'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Promo Reveals Who's Missing From a Big Battle
The latest teaser for Game of Thrones Season 8 might not show any actual footage, but it could still reveal quite a bit about the upcoming Battle of Winterfell. A new promo titled “Aftermath” presumably showing the, well, aftermath of the fight against the Night King teases the death (or at least involvement) of a bunch of important characters. But the ones who are missing may be even more interesting.
Possible spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 below.
The new Games of Thrones teaser shows Winterfell in ruins, but we don’t see any actual people. Instead, the camera pans over a series of iconic items associated with various main characters: Tyrion’s Hand of the Queen pin, Arya’s Needle, Bran’s wheelchair, Jaime’s golden hand, Daenerys’ dragon chain, and Jon’s Longclaw. We also see a feather, which was placed on Lyanna Starks grave in Season 1.
It’s unclear what any of this means (if anything at all). We seriously doubt that everyone will die at the Battle of Winterfell, which is all but confirmed to happen during Episode 3 just halfway through Season 8. However, the absence of several characters feels equally important to the ones who get referenced in “Aftermath.”
The biggest absence is Cersei, though that’s not really a surprise. The current Queen of Westeros and ruler of Kings Landing isn’t expected to make the trip up north to fight the Night King. Instead, she’s busy hiring a new army to fight against her remaining human enemies.
However, if you were thinking that Cersei might have a change of heart and rush to Winterfell with her forces to fight against the Night King, you can rest assured that won’t happen.
The more interesting absence here, however, is Sansa, who will definitely be in Winterfell during the battle but may not join in on the action. Previous trailers seemed to show Sansa hiding out in the crypts during the battle, though actor Sophie Turner has hinted that her character could suit up in battle armor at some point in Season 8.
It’s “very protective and she buttons herself up,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I wanted her to have a bit of armor and be a bit more warrior like. She’s like the warrior of Winterfell.”
So does that mean Sansa will actually join the fight against the Night King? Maybe she’s not as absent from that “Aftermath” promo as we think.
Getting back to that feather. When we first saw it, the feather was associated with Sansa’s aunt, Lyanna, after King Robert Baratheon placed it in front of her grave. However ,we also saw Sansa pick up the feather in Season 5, so it may represent her in this case. After all, we’re pretty sure Lyanna won’t appear in Game of Thrones Season 8. That is, unless the Night King’s plan involves raising all the dead fro the crypts of Winterfell.
Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
