And now our watch begins. "Game of Thrones" Season 7 has officially started filming up in Northern Ireland. This is a later-than-usual start for the HBO series, but an expected one since the showrunners want to capture the real cold of winter for the seven-episode 2017 season.

According to Entertainment Weekly, filming started this past Monday, August 29. Watchers on the Wall has chronicled some of the stars spotted arriving in Belfast, including Hafþór Björnsson (The Mountain) and Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish) at the local Boojum Burrito Bar:

Belfast is GoT HG but they also film in Spain and Iceland.

Meanwhile, fans of Lyanna Mormont and her 62 badass soldiers got some good news in bonus scoop from Watchers on the Wall:

"One last tidbit for you all today, courtesy of our sources: we've heard that some of the Northern Ireland extras lined up are playing House Mormont soldiers, so it looks like the house from Bear Island is still in play in season 7."

Bring it! Season 7, the penultimate season, won't premiere until next summer, but there have already been some early casting notices and the recent news that Jim Broadbent will be playing someone important. (Howland Reed, maybe?)

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