The opening credits of Game of Thrones have always contained clues for eagle-eyed fans, and one change in the Season 7 credits you probably missed sure seems like a hint about the White Walkers’ plans.
Previously, when the Boltons occupied Winterfell in Seasons 5 and 6, the opening credits displayed the flayed man sigil over Winterfell. In Season 7, the Stark direwolf sigil is there once more. Season 7 has also removed Meereen from the credits — now that Daenerys is in Westeros — and it’s added the Citadel to reflect Sam Tarly’s plot.
But as one astute fan on Reddit pointed out, the opening credits made a small change to the Wall you probably didn’t notice.
In Season 6, there was water by the Wall — which fits Sandor Clegane’s Season 7 vision in the flames of a place where “the Wall meets the sea.”
But in the Season 7 credits, that water area has frozen over with snow to reflect the fact that winter has come.
Here’s the title sequence shot of the Wall in Season 6 on top and in Season 7 below it:
The Wall in Season 6 (top) vs. Season 7 (bottom)
Why does this matter?
The White Walkers’ current location is murky. Jon Snow last encountered the White Walkers at Hardhome in Season 5. In Season 6, he was preoccupied with the threat of Ramsay Bolton. The last time the Night King and the Army of the Dead appeared in Season 6, they found Bran Stark at the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave.
In the Season 7 premiere, Bran Stark had a vision of them walking, complete with a giant wight who is probably not Wun Wun — but it’s unclear if Bran was seeing into the present or the future.
Jon seems to think they’ll be at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and Sandor Clegane saw a similar vision in his flames. If that’s the case, a frozen sea makes a huge difference in their movements.
Jon was able to narrowly escape Hardhome only because the White Walkers were unable to follow his forces into the water.
If the water is frozen as the credits indicate, that complicates things for the living.
The opening credits also made one additional small change — the Inn at the Crossroads, the highly trafficked stop along the Kingsroad where Hot Pie now works, makes a little cameo. Presumably, it won’t factor into the Night King’s plans.
Game of Thrones Season 7 is currently airing Sunday nights on HBO.
