Game of Thrones Season 7 no longer has to keep secrets on par with Jon Snow’s resurrection, but set photos of late have nonetheless seemed to spoil some long-anticipated pairings. Or have they? A new report suggests that Game of Thrones showrunners may be calling upon a bag of tricks utilized in Season 6 to throw spies off their … well, Game.

Take this with a significant grain of salt for the moment (we’ll explain why), as well as major spoiler warnings for the seventh season, but recent Game of Thrones set photos seemed to spoil the most anticipated meeting of the entire franchise: “Ice” and “Fire.” That is to say, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, the latest in a line of pairings that Game of Thrones Season 7 seems to bestow upon us.

It did seem unusual that such a hotly-anticipated scene was filmed out in the open, easily accessible to prying eyes, so much so that Entertainment Weekly suggests that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss might be staging fake Season 7 scenes to throw photographers off the trail. Such a tactic was similarly employed in Season 6, when Sibel Kekilli (Shae) was invited to set, despite her character’s exit in Season 4. Says the report:

Going into season 7, a big question is who will meet whom now that all the main characters are arriving in Westeros. So having actors dressed up meeting each other on set could mean they’re in scenes together … or it might not. Remember, the showrunners are known for their elaborate pranks.

Mind you, there’s a few suspicious snags such a claim, not the least of which is EW’s chumminess with Game of Thrones production, which could easily involve suggestions of fake scenes to fan an air of uncertainty. Kekilli’s appearance on set was also notable for its unexpectedness, where something like Daenerys and Jon meeting is as inevitable to the story as it is a logical next step for both. If anything, reports of Joe Dempsie’s rowing return, or Reddit claims of plot leaks might fall closer in line with EW’s claims.

It’s also worth noting that Season 7 shaved production down to seven episodes, simultaneously pushing its premiere to summer 2017 as a means to keep pace with ever-complicated production. It’s one thing to bring actors on-set in range of photographers, and quite another to expend resources coordinating entirely fake scenes for the sake of prying eyes.

