HBO has released a new promo trailer for Game of Thrones season 7, featuring Lena Headey, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke decked out head to toe as Cersei Lannister, Jon Snow, and Daenerys Targaryen respectively. Let’s break it down shot by show and see what we can learn.
But first, the promo itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxWfvtnHtS0
So this is more involved than the teaser trailer HBO released a few weeks back — the one featuring statues modeled after the House sigils tearing at each other — but shy of a proper trailer. The footage here is new, but not taken from the actual episodes. We’ll take it.
Anyway, the trailer opens with a host of a hard stone floor. A shadow falls over it as a melancholy, drum-heavy remix of James’ “Sit Down” begins to play. It’s Cersei, still wearing a version of her black coronation dress from the season 6 finale.
Next, a shot of Jon Snow stalking the halls of Winterfell. As it’s taken through a doorway, this one is more remote, as though someone is spying on Jon.
Finally, we see Dany walking through her new home, blurry in the background while a big honking shot of flaming candles talks up the foreground. Because fire is her thing.
This is the strategy the promo employs throughout — it cuts between these three characters as each of them take their new seats of power, with varying levels of comfort. We can take this as the theme of the new seasons: three leaders with competing interests posturing while a dire problem elsewhere becomes too big to ignore…