HBO has announced, by way of a block of melting ice yes really*, that the first half of Game of Thrones season 7 will debut on Sunday, July 16, 2017.
The final season of Game of Thrones was been cut in two by HBO, with the first half airing this year and consisting of only 7 episodes. The second half will air in 2018 in what is sure to be an epic 6-episode sprint to the finish.
Last we knew, Daenerys was making her way in a giant fleet to Westeros. Leaked set pics have shown some strange alliances and events. (DEFINITE spoilers in those links! Proceed with caution!) Season 7 promises to be very, very interesting….
*The reveal itself was an interesting example of Not Doing The Science First. The Game of Thrones reveal feed pointed two flamethrowers at a block of ice measuring one foot thick by 3 feet wide and 3.5 feet high. The bottom edge of the plate revealing the premiere date is about 1 foot down, so really all they had to do was melt the ice that far down.
Unfortunately, while flame-throwers are really awesome, they’re not going to get the job done.
Why? Because the heat that the flamethrowers are adding to the block is only affecting a small, small portion of the surface area of the ice. Most of the heat provided by the flames is being lost as it travels upwards towards the ice block.
Melting ice quickly is TOUGH. Drop an ice cube into a pot of boiling water at home. That’s how much ambient heat you have to surround the ice with in order for it to speedily warm beyond the melting point. The ice’s temperature ranges from 30 F to -10 F. Boiling water is around 200 F. It takes THAT much energy to melt ice quickly, and that temperature has to be surrounding the ice block, or the heat doesn’t transfer as completely.
(The Game of Thrones crew eventually tore off a big chunk of the ice block to speed up the process. It also helped that the interior of the ice block appeared to be hollow.)
Guess the Wall will be a little tougher to melt than we thought, eh?
