A breakdown of the Game of Thrones trailer

With just over a month from its final season premiere, Game of Thrones and HBO released an almost two-minute trailer Tuesday morning.

Unless you live under a rock, or don’t check social media every five minutes, Game of Thrones dropped their Season 8 trailer this morning.

Let’s all take a moment and squeal with delight.

This means the fight for the Iron Throne is that much closer, slightly over a month away, in fact. The trailer is giving us an unprecedented look into the season. Sure, we’ve seen a scene or two in an HBO montage here and there. We’ve even seen some cast photos.

But this trailer gives us, even more, to chew on while we wait for April 14.

Watch the full Game of Thrones trailer.

Let’s dive in to see what clues those clever showrunners (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss) gave us today.

The Game of Thrones trailer opening

We first see a close-up of Arya, heavily breathing in the dark. Then, it cuts to her running, possibly through Winterfell. At least, it looks like Winterfell to me. Half of her face is bloodied as they pan out.

Who is she running from? For the first time in many seasons, Arya looks scared. Maybe it isn’t Arya at all, but someone else, less brave, wearing her face.

In between clips of Arya running, the trailer cuts to Ser Davos walking above Winterfell and Lord Varys look towards the camera, clearly frightened. Over the montage, Arya calmly states, “I know death. He’s got many faces.”

Then, it cuts back to Arya (not running), holding a knife. She says, “I look forward to seeing this one.”

She’s clearly talking to someone whose face she’s about to snatch. Or, it could be the face of someone already dead…Littlefinger’s perhaps? Maybe this is when Arya finds out its not Littlefinger (if that theory is true.)

“Everything you did put you to where you are now.”

It seems that Sam is speaking, maybe to Jon. Because he continues, “where you belong – home.”

This could be a glimpse into Sam telling Jon his true patronage. Because let’s face it, if it wasn’t for Jon rallying others, they might not have had a chance against the White Walkers. I mean, they still may not have a chance, but at least they can try.

Over this dialogue, we see Jaime Lannister on a ship, in a fleet of three, possibly sailing north. Then, we see a cut to Tormund Giantsbane and one of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and then quickly to Bran and Sam.

Then, we see a clip of King’s Landing and Cersei with Qyburn. She seems to be smirking, but he looks at her in awe. Maybe she just did something so unfathomable, and even he is appalled by her evilness.

Gearing up for battle

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The next sequence seems to be a montage of almost the entire cast getting ready for action. It starts in Winterfell with a sweeping shot of the unsullied marching through the gates. Daenerys and Jon ride horseback with the unsullied, while Drogon and Rhaegal fly above them. Sansa looks above her in amazement.

Clearly, they are getting ready for their journey north to defeat the Night King.

We hear Jon say, “They’re coming.”

I think this next bit is probably an excerpt from Jon’s pre-battle speech.

“Our enemy doesn’t die…” Just as they show Daenerys and Jon, who has died and was brought back to life.

“…doesn’t stop…” They show Gentry and Ser Jorah, who have been two of the most willful and determined characters on the show thus far. Jorah survived greyscale to come back to his love Daenerys. He’s no quitter!

“…doesn’t feel.” We see Grey Worm, and Missandei embraced in a kiss. Maybe this is one last kiss, or a happy kiss after he returned from battle alive.

Then, we see Cersei in her room, drinking a glass of wine, crying. Cersei doesn’t cry. Or if she does, I don’t recall us ever seeing it. I hope this doesn’t mean someone close to her (Jaime) dies and that’s why she’s crying.

“I promised to fight for the living,” says Jaime. “I intend to keep that promise.”

This seems to be Jaime proving himself into the good graces of Daenerys and Jon. I’m hoping Tyrion can talk him up a bit.

At this point, the flashes of random scenes are growing much quicker. We have dragons flying, Sansa looking frightened (seriously, everyone seems scared…I guess I would be too), Grey Worm putting his helmet on, Jon at the Weirwood Tree, two people holding hands, soldiers running toward battle, more fighting, a glimpse of the Hound and Tyrion, and Daenerys closing her eyes.

None of this can really tell us much, only that what we’re about to witness is serious business and we won’t be in a laughing mood when we’re finished watching this thing.

The Game of Thrones trailer’s end

The trailer ends with a wide shot panning “the good guys” right before the battle. I can only make out Podrick, Brienne, and Ser Jorah before the shot cuts to a close-up of an icy horse hoof, with the good guys in the far distance.

I know this war against the White Walkers is the most pressing matter right now, so I am assuming that this is going to happen early on. Rumor has it, we’re going to see the largest battle scene ever to be put on film in Episode 3. That leaves three more episodes of the aftermath of that battle. Will we see another huge battle, this time, for the Iron Throne?

I’m going to make a bold prediction here and say that they are only showing us clips from the first three episodes. The Game of Thrones showrunners has worked very hard at keeping this season a secret.

Why would they give us hints about how it actually ends a month before it premieres?

What do you think about the trailer? Let me know your thoughts!

Game of Thrones premieres on April 14 on HBO.