impending Great War

‘Game of Thrones’ season 7 is set to feature award-winning singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran in the new cast but his role is yet to be revealed as of the present. Sheeran’s appearance is reportedly a surprise for main cast member Maisie Williams as she has always been a long-time fan. Meanwhile, the recently released teaser trailer for the upcoming season hints at an impending great war in Westeros.

According to The Verge, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss confirmed during the recent SXSW in Austin, Texas that the much-anticipated seventh season of HBO’s fantasy-drama television series based on George R. R. Martin’s series of novels of the same name will only consist of six episodes.

Benioff explained that the work load for script writing will be split with other writers. He said, "Dave Hill will write the season premiere, Brian Cogman will write 802 and then we'll write the other four.” The show’s panel was hosted by Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, who play sisters Sansa Stark and Arya Stark on the series, respectively.

“We fight over who gets to write which half, who gets to kill Sansa,” Benioff joked. Weiss chimed in saying, “We both wanted to kill Sansa so bad.” The two also confirmed that English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will be joining the new cast.

According to CNET, Benioff and Weiss had been trying to cast Sheeran in the show for a while now. This was supposedly to surprise Williams as the young actress had always been a fan of the award-winning 26-year old musician.

Sheeran joins other artists who already made surprise cameos in the series including members of the bands Coldplay, Of Monsters and Men, Mastodon, and Sigur Rós.  Members of Mastodon, specifically, were unrecognizable as zombie Wildlings. Sheeran’s role in the upcoming season is yet to be revealed.

According to Time.com, a teaser trailer released last March 9 reveals the impending battle between the people of Westeros and the evil army of the undead. The voices of major characters are heard speaking lines from past seasons including Kit Harrington’s Jon Snow saying, "The same thing coming for all of us. There's only one war that matters. The great war. And it is here."

‘Game of Thrones’ season 7 is set to be released on HBO on July 16, 2017. It is taglined "The Great War is Here,” and will have one of the shortest seasons since the show premiered in April 2011. The series’ return was previously moved from its usual spring release date to summer since filming was delayed to capture winter scenes for the fictional land of Westeros.