After months of waiting, the first real trailer for Game of Thrones season 8 has finally arrived. Everybody is probably so excited right now, so let’s watch it first before we get into anything else:
As you can see, the trailer shows all of our beloved characters in situations that we're used to seeing them in at this point: The Starks (what’s left of them anyway) are still running for their lives, Daenerys are still with her dragons, and Cersei Lannister is still relaxing, drinking (during pregnancy, mind you) and plotting. Between all this, we have a decent idea of what's going down in the final season.
So let's break down the trailer of Game of Thrones season 8 to see what the upcoming season has in store:
The crypts of Winterfell
Right off the bat we see Arya Stark with a nasty, bloody bruise on her face, running from something in what appears to be Winterfell. Her voice says "I know death. He's got many faces."
During these couple of sentences, the scene cuts to Varys and a few other unrecognizable characters – mostly women – hiding in the crypts of Winterfell (the statue of an old King in the North and his Direwolf can be seen in the background). They all look troubled. This is reminiscent of the Battle of Helm’s Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, during which there was a scene where the keep is breached and everyone falls into despair. Could the same thing be happening in Winterfell? We can assume that this is the battle between Jon and Daenerys’ armies and the White Walker.
The key to winning
Next we see Arya holds up an obsidian dagger. As we know, this is one of the two materials that can actually kill White Walkers. However, given that Arya was not in good shape in the previous shots, so it looks like things are not going too well for the living.
An unidentified character appears
Moving on, we have a look at House Greyjoy's fleet, and then an over-the-shoulder view of a mysterious character that looks like he’s in command. This has got fans asking, “who is this?” Several answers have come up, but they are purely based on speculation.
This character could be a leader of the Golden Company. If you recall back to the end of the previous season, Euron Greyjoy has sailed to Essos to recruit this infamous mercenary band to Cersei’s course, so this answer is not too far-fetched.
Or he could be Victarion Greyjoy – Euron’s brother. In the books, Victarion is described as a mighty and ruthless warrior, so him coming to the show would indeed be a cool addition.
Who is Bran talking to?
We then hear Brandon Stark’s voice says "Everything you did put you where you are now. Where you belong, home," and even though we see Samwell Tarly on the screen as this is being said, is it really him that Bran is talking to? If not, who?
Well, since Bran is currently in Winterfell, it’s likely that he’s talking to one of the Starks, you know, because they are literally home. But he has been staying with Sansa and Arya since last season, so if it was either of them he would have had plenty of time to say this already. So, this leaves us with the last Stark (or a person that’s related to a Stark) that Bran hasn’t been reunited with yet: Jon Snow. Could this be where Jon Snow finds out about his real parentage?
Cersei is probably still up to no good
Back at King's Landing, Cersei still looks like she’s plotting something awful. Next to her are two more familiar figures: her Hand Qyburn and The Mountain, still guarding his queen in undeath. They seem to be standing at the dock, presumably to welcome the Golden Company. Note that Qyburn looks troubled here. Could he be having a change of heart after witnessing Cersei’s atrocities? And if so, could it be the spark that leads to her undoing?
Jaime joins the fight
Then of course, we got a glimpse of the complex character that everyone went from hating to loving: Jamie Lannister. He says, "I promised to fight for the living. I intend to keep that promise." Clearly, he has made it to Winterfell after leaving his sister/incestuous lover to join the fight against the White Walkers.
The power couple
Speaking of incest, we see quite a lot of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen --the lovers who, at the moment, don’t know that they are aunt and nephew yet. This is surely going to change this season, and we might have had some hints about it already.
In the picture above we see Jon and Dany in the (again) crypts of Winterfell. And a side note since we’re already here, these crypts seems to have some symbolic importance since all the promotions so far have revolved around them. This gives us reasons to believe that they are going to be important to the main plot as well. For a while there have been theories that the old Kings of the North will rise once more to fight the undead scourge.
But back to the main topic, Dany is standing close to the camera, looking at Jon in the distant who is in front of a tomb. It’s not clear whose tomb this is, but Lyanna’s would be a sensible answer. This is probably after Jon discovers his true identity. It is understandable for him to want to visit his mother’s grave and look at her statue. Furthermore, since Dany is here too, this also could be the part where Jon tells her that they are related by blood.
Undoubtedly this is going to be a crucial moment for both characters. For all his life Jon has been looked down as a bastard, and now he will learn that his whole identity up to that point is incorrect. There’s no surprise if he feels like his entire world is crashing down around him.
Meanwhile, Dany will also find out that her claim to being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is also not true, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how she’ll react. And then we have the whole incest thing to add on top. Yikes.
That said, there are also shots of the couple approaching the two remaining dragons. Are they going to ride them side-by-side into battle? That would be awesome indeed.
All of our questions will be answered on April 14, when Game of Thrones returns.
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