Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons menace the skies over Westeros as the final showdown takes shape in a new Season 8 Trailer. (Photo: ScreenCap)
The Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer offers a few subtle hints about what’s to come in the final season of the HBO blockbuster series. One thing is certain, Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons have arrived to menace Westeros. But that’s not all.
The final showdown is all about the winter, a metaphor for the Kingdom of the North descending on the Lanisters at King’s Landing in the south. But more ominously (and more obviously) it also symbolizes the White Walkers’ inexorable advance.
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Arya (Maisie Williams) gets the early scenes in the trailer. She’s depicted as both the hunted and the hunted. She can be seen running breathlessly, fearful, through a dark corridor, as if she’s being pursued.
“He’s got many faces,” she says, an obvious reference to death and the man with no name. As the scene cuts to an anxious crowd illuminated by torches on a dark night, she adds, gazing menacingly at her sword, “I look forward to seeing this one.”
You may recall from Season 7, Arya clashed with Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) leading Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelis (Aidan Gillen) to try to undermine her. But the tables are turned on Littlefinger. He’s accused of murder and treason, and Arya ultimately executes him.
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In the next scene Daenerys and her legions can be seen sailing across the Narrow Sea heading for Westeros.
Much of Season 7 focused on Daenerys arrival in Westeros with her army and three dragons to wage war against the Lannisters.
Daenerys eventually forms an alliance with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to fight the White Walker army. They can been seen together in a scene with two of her dragons.
Oh… and they also made love.
Jon turns out to be a trueborn Targaryen named Aegon and legitimate heir to the Iron Throne through a secret marriage between Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
So what’s that make Daenerys, his cousin?
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) awaits her fate in the imposing citadel of Kings Landing.
“Everything you did, and what you were, you are now,” she’s counseled. “It’s where you belong… home.”
As usual, Cersei pulls a betrayal in Season 7. She turns on Jon Snow and plans to use the Golden Company of Braavos to secure Westeros. Jaime, finally fed up, deserts her and rides north.
But it all comes back to the dragons, soaring majestically, but also menacingly over Winterfell and deep snow-covered ravines in the north and Kings Landing in the south.
They’re also a metaphor, for the death and destruction that’s to come. No wonder the clip ends with… oops, that would be a spoiler.
Season 7 aired more than 18 months ago. So far, the new Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer provides the clearest glimpse, however slight, of what’s to come.
Check out the Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer below, and let us know your thoughts.