'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Trailer May Hide Battle of Winterfell Spoilers

From the first frame of the Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer, Arya’s right in the middle of the action as she races through the halls of Winterfell with blood smeared across her face. It’s an exciting moment that seems to tease the epic battle against the Night King coming this season, but there might also be a major spoiler about the Battle of Winterfell battle and Game of Thrones Season 8 hiding in plain sight.

Possible spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 below.

Could Arya Be Running From a White Walker in the Game of Thrones Trailer?

The first character we see in the trailer is Arya, breathing heavily and presumably taking a moment to rest mid-battle. Then she steels herself and begins running through the halls of Winterfell. The right side of her face is bloody, a sign that she’s taken some hits.

She’s looking over her shoulder as she runs, suggesting someone or something is chasing her.

“I know death,” we hear her voiceover. “He’s got many faces.”

But what could be chasing her?

The screenshot above doesn’t reveal much, just what looks like a dark empty hallway, but a brightened version of the trailer seems to suggest that HBO actually removed something important from the Season 8 trailer to avoid spoilers. Here’s an image from the same shot, but brightened:

The Night King may not appear to arrive at Winterfell until the end of the new trailer, but his presence may be felt in this early moment. Could that blurred out object be a Wight or even a White Walker that managed to break into Winterfell? That’s definitely a spoiler HBO would want to keep under wraps.

It’s also unclear what Arya’s holding in that scene. However, one obvious guess is that it’s her dragonglass dagger, which could also explain how she gets out of what might be a very dicey situation with an attacking undead ice zombie. (Remember, dragonglass can kill White Walkers.)

A Chronological Breakdown of Arya’s Actions in the New Game of Thrones Season 8 Trailer

Trailers never show what’s coming in perfect chronological order. The goal is to convey a thematic mood, after all, not to simply reveal plot. Arya’s appearance here is no exception.

A bit of analysis suggests that the first time we see her in the Game of Thrones trailer (out of four total appearances) might actually be the last chronologically. She definitely looks the most disheveled here, especially based on the blood on her face. Compare that to other shots where she’s unblemished or in the heat of battle and it all starts to make sense.

Chronologically, the first Arya appearance is almost definitely when we see her [marvel at Daenerys’ dragons]((https://www.inverse.com/article/53638-game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-arya-reaction-dragons-bran-dragger-theory) as they arrive at Winterfell. (This is at 1:13 in the trailer and likely happens in the first episode on Game of Thrones Season 8.)

Next, we’ll see her, calm, collected, and notably not hurt, holding what appears to be that dragonglass dagger and concluding her voiceover about the faces of death to an unknown person: “I look forward to seeing this one.” (This is at 0:20 in the trailer.)

After that, we’ll see Arya mid-battle, more than holding her own with some sort of staff. There’s no blood on her face there. (This is at 1:26 in the trailer.)

Finally, we’ll see her running and bloody. (This is at 0:02 in the trailer.) Running from what? Your guess is as good as ours, but if it’s a big enough for spoiler for HBO to actually edit it out of the Game of Thrones trailer, then we’re willing to be it’s some sort of undead monster.

Whatever she’s running from, we just hope Arya survives. We can’t handle that kind of heartbreak.

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO.