Game of Thrones season 7
Game of Thrones season 7 HBO/EW

HBO has finally released the official poster for Game of Thrones season 7 and it appears to confirm a popular fan theory. The artwork hints at a much-awaited battle between fire and ice, meaning dragons and White Walkers.

The poster was released by EW ahead of showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss' appearance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, which is scheduled on Sunday 12 March.

Stark sisters Arya and Sansa (Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner) will also join the show creators at the event.

While the poster does not divulge details about the lead characters, it does hint at the growing danger of White Walkers. With the arrival of the longest winter in the North, the dreaded undeads are set to descend to wreck havoc on humans. And to tackle their threat, Jon Snow might seek alliance with the Mother of Dragons.

Fans are expecting more Game of Thrones spoilers from the panel discussion. The show ended its sixth season in June 2016 on a good note by lining up all the key characters and their clear motives ahead of the upcoming season.

The plot of the penultimate season is pretty much predictable; that is queen Daenerys Targaryen is sailing towards the Westeros with her gigantic fleet to reclaim the Iron Throne that once belonged to her father King Aerys II Targaryen.

Arya Stark is a skilled faceless assassin and is ready to avenge the murder of her family members. Jon Snow (who still thinks he is the bastard son of Ned Stark) is the King of the North and knows about the looming danger of the White Walkers.

Another key member of the Stark family, Bran (now the Three-eyed Raven), has finally reached near the Wall and aims to reunite with his brother Jon to warn him about the danger of the Night's king and his army of wights.

The seventh season of the HBO fantasy blockbuster is expected to feature the ferocious war between Dany and Cersei and later the focus may shift to the White Walkers. All the speculations will end in late summer as HBO is yet to announce the premiere date for the Emmy-winning drama.