All along it was expected by fans that the new season of the fantasy saga would air this summer. Now, HBO officially fixed the date July 16, 2017 for the release in the USA. In the UK, the first episode will air on Sky Atlantic and TV Now at 2am on July 17. And for those who don’t want to stay up until the middle of the night, a repeat is scheduled for 9pm the same day.

The announcement came after HBO made Game of Thrones fans literally watch a block of ice melt which concealed the premiere date. Viewers were asked to comment the live stream with ‘FIRE’ to speed up the melting. The first live stream ended unexpectedly without a release date due to technical difficulties, but eventually it was back on, along with a cryptic new teaser.

Watch it below:

The great war is here. #GoTS7 premieres 7.16. pic.twitter.com/1Jna10kNuQ

— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) 9. März 2017

Earlier this week, a poster was revealed showing ice and fire collide. Although, at this time, there is only little known about the plot of the new season, Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams told The Independent that the series comes “to the climax and it’s rolling down to the end. It’s exciting. I really felt like at the end of last season everything was set up for how it was going to end.”

Last year it was announced that next year’s eighth season would be the last one of the Game of Thrones saga.