Could This Game Of Thrones Fan Favorite Be Making A Comeback?

Death comes knocking pretty often of Game of Thrones, but fans know that nothing — death included — is necessarily permanent in George R. R. Martin's Westeros. With fans hungry for every bit of information they can get on the show, especially with the new season just weeks away, some new news is coming to light that is sure to delight a huge swath of viewers. Time's latest issue features a lengthy deep dive into the production of the show's upcoming seventh season and fans are already picking up on a detail that could mean the return of a beloved character.

Daniel D’Addario paid a visit to the show's Belfast filming sites and discovered that a pack of wolves was present. Vanity Fair notes that the GoT's direwolves haven't ever gotten into formation (Beyoncé's reach doesn't quite make it across the Narrow Sea, apparently), so this phenomenon could point to the return of Nymeria, the direwolf that Arya released way back in the show's first season.

"During my visit," D’Addario wrote, "wolves described in the script as 'skinny and mangy' showed up to the shoot looking fluffy and lustrous."

Die-hard fans of Martin's epic novels will recall the fact that a pack of wolves roams the land, killing off Stark enemies. They're not major players, but the mangy pack does come to Arya in occasional dreams and rumors of their vengeance do spread through the Westerosi pub circuit. Fans have been waiting for an Arya and Nymeria reunion since season 1, so they could finally be getting their due with D'Addario's perceptive observation.

VF also adds that the wolves play a bigger part in Martin's novels than they do on the HBO adaptation. Having the direwolves return could be a part of Arya's renouncing of the House of Black and White and subsequent return to her family. Plus, the trailer's ominous line, "the wolf dies, but the pack survives," is certainly giving fans one more reason to believe that Nymeria's getting some screen time.

Back in February, BuzzFeed reported that actor Maisie Williams had geotagged a few of her Instagram posts to Calgary, which is where GoT producers source the show's lupine actors. With war on the horizon, it looks like the troops are assembling and the family is getting back together again.