HBO has been holding it’s cards close all year long when it comes to its episode names, descriptions, and photos for Game of Thrones, but even then the batch of images they just released for Sunday night’s season seven finale really aren’t giving away much. They feature many of the game’s players, but not much about what moves they are making.

But, considering we might be more than an entire calendar year away from the eighth and final season, we’ll take what we can get while we can get it. So let’s go mining for clues with the intensity of Samwell Tarly going through an old dusty book.

Just like in the preview teaser for next week’s episode, we see Jaime and Bronn standing in a castle looking out on an open field of Unsullied. Might Jaime and Bronn have returned to the home of the eradicated House Tyrell Highgarden at some point, as the lush green landscape suggests? Or is it somewhere else in the Reach, like Horn Hill, home of the recently dragonflambéd Randyl and Dickon Tarly. Oh!! Is Bronn finally getting his castle! Lady Tarly is recently widowed…

We know there will be a temporary armistice before the big meeting in King’s Landing, but that doesn’t seem to have eased Bronn and Jaime’s worries at the size of Daenerys’s forces, especially since the teaser showed the Dothraki also showing up to the party. Careful what you wish for Bronn.

We also get two portrait shots that almost certainly take place before the royal pow-wow in the capital. Here we see Cersei walking out to her needlessly large floor map. Is she worried? Pleased? Considering she is holding her (supposedly) pregnant stomach, she could be talking about that very topic with an unseen Jaime here. Or she’s hungry.

We also get an image of Theon, who was last seen asking for help in getting his sister Yara back from Euron. He always he looks weary, but something about him here is especially desperate.

We do get some images from that big meeting in what we think is the famed Dragonpit of King’s Landing. We see Jon and Tyrion standing before Jaime and Cersei, but what stands out even more is there is no sign of Daenerys. Tyrion is too smart to let his queen fall for whatever Cersei has planned, but she could always arrive later on Drogon.

Cersei looks resolute and confident though, which might not be good news for the safety of Jon and Tyrion. We know she has something devious planned, since this might be her best bet at winning the war.

Yeah, this closeup of Jon at the meeting makes us think it might not be going as he planned. None of the pictures tell us if the captured wight survived the trip, and if it did whether or not Cersei is moved to action by it. That look on Jon’s face suggests whatever they are discussing is not convincing her.

The final two photos bring us to Winterfell. We see Sansa standing outside looking worn out, but yet determined. With Arya nowhere to be found in this batch it makes us worry the two sisters still haven’t worked their issues out, but it doesn’t look like Sansa will let it be that way for long–one way or another.

Finally we see Bran, sitting by a fire. Good old powerful Bran, just sitting alone. Not talking to anyone or doing anything. It’s almost like he’s still in no rush to tell anyone about the Tower of Joy. But seeing him here is a good indication he’s (FINALLY) going to be useful this season.

Besides Daenerys (and her dragons, both dead and alive) the characters and places most conspicuous by their absence include: the Clegane brothers, Sam and Gilly, Baelish, and the entire White Walker army.

This will far and away be the longest episode in the show’s history, so we’re pretty confident they will all be players in the game this week. Even if HBO didn’t want to lay all their cards on the table yet.

But what do you make of this pictures? What do they tell us? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN GAME OF THRONES?

• Conleith Hill insists that Varys is not a merman.
• Every question we need answered by the Game of Thrones finale.
• No, Jon Snow’s Longclaw did not blink!

Images: HBO