The Pack Survives: Stark Symbolism in the new season 8 teaser trailer

Speculation

Now the question becomes: from whom does Jon need protection once the truth of his lineage is revealed? The White Walkers aren’t likely to care either way, but Cersei, Daenerys, and the lords of the North will.

While the Northern lords will undoubtedly raise objections, it seems unlikely that they will abandon the Starks again. Sansa has earned their loyalty, and she and Arya will ensure that loyalty is extended to Jon. I expect more grand speeches to be made in Winterfell’s great hall, which is usually where the North makes its decisions.

Cersei is already an enemy, even though Jon is currently under the impression that she’s allied herself with him and Daenerys in the war against the White Walkers. On Cersei’s end, though, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is irrelevant. Whether Jon is Ned Stark or Rhaegar Targaryen’s son, he and the North are her enemies. If the parentage reveal reaches her ears, she may try to strike a new deal with him: Refuse his right to the throne and allow it to pass to her, in exchange for her cooperation and the Golden Company. Now, that’s not to say that Cersei is to be trusted regardless of deals struck, but she may offer it nonetheless.

This leaves us with Daenerys, who puts a lot of stake in her claim to the Iron Throne. “I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms,” she told Jon when they met, “and I will.” Learning that Jon’s claim is stronger than her’s could rattle her. True, Jon has bent the knee to her, but only after multiple refusals, and new information about his parentage could change his position. His loyalty is first and foremost with the North, as he declared in season 7. “The North is my home. It’s part of me, and I’ll never stop fighting for it, no matter the odds.”

If the North freely follows him after the parentage reveal, and if they snub Daenerys in the process, we’re potentially looking at another blast from the past: a new generation of Targaryens duking it out, a second Dance of Dragons. In that case, Sansa and Arya will have to take up arms in their own ways to not only assure Jon of his place as a Stark, but to protect him from his Targaryen roots.

No matter your take on the newest teaser, it certainly has given fans plenty to think about until the next bread crumb drops.

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