Literally Every Tiny Detail You Might Have Missed About The New ‘Game Of Thrones’ Trailer

The Game of Thrones trailer for season 8 is finally here! I’ve already watching it approximately 127 times.

We’ve had a long break between the last season of Game of Thrones — tensions are high! We’d be keen even if it didn’t happen to be the final season ever.

There’s a LOT going on in this trailer too, and a lot of clues and hints and conspiracy theories to go through. Watch the trailer here, and let’s walk through it.

Let’s get straight into the breakdown…

Arya Stark

The trailer opens with Arya, covered in blood and dirt, hiding from someone or something. She’s tearful and breathing heavily – her “No One” mask is well and truly gone. But stress gives way to determination as she braces herself — and then runs for it.

She’s running through the corridors of Winterfell — running AWAY from something — likely wights or White Walkers (probably the latter – more in that in a sec). She’s alone, petrified (eek!) and has a dragonglass dagger in her hand.

There’s no doubt this is during the Battle of Winterfell, which the show’s creators have been teasing as the most epic on-screen battle ever attempted.

A LOT of the shots from the trailer are the Battle of Winterfell, actually, which is unsurprising considering that’s what they’ve released the most info about, while keeping the rest of the season shrouded in mystery.

I predict the battle will happen much sooner than we might expect. We know that Miguel Sapochnik (the director of the Battle of Winterfell ep, famous for previously directing the Battle of the Bastards and Hardhome) is directing episode three and five of Season 8. Traditionally, the second last episode of the season has the most epic battle scene, but I’m betting the Battle of Winterfell happens in episode three rather than five this time around.

Perhaps ANOTHER epic battle (the Battle of King’s Landing?) will happen in five.

Hey, It’s The Onion Knight

The next shot in the trailer is of Ser Davos walking the battlements at Winterfell, clearly preparing for the fight.

Cut back to Arya running through the corridors — this time there’s slightly better lighting, and we get a look at the open wound on her face. She’s clearly taken some brutal hits. Fingers crossed she’s leading whoever is chasing her into a trap like that time she lured the Waif back in Season 6. Rather than, you know, just running scared.

We then see Varys, along with the non-fighting women and children — including Gilly and baby Sam in the background — taking refuge in the crypts at Winterfell. Fans have long predicted that something significant will happen in the crypts — perhaps the battle will even end there. Varys’ concerned look in this shot could just be at the chaos erupting above — but what if it’s because the crypts are being breached?

Back to Arya, who is taking a page out of her bae Gendry’s book because she is STILL RUNNING. In this shot, you can just make out the shape of whoever is chasing her in the background. It looks more like a White Walker than a wight (although truthfully it’s more of a blob than anything at this stage).

Cut to an earlier scene where Arya was clearly told (by Jon, probably — and side note, the prospect of them reuniting is one of the things I’m MOST excited about for this season) about the White Walkers, and was given the dragon glass dagger.

Her “No One” mask is firmly in place here — a stark (heh) contrast to the previous shot where she’s so scared. In this scene, she says “I know Death. He’s got many faces. I look forward to seeing this one.” I have a feeling she may just regret those words…

Boats!

We then see Euron Greyjoy’s ships ferrying the Golden Company — a ruthless army of sellswords — from Essos to King’s Landing.  You might remember Cersei told Jaime that Euron would be doing this back in the Season 7 finale. She’s hoping the Golden Company will help her defeat Daenerys and Jon and even the White Walkers. Lol good luck with that Cersei.

BTW, no that is NOT a Season 1-esque Jaime on board the ship, looking over the Golden Company. It’s their leader, who in the books is called Harry Strickland. He does NOT look like this (he’s portly and balding) so this character might wind up with a different name, or perhaps the show has just given him a makeover. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done that.

One thing is certain — it’s not Daario Naharis, as some fans theorised (although he may still be hiding somewhere, who knows. But I reckon his story is done in the show).

The next shot is very exciting — we have confirmation that Beric and Tormund are alive!

If you remember, the last time we saw them was in the Season 7 finale, desperately trying to escape the Night King’s attack on Eastwatch. It looks like they successfully got away and made it to Castle Black, where they’ve met up with Dolorous Edd.

There’s a good chance they’ve jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, though — I predict the Night King’s first port of call once he enters Westeros will be to take down Castle Black. I think we’ll see that in episode one or two.

Bran And Sam

We then get a shot of Bran and Sam, with a noticeable steamy breath from Sam, likely indicating the White Walkers are close. It seems Bran and Sam have sequestered themselves somewhere safe during the Battle of Winterfell.

No doubt Bran will be using his Three Eyed Raven powers to help with the battle somehow — his connection with the Night King has GOT to come into play.

During these shots, we get a voiceover from Bran saying, “Everything you did brought you where you are now. Where you belong. Home.”

He is DEFINITELY talking to Jon in the wake of him learning the truth about who is parents really are. What’s really interesting is that in the trailer, the moment when Bran says “where you belong” is placed over a shot of the castle at King’s Landing, reinforcing the idea that where Jon belongs is on the Iron Throne.

We then see Cersei, looking extremely smug, likely about to receive the Golden Company and Euron. She’s still wearing her Season 7 black rather than the Lannister red we’ve seen her wear in the Season 8 promo shots. Qyburn and the Mountain are by her side, as ever.

 

Then there’s a shot of a child watching Jon and Dany arrive at Winterfell with their entourage. It echoes the sequence from the very first episode of Season 1, in which a young Bran and Arya watched King Robert and Cersei arrive at Winterfell.

Significantly, this is the moment in the trailer when Bran’s voiceover says “home”, indicating that no matter who Jon is or where he “belongs”, Winterfell will always be his home.

Mum And Dad Are Home

Next we see Jon and Dany looking MAJESTIC AF approaching Winterfell.

And the dragons flying over Winterfell while Sansa looks on, appropriately awed.

Dany approaches a more-emo-than-usual Jon in the crypts.

He’s either standing in front of the statue of Ned or Lyanna (probably Ned), and there’s no doubt he knows the truth here about the fact that Lyanna and Rhaegar are his real parents. Whether Dany does remains to be seen — if she doesn’t, he’s probably about to tell her.

If she DOES, it sure is interesting, considering she’s still looking at him very lovingly. It suggests that, unlike what many fans are predicting, the truth won’t drive a wedge between them. The Targaryens are huge fans of incest, after all.

Off The Boat

Then we see Gendry (finally!) overseeing the making of dragon glass weapons. As someone who is very personally invested in the idea of Gendry and Arya reuniting, the fact that he’s likely at Winterfell has me EXTREMELY excited.

The next couple of shots are characters — Jorah, Missandei and Grey Worm — preparing for battle at Winterfell. Missandei and Grey Worm are kissing goodbye. It’s all very ominous.

We then have Jaime fighting alongside Pod at what is safe to assume is the Battle of Winterfell. As someone who is very personally invested in the idea of Jaime and Brienne reuniting, this also makes me EXTREMELY excited. And also nervous because oh god so many of my faves are gonna die.

Jon’s voiceover over these scenes, by the way, says  “They’re coming. Our enemy doesn’t tire. Doesn’t stop. Doesn’t feel.” He loves an uplifting pre-battle chat.

Cersei

Next up is Cersei on the Iron Throne in a mostly empty throne room. Qyburn and the Mountain are again by her side, and what looks like Euron and the leader of the Golden Company are in front of her.

The following shot is kind of hard to interpret without more context.

In it, Cersei is very emotional — but whether it’s positive or negative emotions is really hard to gauge. She’s smiling, but she’s teary. It seems…bittersweet.

One thing to note — she’s drinking wine. No surprise for her, really, except for the fact that she refused wine in the Season 7 finale because she was pregnant. So in this scene she either gives zero fucks, or she’s no longer pregnant. Which means enough time has passed that she’s had the baby or — more likely — she loses the baby.

There’s more shots of Dragons flying around the North, and we see Arya looking up in awe while those around her run scared. She’s totally looking at the dragons here — she’s always been fascinated by them. Remember when she found the dragon skulls in King’s Landing way back in Season 1? And she also named her direwolf Nymeria after a Targaryen dragon-rider.

We get another shot of Grey Worm ready for battle…

Jon looking and acting all Ned-y contemplating stuff in the Winterfell godswood…

And the Hound, possibly injured and definitely concerned, while a fire rages behind him. He’s either in a battle or CLEGANEBOWL (GET HYPE).

Then we have Jaime saying, “I promised to fight for the living. I intend to keep that promise.”

There’s a very high chance this is him arriving at Winterfell and pledging to fight with them (to Jon and Dany, or maybe even Brienne). This is a significant moment for him — the man everyone calls Oathbreaker.

Various Battle Shots

We then get some generic battle shots, mixed in with Jon running. It echoes the Hardhome shot of Jon running — only this time, unlike then, he is completely alone.

One of the battle shots is of horses running, and we can see some white legs amongst them.

At first I got excited and thought this might be Ghost, but on closer inspection I think it might just be a white horse. We have been told Ghost WILL be in this season though, so it would make sense if he were in the Battle of Winterfell. Which is both exciting and absolutely terrifying. I am not ready to watch more direwolves die.

Dany and Jon approach the two remaining dragons. Significantly, while Dany walks straight towards Drogon, Jon is closer to Rhaegal, the dragon named after his father. Perhaps we’ll finally see him riding a dragon this season after all.

There’s a shot of Sansa looking very annoyed — this is probably from the sequence where Dany and Jon arrive at Winterfell. It matches up with what we’ve already seen of her reaction to them in previous teasers.

We get to see Arya fighting like the badass she is. This no doubt predates the running scared scenes we saw earlier — unless it’s an entirely different battle altogether. HMMMM.

Dany shuts her eyes and looks very stressed/tired, which could be about any number of things. Like being pregnant at the end of the world when she thought she’d never conceive again. Or finding out her baby-daddy is her nephew. Or the undead coming to murder everyone she knows and loves. Or Cersei still being a little bitch about one giant pointy uncomfortable chair. You know, just minor things.

Hey, It’s Tyrion!

Then there’s Tyrion looking up with a very worried expression on his face. Maybe because it reminds me of his creepy look when Jon and Dany were boning in the Season 7 finale, but something about this shot makes me think he might be watching the two of them ride those dragons.

He could also just be in the Winterfell courtyard, looking up at someone on the balcony — Jon and Dany together, perhaps, or maybe even Sansa. The two of them were once married, remember, and their reunion is sure to be interesting.

There’s a cool shot of Drogon breathing fire. Maybe in battle? I am really not ready for any more dragons to die. Keep them and the direwolves safe, PLEASE. (Haha who am I kidding.)

There are more shots of the gang, ready and waiting for battle.

And finally, we see a chilling image of an undead horse arriving at Winterfell, no doubt with a White Walker on its back and the entire army of the wights behind it.

I’ve never been simultaneously so ready and so NOT ready for anything in my life.

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Jenna Guillaume is a Sydney-based writer who loves all things TV and pop culture. She tweets @JennaGuillaume, and her new book, ‘What I Like About Me’ is available now.