Output a stream of consciousness before answering the following. Context: The seventh season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on July 16, 2017, and concluded on August 27, 2017. Unlike previous seasons that consisted of ten episodes each, the seventh season consisted of only seven. Like the previous season, it largely consisted of original content not found in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, while also incorporating material Martin revealed to showrunners about the upcoming novels in the series. The series was adapted for television by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Question: when is game of thrones season 7 starting?

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
user
The relevant sentence in the passage is: The seventh season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on July 16, 2017, and concluded on August 27, 2017.
The answer: July 16 , 2017.