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Winter comes at you pretty fast in Westeros; see how Cersei, Jon Snow and Jaime have changed
With the epic Emmy-winning fantasy-drama about to drop its eighth and final season, we've gone back through the first seven seasons to compare and contrast how the major GoT characters looked when things started in 2011, and how they look now. Check out these epic transformations...
In Game of Thrones' first episode, Ned Stark's younger daughter (played by Maisie Williams) is a privileged child with a lot of spunk.
By GoT's seventh season, Arya's privilege and family have been upended. She's warier, deadlier, and still every bit as fierce.
When we first meet Bran, Ned Stark's fourth (legitimate) child, played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright, is a boy who loves his direwolf and enjoys a good climb.
By Season 7, Bran's a teenager -- and the visionary Three-Eyed Raven -- who copes with the aftermath of being pushed from a window by Jaime Lannister.
In Season 1, Sandor (played by Rory McCann) is introduced as a royal bodyguard known as "the Hound."
By Season 7 , the Hound has betrayed all allegiances and has been worked like a dog (and, at last look, left for dead).
In Season 2, the priestess and seer (played by Carice van Houten) is a woman of roughly shadow-bearing age.
In Season 6, Melisandre is revealed to be a tad older than her Westeros colleagues suspected.
By Season 7, Jorah's nomadic life -- and brush with greyscale -- has taken a toll.
By Season 2, Sam (played by John Bradley) has been established as Jon Snow's loyal friend. He's a fresh-faced fellow who'll risk his face for his dear pal.
By Season 7, Sam has been weighted down with familial responsibility to his lover, Gilly, and her infant son.
Varys, the Lannisters' resident eunuch (played by Conleth Hill), plays it cool in a Season 1 episode as the Master of Whisperers, spymaster to the throne.
By Season 7, Varys has betrayed the Lannisters and thrown his support behind Daenerys Targaryen, whose ascent he secretly helped orchestrate.
In Season 1, Theon (played by Alfie Allen) is Ned Stark's ward and a true pal to Stark's son, Robb.
By Season 7, Theon's cowardice has led him to lose everyone he loved, but he might finally be ready to try redeem himself.
In Season 2, Brienne (played by Gwendoline Christie) is a skilled but lovestricken swordswoman who aspires to be a knight.
By Season 7, Brienne is an even-more seasoned protector, and sworn defender of Sansa Stark.
Introduced in Season 1 as the illegitimate son of Ned Stark, Jon (played by Kit Harrington) is sent off to spend his days serving at the Wall.
By Season 7, Jon has died and been resurrected, though he has yet to learn the truth about his parentage. All things considered, he looks remarkably well-preserved.
When we first meet Ned Stark's elder daughter (played by Sophie Turner) in Season 1, she's an innocent but shallow teen who wants to marry her way out of Winterfell.
By Season 7, Sansa has matured. She confronts the winter as she does challenges to her battered family: head on.
In Season 1, Daenerys (played by Emilia Clarke) is an exiled princess who is kept under the thumb of her older brother, Viserys.
By Season 7 , the Mother of Dragons is a battle-tested warrior queen who dresses the part.
In Season 1, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) keeps up appearances but seeks to drown his family troubles in drink.
By Season 7, the bearded Tyrion has abandoned his Lannister roots to join Daenerys' bid for the throne, becoming one of her trusted advisers.
In Season 1, Cersei (played by Lena Headey) conspires against her husband -- and anyone who threatens her power or the people she loves.
By the end of Season 7, Cersei has claimed the Iron Throne, but not without losing everyone she loves, and exacting revenge on nearly all of her enemies.
In Season 1, the dashing and dastardly Jaime (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) seeks to protect his secret love with his twin, Cersei, by using his two bare hands to push Bran from the tower window.
By Season 7, Jaime's lost some off his swagger, along with his (real) right hand. But can he quit Cersei?