'Game of Thrones': Winter is finally here

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"Game of Thrones" returns for its penultimate season Sunday, presaging the end of a saga of sex, violence and political intrigue that has become the world's most popular TV show.

The R-rated fable of noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne has just 13 episodes left, split across two shortened seasons which will bring the curtain down on a rating juggernaut that made television history.

"Game of Thrones" has more Emmy Awards than any narrative show in history and airs in 170 countries, with viewership figures shattering records across the world.

Photo from Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer /VCG Photo

The audience has grown in the US to more than 23 million per episode, and it has also established a huge group of avid followers in China. On Douban Movie, a Chinese version of Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the last season gained an incredible 9.4 points out of 10, the highest rated of the rank of US and UK TV shows.

Since the first season came out in 2014, Chinese viewers have been furious and been having heated discussion online. On the popular Twitter-like Weibo, the topic of "Game of Thrones" has been mentioned more than one million times.

Season six was the first to move beyond George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels and carve its own path.

Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer Photo /VCG Photo

Critics said it marked a return to form, with the narrative allowing female characters to demonstrate the complexity and moral agency lacking in some of the earlier seasons.

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss last year announced the shortened run of seven and six episodes for the final two seasons and confirmed the summer return for season seven, a departure from the usual April premieres.

Few details have been revealed about the new episodes, except that Oscar-winning Jim Broadbent joins the cast and pop sensation Ed Sheeran is to make a cameo appearance.

(With inputs from AFP)