HBO released a new 2-minute trailer for the penultimate season of Game of Thrones today, and boy does it have a lot going on. HBO has promised (threatened?) that the final two seasons would contain fewer episodes, but it doesn’t look like they’ve skimped on the content as there is a whole heck of a lot to unpack here. Watch it, then meet me below to geek out.
The first thing that strikes me about the trailer is the tone – epic in scope, but also with more than a suggestion of melancholy. Things seem about to get real rough for those who have survived the grim spectre of Death George RR Martin so far, and considering all that they’ve been through I do not envy them one bit. Yet, the trailer is not without hope, hinting at the homecomings and alliances that will see characters together for the first time since season 1, or in some cases since never, which should provide some emotional catharsis between the traumas inflicted on characters and the audience.
Also, there is some very cool imagery on display here thanks to the show’s increasingly impressive budgets and effects work. We’ve got plane-sized dragons swooping over fields of battle, a dude with a flaming sword, ships from the Iron Islands headed toward King’s Landing (I think it will end badly for House Greyjoy) John Snow cutting a guy down, and Bran by a tree. So all in all, it looks like Game of Thrones.
Bring. It. On.
