Summer is upon us, and winter is nipping at its heels.
HBO has unleashed another new trailer for Game of Thrones, which premieres its seventh season July 16. This time, the snowfall set to cover the Seven Kingdoms is front and center, appropriate enough given that today (June 21) is the summer solstice. In the trailer, House Stark’s iconic words take on all-new meaning: Winter is here, and with it, comes war.
The trailer begins and ends with Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), an instrumental figure in the great Westeros power struggle. She walks through the snow as her chaotic mentor (or “stalker,” if you prefer) Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) offers up some advice: “Don’t fight in the North or the South. Fight every battle everywhere, always — in your mind.”
From there, the trailer takes on a haunting tone, as series composer Ramin Djawadi’s “Light of the Seven” kicks in — the same score that played as King’s Landing was set on fire back in the season six finale. There are other forms of heat seen in the two-minute video, though the focus is very much on winter’s imminent arrival, and what that means for all of the players involved.
“For centuries, our families fought together against their common enemy, despite their differences — together,” says Jon Snow (Kit Harington), as images of war rage across the screen. “We need to do the same if we’re going to survive, because the enemy is real. It’s always been real.”
Sansa closes the trailer by echoing Jon’s message, but rephrasing it with her late father’s words: “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies — but the pack survives.”
After six seasons’ worth of stories spread far across the world of ice and fire, Thrones is poised to start tightening the disparate threads into one knot in season seven. For instance, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) has finally set sail for Westeros, with a massive army in tow that includes Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), the Ironborn, the Unsullied, and an alliance with Dorne. At long last, Dany has her sights set on her birthright, but before she can claim the Iron Throne, she’ll have to get past Mad Queen Cersei and her remaining forces — meaning a showdown between dragon fire and wildfire is all but inevitable at this point.
What’s more, Daenerys isn’t the only Targaryen with royal designs, even if she’s the only one who knows about her true heritage. There’s also Jon Snow, recently named King in the North following his successful campaign to win back Winterfell during the Battle of the Bastards. He doesn’t know it yet, but Jon is secretly the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, the dreamy prince who was killed at the height of Robert’s Rebellion. Rhaegar happens to be Daenerys’ older brother, which means Jon and Dany are secretly related. Not quite Luke and Leia levels of twisted, but it’s up there.
In addition to the new winter-themed trailer, HBO is set to release new character posters for the coming season on Twitter. Fans can unlock the posters by tweeting various emoji with the hashtag #WinterIsHere to the official @GameOfThrones account. Stay tuned to THR.com/GameOfThrones as those posters are revealed.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
-
![]()
-
Live Feed
‘Dave’ Breakout Tenea Intriago on Playing a Stalker Opposite Brad Pitt and Finding Humanity in Villains
![]()
-
Tupac Shakur
‘Dear Mama’ Director Allen Hughes on Tupac Shakur’s Legacy: “He Lived More in a Day Than Most in a Year”
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
tom bateman
Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina Couldn’t Stop Laughing While Filming ‘Based on a True Story’: “We Drove People Crazy”
![]()
