The hall is dark and full of panelists. After a gut-wrenching (sorry, I had to) season finale to HBO’s massive hit Game of Thrones, fans are going to want some answers. Luckily, a panel of cast and crew took to the stage Friday afternoon at San Diego Comic-Con’s massive Hall H to do just that, in their own mystery-ful way. Actors Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Gwendoline Christie, Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, Hannah Murray, Carice Van Houten, Alfie Allen, and Conleth Hill joined director David Nutter and executive producer Carolyn Strauss to talk all about that winter which is coming.

Super fan and Late Night host Seth Meyers is moderating. We begin with a sizzle reel of all the times Game of Thrones permeates pop culture, like Late Night, Tonight Show, Sesame Street, Parks and Rec and more.

Maisie and Sophie see each other more in San Diego than they do in Westeros.

Did anyone read the books? Only Gwendoline Christie!

Did fans of the books ever ruin it for you? Arya going blind was ruined for Williams.

Maintain a level of surprise for people who watch the show, especially secretive now that we’re caught up to the books. George R.R. Martin is still super involved.

Allen says Reek had a hell of seasons 3, 4, and 5. “If you were a little nicer in seasons 1 and 2…” said Meyers. It’s nice to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Sam and Gilly are the Sam and Diane of the show. “Sam thinks about sex the same way people think about space. He’s aware of it but doesn’t think he’d be involved in it,” said Bradley.

The nicer Margaery is to people, the less she likes them. “They left her in a cell!” said Dormer.

Meyers and Christie then talk about Brienne’s sort of bad people skills. Her peer review is going to be pretty bad.

Varys is good, bad, indifferent. What does Hill think? “Good, ultimately. I didn’t read the books so I could just play the moment.” We could all use a Varys in their lives. “He’s made me… a lot of money” said Hill.

Cunningham doesn’t think Davos is gonna smile too much, especially after what “that did,” pointing to Van Houten’s Melisandre.

Van Houten thanks Seth for telling her to take the part, and then talks about the hard scene where that certain princess gets set on fire. No real levity on the set there.

“Just because it’s painful doesn’t mean that it’s not a good point in the story,” said Strauss.

Meyers pleads for Arya and Sansa to stay alive. “We’re trying man!” says Turner.

A Reel of Game of Thrones Auditions!

And now it’s AUDIENCE Q&A TIME

Williams foresees having trouble with those blind-eyed contacts. “It takes them three seconds to write ‘Arya fights blind’.”

The cast is going to have a hard time answering questions about where the show’s going to go. Dormer for example has no clue where Queen Margaery will go, but she’s in a lot of trouble.

Who’s gonna miss Kit the most since he’s OBVIOUSLY dead? “We couldn’t wait for him to be gone, to be honest,” said Williams.

If you could change one thing about last season what would it be? “I would wait for the candle,” said Christie to thunderous applause. “And if she’d waited for the candle, I’d still have a boss,” said Cunningham.

“I do all my own stunts,” said Hill. He says he feels guilty only having to come in and bitch with Peter Dinklage.

“One thing Sansa still is despite what happened to her is strong” says Turner.

A question prompts Williams to say “Oysters, clams, and cockles.” “It was written as just ‘oysters and clams,’ and you ad libbed ‘cockle,'” adds Meyers.

“I’ve never had so much hate mail,” says Van Houten of her character. She figures out that she was quite wrong and she can’t wait to see where that goes next season.

How would Sophie Turner react to Theon? “I didn’t almost kill Bran and Rickon, I just killed two peasant boys,” says Allen. “I think she likes him but she hates him, hey!” Turner jokes following an attempt at a lengthy answer.

“Things were not great for a lot of people, both men and women,” explains Strauss following a question about the way women are treated on the show.

Which character would you like to work with more? “Everybody really,” said Hill.

Nutter talked about the huge pressures of a show of this size, having done the Red Wedding and Season 5’s final two episodes. He gives it up to the crew and cast for making it easier than it has any right to be.

Christie talked about how empowering the relationship between Brienne and Jamie became and how it was great for her to play a scene where a male and female relationship on screen doesn’t have to do with sexuality.

Allen talks about the spontaneous fits of laughter while filming scenes with the Boltons. “If the energy’s not right on the day, then you’re kind of messed up.” He also says that he and Iwan Rheon are great friends in real life.

Nutter said the President of the United States yelled at him for killing Jon Snow.

Conleth Hill is seriously the funniest. Seth Meyers said Varys should do standup next year.

Who would they like to see rule the realm and why? There were calls for Sam. “Not the Baratheons,” says Cunningham.

That’s pretty clear.

Thanks for reading as always! Check out the rest of my live blogs all SDCC long here on Nerdist.com!