The cast and crew of Game of Thrones promise a fast-paced season 7. Game of Thrones is one of HBO's biggest television series of all time. It redefined what a fantasy series could be and delivered shocking plot twists that have gripped audiences for six years so far. But all good things must come to an end and this series is no different.

With only 13 episodes left over two shortened seasons, the fantasy series will premiere season 7 later than usual. The reason was to allow the series to shoot later in the year now that winter has come to Westeros. But the shorter episode count shouldn't fool fans into thinking there will be less story.

In an interview with EW, cast and crew spoke about the breakneck pace for the upcoming season. Jaime Lannister actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was shocked by the speed at which events happen:

I’m like, ‘Already? Now?! What?!' I feel like I’d been lulled into a different pace. Everything happened quicker than I’m used to. … A lot of things that normally take a season now take one episode.

Kit Harington who plays Jon Snow added:

This season is really different than any other season because it’s accelerating toward the end, a lot of stuff collides and happens much much quicker than you’re used to seeing on Thrones. … It’s so different than what everybody is used to. It’s quite exciting.

One of the few complaints about the series over the course of its lifetime was how long events took to happen. In previous seasons there seemed to be a few slow, filler episodes that preceded the big ninth episode. Co-showrunner Dan Weiss promises a more blistering pace this time around:

Things are moving faster because in the world of these characters the war that they’ve been waiting for is upon them. The conflicts that have been building the past six years are upon them and those facts give them a sense of urgency that makes [the characters] move faster.

For all the speed and urgency the seventh season of Game of Thrones may feature, co-showrunner David Benioff promises that there will still be the same character development audiences have come to expect from the series. Here's what he told the outlet:

For a long time we’ve been talking about ‘the wars to come.' Well, that war is pretty much here. So it’s really about trying to find a way to make the storytelling work without feeling like we’re rushing it — you still want to give characters their due, and pretty much all the characters that are now left are all important characters. Even the ones who might have started out as relatively minor characters have become significant in their own right.

Season 6 of Game of Thrones seemed to recalibrate the series a bit. Unlike George R.R. Martin's books, which seem to become larger while going off on more story tangents, the television series spent the better part of last season cutting out any extraneous plots. It seems that the writers wanted to place themselves in a position to pick up the pace for this upcoming season.

The seventh season of Game of Thrones seems poised to become laser focused about rushing towards a confrontation between the Seven Kingdoms and the White Walkers. Before that encounter, however, there's still a final resolution between the Targaryens, Starks, and Lannisters over who will rule over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros that needs to be dealt with.

Next: How Daenerys Should Invade Westeros

Game of Thrones season 7 premieres July 16 on HBO.

Source: EW