The second trailer for Game of Thrones season 7 has dropped, and it contains a frenzy of action, intrigue, and Jaime Lannister’s now-legendary sexy fire ride.
But amidst all the flash, the trailer manages to work in many a subtle nuance as well—that is, if you’re willing to don your tinfoil hat. Consider that your content warning, because I’ve gone full conspiracy theorist and there’s no turning back now. Winter may be here, but I have no chill.
Let’s start with the curious juxtaposition of the voiceovers and their accompanying visuals. The trailer has voiceovers provided by, in chronological order, Aidan Gillan (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark). This is opposed to the first trailer, which was narrated by Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), and Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), each of whom represent a different faction: She who has the Iron Throne, she who wants the throne, and he who says the throne is irrelevant when the White Walkers are on the march. In this way, the first trailer compartmentalizes the clashes we can expect to see in on July 16: Cersei and Daenerys will have a power struggle against the backdrop of the potential obliteration of all mankind.
So what about the significance of the voiceovers in the second season? Let’s dive in.
"“Don’t fight in the North, or the South. Fight every battle, everywhere, always, in your mind.” —Petyr Baelish, paired with a long shot of Sansa’s glamorous slow-mo walk through the Winterfell godswood"
Sansa has been fighting mental battles for as long as we’ve known her. In a way, she’s struggled more with herself than with external forces. Who is she, who does she want to be, who should she be? The mistakes of her youth—her love for Joffrey, and her trust in Cersei and Littlefinger alike—have all but defined Sansa for many people in the audience. In my opinion, Sansa has suffered enough, and perhaps more so than many of her fellow surviving characters.
Without the episodes themselves, we can’t definitively say what Sansa’s struggles will be this year, nor how she’ll contend with them. But thanks to season 6, it seems safe to say that Littlefinger’s continued presence and Sansa’s somewhat tumultuous relationship with Jon will be her main obstacles. She’s not yet met her goals nor reached her full potential, and considering where she could go from here provides food for thought.
Take the opening seconds of the trailer, where a Sansa who looks on the verge of tears walks towards the camera. Let’s assume—as one astute Tumblr user suggests—that silhouette behind Sansa around 0:14 is Jon. This initial assumption is our jumping-off point to a myriad of others — I did say we were tinfoiling, didn’t I?
Maybe Jon has just told Sansa that he’s riding south to mine for dragonglass. With another war looming down south, Sansa would know that Jon couldn’t remain at Winterfell. Of course, that wouldn’t hinder her emotional response at being left alone at Winterfell yet again. Last time that happened, it went spectacularly badly.
But there’s generally more going on in Game of Thrones than meets the eye, and I think that’s the case here. So allow me to pitch you another possibility for why Sansa might be leaving Jon in the godswood with tears about to spill onto her face: might Jon have just made a confession of love? “My lord father believed no man could tell a lie in front of a heart tree,” Jon says in A Clash of Kings. “The Old Gods know when men are lying.” There’s nothing like death to teach a man the value of doing what he wants in life, and if you ask me, there were plenty of hints at something more developing between Jon and Sansa in season 6. I don’t throw the word “literally” around lightly, but Eric Carmen’s “Hungry Eyes” was literally playing every time Jon looked Sansa’s way for just a fraction of a second longer than what is platonically acceptable. What better way to demonstrate that newly acquired zest for living than to declare your romantic intentions to your presumed half-sister on sacred ground?
Then there’s the way the Jon and Sansa relationship parallels some of the other romances on the show, including Robb/Talisa, Sam/Gilly, Jaime/Brienne, Jaime/Cersei, and perhaps most notably Ned/Catelyn (again and again and some more). A significant moment between Jon and Sansa in the godswood would only further those parallels. Also consider the role of the godswood role in the Starks’ lives–It is a place of peace, reflection, repentance and forgiveness…and marriage. It’s both where Sansa was married to Ramsay in season 5 and where she rejected Littlefinger’s advances in the season 6 finale. Subtext! Subtext everywhere!
Finally, consider that, in his original blueprint for the Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin envisioned a love triangle between Jon, Arya, and Tyrion (really). It’s been speculated that a Jon-Sansa-Littlefinger love triangle could replace it.
Am I just a thirsty shipper? Maybe. But the idea of a Jon/Sansa endgame is far from the most absurd theory out there. The supposition that Sansa betrays Jon is frankly more crackpot than my bet that she marries him instead.
"“For centuries our families fought together, against their common enemy, despite their differences, together. We need to do the same if we’re gonna survive, because the enemy is real. It’s always been real.” —Jon Snow, paired with a collection of shots that focus largely on Daenerys"
The obvious conclusion here is that Jon’s words are directed at Daenerys, but the Starks and Targaryens do not share a history of standing together against a common enemy. In fact, these two families have fought in the past (see: Robert’s Rebellion). It’s far more likely that Jon is addressing a group of Northern families (although there’s been plenty of squabbling between them of late, too).
The “enemy” Jon refers to is undoubtedly the White Walkers. But—is your tinfoil hat still on?—it also offers some hint of what I believe will be Daenerys’ accelerated descent into villainy. Note that, upon Jon’s utterance of the “enemy,” the camera hones in on a shot of Daenerys. Coincidence? My bet is no. But then, I’m basically this still from Signs over here, so what do I know?
Another point of interest here is that, throughout the seasons, Daenerys hasn’t been viewed as a serious threat by any of the characters in Westeros—not by Ned, nor by Tywin—and as such she hasn’t been a “real enemy” until now, when she’s stepping onto Westerosi soil. I see Jon’s voiceover as having two meanings: It is, at the outset, a warning about the White Walkers. And more subtly, it’s foreshadowing the breaking of whatever alliance he might forge with Daenerys in order to defeat the Night King and his merry band of misfits.
Look, I’m hyped for Targbowl. Not only do I want a Jon vs. Daenerys showdown where the Space Jam theme headlines their every interaction, but I think it’s imminent. These two have radically different approaches to their morals and politics (Jon strikes understanding and friendship with the Free Folk while Daenerys commits arson because the special effects are pretty rad). And if we assume that Jon’s parentage will take center stage at some point, Daenerys probably won’t react kindly to competition for the Iron Throne.
"“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” —Sansa, paired with shots of Jon riding into the snowy night"
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Starks are bringing this home. This story begins and ends with the North, Winterfell, and the people who rule it. No, I don’t think this voiceover/shot combo foreshadows Jon’s death (been there, done that) or Sansa’s betrayal of him, but rather affirms his identity as one of the pack–as a Stark, as Sansa declared him to be in the season 6 finale. While Jon’s true parentage will play a role in the final seasons—because why tease and hype it up for years without any payoff?—he’s a Stark at heart, and this moment acknowledges that.
In the final shot of the trailer, Sansa delivers Ned’s words from A Game of Thrones while Jon mimics the man’s honorable actions, facing down invaders to keep his homeland safe. This particular juxtaposition is also an obvious mirroring of Jon’s stance during the Battle of the Bastards, an endeavor he faced for and because of Sansa.
Furthermore, the final shot reminds the audience of why Sansa and Jon were the first Starks to reunite: Because no matter how tenuous their relationship was in childhood, even the weakest of Stark links can’t be broken. Sansa and Jon have a bond all their own—one that will only strengthen after the long-awaited R+L=J confirmation. Sansa will no longer feel compelled to honor her mother’s memory by begrudging or resenting Jon, and since they’re only cousins after all, they can resolve all that attraction from season 6 without fuss.
Based on these analyses, my big takeway is that the idea of Starkbowl is a red herring for Targbowl. Or at least, it’s a red herring for something. Because the Starks don’t forsake their own for their individual self-interests—they’re not the Lannisters.
Meanwhile, Daenerys’ desire for the Iron Throne is driven solely on a sense of entitlement akin to her late brother Viserys’ in season 1. An alliance will be necessary to overcome the White Walkers, but there isn’t a chance season 7 will end with the good guys holding hands in a “Kumbaya” circle. This is Game of Thrones we’re talking about—it’s not that easy. There needs to be a liability, an “enemy” among them as well as against them. Daenerys once promised to break the wheel, after all, and not everyone is going to be okay with that.
There are only three weeks to go until we see whether my crackpot theories bear any fruit. In the meantime, I’m rearranging my tinfoil hat into a crown. Regardless of where season 7 takes us, I’ve earned that much.
Next: Easter eggs and callbacks in the second trailer for Game of Thrones season 7
h/t Arya’s Meat Pies