Two new promos for Game of Thrones season 8 dropped on Sunday night, tantalizing fans with new footage and a lot of new questions. Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister are all present, but it’s the characters who are conspicuously absent that raise the most questions. Sure, they’re just promos, but can we draw any conclusions from who’s in the trailers and who’s not? Only time will tell.
We’ve included a shot-by-shot breakdown of each promo from new contributor Olivia St. James, as well as her predictions for what this all of this means.
Watch the two new promos below – but beware of potential season 8 spoilers!
Shot-by-shot breakdown:
Jon voice over.
Jon and Arya meet in the Godswood. John looks contemplative – has he just received news of who his true parents are?
Cersei looks extremely pleased. News of the Golden Company arrival? A death of someone?
Grey Worm suits up preparing for battle.
Jon approaches Dany, who’s looking wistfully into the fire. He seems concerned; she looks content, almost happy.
Drogon is flying over Winterfell. It looks tiny, he is huge. Varys, Tyrion, and Davos all watch. Perhaps this is the first time the dragons are at Winterfell and have gotten even bigger? Regardless of living with them, in the case of Varys and Tyrion, it would be a shock to see them again after a short break without them. Davos almost looks like he’s thinking “this isn’t going to end well.”
The same footage from the trailer of Sansa seeing the dragon, presumably for the first time. I really only think this expression is shock, thinking: “That. That is a dragon.” Similar to Jon’s face in Season 7. Dragons are of songs and myths after all.
Jon in the crypts perhaps lighting candles. The voice over in that moment is Jon saying, “We need to end this war.” Is he praying for strength before he goes out to battle?
More Golden Company footage on Greyjoy ships.
Dragon footage over snowy trees and wilderness, presumably around Winterfell.
Winterfell is in flames. Winterfell is in flames. Or at the very least there are thousands of torches lit in and around Winterfell…
…Which leaves the Hound visibly and rightfully scared. Prediction: he’s going to fight through the fear and overcome it to protect Sansa.
Jon and Dany are marching with the Unsullied. It looks to be when they are on their way to Winterfell. I don’t think this is marching off to battle. More dragon shots. (Here’s to hoping for some Ghost this season.)
The creepy White Walker horse looking ominously at Winterfell is back.
Arya is running through Winterfell again. The last word of the voice over is “survival” – indicating that she is going to die?
Promo #2
Shot-by-shot breakdown:
Tyrion voice over.
Dany and Jon in the same shot as first promo, marching with the Unsullied.
Tyrion is getting his speech game on again in what looks like the Great Hall with Sansa and Dany at the high table. They have a considerable distance between them. Jon is probably sitting there, blocked from view by the camera focusing on Tyrion.
A boy watches as the Unsullied march through the small village towards Winterfell. Winterfell is in the background. That is a long line of unsullied – which makes sense because they are only marching 4 abreast.
More Greyjoy ship shots.
More dragons flying in beautiful landscapes.
Dany is in black, staring into a hearth and Jon turns away from her. He seems upset or disappointed with her decision. She has on cold Dany posture meaning she’s probably made a decision that he doesn’t like and she’s shutting him out to keep her resolve.
Drogon flying over Sansa (same shots as before). Again, it’s shock on her face.
Beautiful overhead view of Winterfell. They’ve done a great job rebuilding!
The Flaming Sword returns and everything is on fire. The Hound is afraid and has a dead look in his eye.
Dany in the courtyard (episode 1 or 2 probably) looking down at either Tyrion or something, an object perhaps, delivered. Her face reads almost pleasure – it’s good whatever it is.
More fighting.
Cersei looks startled. Perhaps the fight came to her faster than she anticipated.
Winterfell is definitely on fire. Does Arya have anything to do with this?
Ends with White Walker hooves and Drogon breathing fire.
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Olivia here – If I’m this excited for two thirty second clips, then six episodes will stop my heart.
Here are some predictions: Dany is going to disappoint Jon and he’s going to turn on her. Winterfell is going to be burned to the ground again, forcing the North to move south and take on King’s Landing. Arya may or may not die. And Tyrion is going to rally them when they are squabbling about petty things. Cersei is going to die, and perhaps it will be Sansa who does it? But we saw no Brienne, Podrick, Euron, Tormund, Ed, Bran, Sam, Gilly. So, we only have two thirty second clips strategically edited to drive us crazy and speculate on. And that’s what we are doing. HBO knows us so well. 14 days and counting!
Game of Thrones final season begins on HBO Canada and Crave on April 14th