'Game of Thrones' coming: HBO releases stills of new season

Winter has come, and spring -- and more specifically April 25 -- is just around the corner.

Which, for "Game of Thrones" fans, means only one thing - a new season of HBO's hit dragons-and-daggers fantasy series is coming, reports the CNN.

HBO has released its first stills from the new season, with production and behind-the-scenes photos showing some of the series' best-loved (and loathed) characters, including a white-eyed Arya Stark, blinded as punishment in the closing scenes of season 5.

The eagerly-awaited sixth season of the multiple Emmy-winning show navigates uncharted waters - for the first time its interweaving plots will move ahead of its source material - the wildly successful series of novels by author George R.R. Martin.

His sixth book, "The Winds of Winter," has been repeatedly delayed, putting fans through torture worthy of one of his more sadistic characters.