Throughout the Game of Thrones series, we've seen literally hundreds of characters come and go - and hundreds more die.

There were the major players such as - spoiler alert! - Joffrey Baratheon and Eddard Stark, the medium hitters such as Marjorie Tyrell and Oberyn Martell, and the little guys, like Dickon Tarly and Lancel Lannister (and if you're saying "who?" right now, don't worry - we feel the same).

With all that going on, then, it's pretty easy to forget which characters are still alive and kicking but laying low off-screen, and which ones are actually dead and gone.

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But cast your minds back to season one, when the Stark family were still all together and everything seemed fairly ok in Westeros. In the very first episode, Eddard Stark finds six direwolf pups that have just been orphaned, and - as chance would have it - he also has six children who all seem keen on adopting a dog.

After a little convincing, Ned agrees to let his children keep the pups - and that turns out to be a very good decision later on.

Unfortunately, the direwolves have thus far fared even worse than the Stark kids themselves, with only two of the original six still alive.

But hold on a second, we haven't seen a direwolf on the show for ages - so whose pup is still part of the story?

Lady was obviously the first wolf to meet her end in season one, quickly followed by Grey Wind at the red wedding. Shaggydog bit the dust a little later on, and Summer went to the great doggy heaven in the sky after accompanying Bran beyond the wall.

This leaves just two wolves: Nymeria, Arya's wolf, who did show up recently (albeit briefly), and Ghost, who was strangely absent for all of the last series.

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According to Game of Thrones' VFX supervisor, Joe Bauer, Ghost is set to make a return in the final season - and it sounds like he might have a fairly important role to play.

"Oh, you’ll see him again. He has a fair amount of screen time in season eight," Bauer said in an interview with Huffington Post. "He does show up."

It turns out the pure white direwolf was actually meant to be in season seven, but the scene never made it to the final cut. Plus, as the wolves are difficult to create realistically onscreen, they require quite a lot of effort in filming.

"The direwolves are tough because you don’t want to get them wrong, so we end up always shooting real wolves and doing a scaling trick with them, but the real wolves only behave in certain ways," Bauer explained.

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Nevertheless, we can now rest assured that John's four-legged companion is coming back next year - and that he might be instrumental in the show's plot

"Ghost does show up, and he does some ... he’s very present and does some pretty cool things in Season 8," Bauer teased.

Only seven more months to wait!

Game of Thrones fans have spent so long with certain characters on the show that it becomes extremely odd to see them as they were when they first appeared in the series. This isn't always the case when it comes to the characters who were in their thirties when the show started back in 2011, or the many who were offed swiftly after they were first introduced, but it definitely is for some of the younger cast members. The Stark children, or what's left of them these days, are a prime example of this vast change. Jon Snow is looking far more battle-worn and wind-battered (though just as sullen) now than he did when he left Winterfell to head to the wall seven years ago. Sansa has grown from a naive child with dreams of marrying a prince into a strong leader. And Bran, well, he's gone through puberty in a major way. But this is definitely true of Arya too, who is played by Maisie Williams. The actress, much like her character, has changed over the years. She was only 13 when she landed the part and is now hitting her twenties as they film the final season of the hit fantasy show. In an interview with the Irish Times, she revealed that her way of thinking has changed dramatically over those years spent on set. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BcPzOBDACvj/?hl=en&taken-by=maisie_williams]] "I didn’t even know what the word feminist meant until I became actress,” she said. “Within my family I never felt that I had to conform to any kind of types. I had no idea about what was typically male or typically female." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BabajnZgiXx/?hl=en&taken-by=maisie_williams]] On top of this, she said that she has also come to realize the type of characters she can play and how she may be limited in the future by her looks, down to the beauty standards of the industry. "It's only now I'm starting to realise the characters that are available to me because of the way I look and the characters that aren't available to me. "It’s a very shallow industry. And I don’t look like someone who is cast in roles that are, well, sexualised. "Don't get me wrong. I’m completely in awe of Hollywood's leading ladies. I love looking at those totally jaw-droppingly beautiful women. But I think it’s sad that you only get to see one type of beautiful on screen." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BabajnZgiXx/?hl=en&taken-by=maisie_williams]] One of the other things that has developed over the course of the show is her close friendship with Sophie Turner, who plays her older sister Sansa in the series. During an interview with the Radio Times, she was asked whether she would be a bridesmaid at Turner's wedding to singer Joe Jonas, to which Williams replied: "I've already got it". It seems like the Stark children are well and truly growing up, but Williams' doubts about her place in Hollywood haven't stopped her from nabbing roles in various projects, such as the X-Men horror spin-off whose terrifying trailer intrigued fans.

As Game of Thrones marches toward its conclusion in 2019, fans have zeroed in on every little nuance or detail to crack open the finale. In all likelihood, someone out there probably already knows exactly how the show will end. There are only a handful of limited outcomes that would make sense, that the show and the books have spent over 20 years building up to. But as things reach the eleventh hour, any new characters added to the show are sure to raise eyebrows. After all, who could be important enough to add in literally the final season, just as all the pieces are finally coming together? That's what fans have been asking ever since HBO has reportedly put out a casting call for two new roles. Who are they looking for? Well, by the descriptions, it seems they're looking for two child actors. According to top-notch Games of Thrones fan-site Watchers on the Wall, one of the roles is labelled 'Northern Girl'. She needs to have the customary Northern accent, be fearless and a born-soldier, and also between eight and ten years old. She's described as a “very nice stand-out part for a strong-minded young girl with a fighting spirit.” Sounds a lot like Lyanna Mormont, right? But she's already been casted, so who could it possibly be? Maybe the young Lord of House Mormont has another sister? But that's unlikely. If anything, it appears that we're going to be getting some more flashback scenes. Could the young 'Northern girl' actually be a young Lyanna Stark? Bran has already visited Ned and Lyanna as children with the Three Eyed-Raven, so it's wholly likely that he'll return for more deep lore about the previous generation of Starks. A young boy is also sought for a role. An eight-year-old who can “completely own the scenes that he appears in". Could this be the young Ned Stark? Or perhaps there won't be flashbacks at all. Maybe this young boy and girl will be the young Lords of a Northern house we've yet to meet. Could two Northern children be leading armies in defense of their homeland? That would be incredibly badass. But they'd have to be introduced to the series rapidly. Maybe they'll be escaping a Northern house's castle as it gets destroyed by White Walkers, or something like that. They could escape the destruction and warn Jon Snow of what is coming. I could see something like that. However, it seems the young boy is described as coming from a 'poor background'. Could a royal girl and a poor boy meet and fight off the White Walkers? Or is it someone in King's Landing, maybe even an unknown surviving one of Robert Baratheon's bastard children? Way back in Season 2, all of House Baratheon's heirs were slaughtered by the crown. But Gendry Baratheon survived, and it's more than possible that another heir survived as well. Perhaps the series will end with the ambiguity of this boy, Robert's surviving heir, who could even drive a sequel series to Game of Thrones? Would he challenge Daenerys Targaryen? We'll have to wait and see in 2019.

The cast, crew, and creators of Game of Thrones are remaining incredibly tight-lipped when it comes to information about the upcoming season of the hit fantasy series. We'll be seeing the numerous characters of the HBO show come together one last time in the final season, set to be released in 2019, and Thrones fans are getting pretty impatient about the wait in the meantime.

We don't know a whole lot about the series so far, but by all accounts not many characters will make it out unscathed - so it may be time to let go of your personal favourites. Each season of the show has been prone to obsessive fans leaking scripts they have obtained or torrenting episodes online before they get the chance to air, and the final episodes are going to be even more desirable.

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There have even been rumours going around that they are filming multiple endings to throw people off, but actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has disputed this fact. The actor, who plays Jaime Lannister on the show, has said that this doesn't make much sense to him - but has explained that the show has gone to some extreme lengths to avoid spoilers for its big conclusion.

Now, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, the 47-year-old has spoken about where his character may end up in the future. This is especially interesting given how we last saw the character, as he left King's Landing after a major dispute with his sister (and love of his life):

"Most people have moments in their life where you go, ‘Can I really, fundamentally change?’ The core of him has always been Cersei. When that’s taken away, what are you then? What’s left? Is there anything left? When he leaves, obviously he has no idea. He doesn’t know the answer to that question."

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When asked about the pivotal moment in which Cersei threatens his life, only for Jaime to respond that he "doesn't believe" she would have him killed, Coster-Waldau said:

“That’s, of course, said in a moment of passion. Who knows if it’s true?

"I’ve almost been married 20 years - 6 June will be our 20th anniversary - and I’m very, very lucky. I have a wonderful wife. But over 20 years, there are times where you have fights. You can be so angry that for a second in your passion and anger you can go, ‘Oh, f*ck this.’ Of course, three seconds later, you go, ‘No, no, no. What am I doing? What am I thinking?’

"I think the fundamental emotions are the same in every relationship. As a setup for the season we’re shooting now, it was just amazing.”

The actor has a firm belief in the direction of the show, and believes from what he knows about the ending, most of the fanbase will be satisfied with the conclusion.

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"The boys [Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] have done an amazing job with ending Game of Thrones," he said. "It’s definitely been the toughest season—by far—that we’ve shot, ever. But it’s also been the most fulfilling.”

Hopefully he's right, and we have a fitting ending to the show that's transfixed millions for years now. Either way, it's definitely going to be a rough road ahead for Jaime.

Game of Thrones is set to land on April 14, meaning we've got less than two weeks until we'll be returning to Westeros and on our way to getting a final conclusion to the hit fantasy series.

The HBO show is so popular at this point that you pretty much have to watch it the night it premieres or you'll get spoiled on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or just in the water cooler conversation at work.

The stars of the show have to be particularly careful not to let anything slip. They've spent years with the characters, and when there are millions after you hoping for any tidbit of information, it can be easy to let something slip.

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Honestly, if I were them, I'd lock myself up at home for the next few weeks just to be extra safe - but that's not a luxury they can afford when they have to jump on the promotional tour to publicise the new show (as if it needs it at this point). Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about the show, when she dropped a spoiler - or at least, it looked like she did.

First of all, the 21-year-old actress spoke about her favourite moments playing the youngest Stark daughter. For anyone who isn't up to date, there's some spoilers in there for sure, but it got a lot heavier once the conversation turned to the upcoming eighth season.

Here's the moment Maisie Williams appeared to dropped a huge spoiler:

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"I've decided to just keep a tight lip on everything," Williams said. "HBO have sent out a lot of memos recently about just saying nothing. So, there's really nothing I could say, they would absolutely kill me."

After Fallon continued to beg, asking for "one little spoiler, one little hint - a crumb is all I ask," before switching to his best Oliver Twist to ask "m'lady, just a crumb is all I'm asking for."

Williams sounds like she's deflecting, but then she drops something pretty major, revealing: "During shooting, like, the final days were really emotional saying goodbye to all of the cast because when I found out that Arya died in like the second episode I was..."

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This would've been easily spotted as a gag, if it wasn't for how well Williams sells it. A split-second later she 'realises' and begins to shake, looking genuinely upset and fearfully asking if they could edit that out. He tries to reset the moment and act like nothing happened, but she rushes off stage in distress. Fallon steps it up a notch by looking genuinely awkward and concerned before he heads off stage to find her.

That's when they reveal it's all just one big April Fools joke... something those in the audience were undoubtedly pretty freaked out over, at least for a moment.

Now at least she's covered and made us all safe so that Arya can die in the first episode.