'The Great War is here:' Game of Thrones season 7 trailer debuts

A new trailer for Game of Thrones' upcoming seventh season dropped online Wednesday, giving fans a tantalizingly brief look at what lies ahead for HBO's fantasy drama juggernaut.

Fan favourites return to set up the seemingly final conflict between the Seven Kingdoms' surviving leaders: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) in Winterfell; Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) currently in Dragonstone; and Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in King's Landing.

Besides setting the scene for the major power struggle this season, the one minute, 48 second-long trailer offers most of what fans have grown to love about the show, including sprawling battle scenes, tense standoffs between politically convenient allies and Danerys' now fully-grown dragons.

• Game of Thrones spinoffs: George R.R. Martin reveals new details
• Send a raven! HBO hires writers to develop Game of Thrones spin-offs
• Musical chairs: Game of Thrones stars appear in Season 7 teaser trailer

The shorter, seven-episode season is scheduled to begin on HBO July 16. The eighth and final season is currently scheduled to air in 2018.

Meanwhile, HBO and author George R. R. Martin, whose A Song of Ice and Fire novels formed the basis of the show, have been working on multiple spin-off series ideas to pursue once the seriesfinishes for good.