Game of Thrones is finally coming back for a final season this April, and a new trailer released on Sunday evening reveals the exact release date for the Season 8 premiere. The trailer also seems to offer new footage, showing Jon Snow, Arya, and Sansa Stark in the Crypts of Winterfell, but is HBO trying to trick us with our latest look at GoT Season 8?
First, the important part. Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres on Sunday, April 14, presumably at 9 p.m. That’s exactly three months from now, which might sound like a long time but is really nothing considering that the last episode of GoT to air was back in August 2017.
As for the new teaser trailer, it shows the three Stark siblings exploring the crypts underneath Winterfell where past royalty is entombed. We hear the words of several dead Starks, including Ned (Sean Bean) as we pass by their statues. Then, finally, the three living Starks reach three statue versions of themselves. Before they can react, the ground is covered in frost and a single feather appears. Our heroes prepare to face some unseen threat as the video ends.
There’s a ton to unpack here, from the meaning of that feather (likely a reference to Bran/the Three-Eyed Raven) along with the specific lines of dialogue used in the trailer, but for the moment there’s one important thing to address. None of what we just saw actually happened, probably.
It’s tempting to think that this teaser could be HBO revealing even more new footage from Game of Thrones Season 8, but based on what we see it seems clear that this video was shot specifically as a teaser trailer. It’s possible it could double as a vision seen by someone on the show in a dream, but now that we’ve all seen it already it seems unlikely the series would repeat the entire thing — especially with just six episodes remaining.
So enjoy this new teaser and dissect it as much as you’d like (that’s what we’ll be doing for the next few days), but remember that none of it actually happens on the show. In other words: It’s not canon.
Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres April 14 on HBO.
