Ranking the Game of Thrones Trailers: Seasons 1-5
By Ani Bundel
Season 2: The “Seven Devils” Trailer
This is the gold standard in Game of Thrones trailers, and I believe the show is still trying to recreate it. What people may not remember is that although Florence and the Machine had broken big in 2010/2011 and Ceremonials had been out for four months when this trailer arrived, “Seven Devils” was never a single. So for many, this was the first time they would hear Welsh’s banshee cry, as it punctuated Vary’s famous “Shadow on the Wall” monologue, which had the benefit of already being one of the best speeches that would come out of Season 2, and arguably of the series.
Holy Water
cannot help you now
Holy Water
It would be good to remember at this point that this was our first glimpse of the characters following the one-two punch to the face that was Eddard’s death and Dany’s egg hatching. For many, Melisandre and Stannis were still unknown characters, but because we knew everybody else, they could get away with being the mysterious newcomers. For many, the only thing they knew about the Lannisters were that they were incestuous lovers—fans understood Cersei’s reference to “our sins.”
As for the rest of the Stark clan, they are still roiling from the loss of Eddard, Jon is a tiny speak of black in an icy landscape, Arya is dressed as a boy (when it was still fresh and new), and Sansa is being publicly abused. We are only given a mere glimpse of the callow foolishness that will lead to the downfall of Robb Stark, but it’s striking that even this early the show was already building toward the next big shock to come: the Red Wedding.
Also, note the use of footage from the Battle of the Blackwater. The show had to knock Tyrion unconscious before the Battle of the Green Fork in Season 1, but now it’s promising that things are about to get bigger, and that fan favorite Tyrion will be at the heart of it. Also striking, especially when you watch the trailers back to back: Dany is only shown in one shot in this trailer, the same as she was in Season 1. The show is still focusing, for the viewer’s sake, more on Westeros in these early seasons.