Small Details In The New Game Of Thrones Trailer Only True Fans Noticed

With only a couple of months until the premiere of Game of Thrones' seventh season on July 16th, 2017, HBO has officially kicked its marketing campaign into full gear with the first full-length trailer for the upcoming episodes. We've broken down all the small details in the new footage that you might have missed—and what exactly they mean for the upcoming season on the show. Beware: this article contains massive spoilers and speculation for the upcoming season of Game of Thrones.

Footfalls echo as Cersei enters a small courtyard or hall in the Red Keep. The room looks a lot like the book description of the Queen's Ballroom. Cersei discusses the Lannisters' desperate situation, and the shots cut to short visuals of their foes. "Enemies to the East"—we see a shot of the Unsullied, as Daenerys' fleet is sailing up the east coast of Westeros for Dragonstone. "Enemies to the West"—we see a longship sailing during a storm at night. A brief flash of lightning illuminates the Greyjoy sigil on the black sails. These visual cues (and the overall creepiness of the ship) point towards it being Euron Greyjoy's Silence.

"Enemies to the South"—we see a hand sharpening a spearhead, and spears are favored among the Dornish, especially Obara, one of Oberyn and Ellaria's "Sand Snake" daughters. "Enemies to the North"—we see Arya on horseback in a wooded area, frost on the ground. This looks a lot like the Riverlands. Why Arya? Well, she does still have the Mad Queen on her death list. "Whatever stands in our way, we will defeat it," Cersei concludes.

Throughout these cuts, we're also shown a close-up scrolling shot of the map table located in Dragonstone. It's very visually impressive, but not to be outdone, we get a glimpse of Cersei standing in a new Red Keep set that has a gigantic map painted on the floor. Didn't anybody ever tell her size doesn't matter?

We briefly glimpse ranks of marching Lannister soldiers and then return to the Red Keep throne room, where someone is standing before the Iron Throne. It's pretty difficult to tell who the supplicant is, but they do appear to have short hair. Judging by the look on Jaime's face and the way Cersei unclenches her hand from the throne, the bearer is bringing bad news. Some ideas: Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank, come to collect on their loan, or perhaps just the poor sap who has to let Cersei know about a key strategic point being lost (more on that in a bit). We also get a peek at Tyrion walking around the bluffs at what appears to be Dragonstone, as the three dragons fly free. We only get a short glimpse, but they look absolutely huge.

Next, we see what we've been waiting six seasons for: Daenerys Targaryen's arrival in Westeros. Specifically, she appears to have landed on Dragonstone, the Targaryen family seat that was most recently held by Stannis the Mannis. Later in the trailer, we glimpse Melisandre standing upon the heights of Dragonstone, watching a group of people climb the steps. The retinue appears to be too small to be Daenerys' landing party, so it may be a look at Jon and his lieutenants arriving to meet with the Dragon Queen.

As the gates open for Daenerys, you can spy a three-headed dragon sigil in bas relief on the high wall of the castle upon the hill. She's got at least part of her retinue with her, including Grey Worm and Varys. We also see Daenerys kneeling to touch a sandy beach in near-reverence, which is probably when she first sets foot on the shores of Dragonstone. "I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms," she says. Finally, we spot a Dothraki guarding Daenerys as she's seated on her crazy-cool new throne, hewn from the rock of Dragonstone itself. "And I will," she declares.

From this point forward, scenes and cuts are mixed rapidly, so we'll be consolidating related clips from throughout the rest of the trailer to make it easier to follow. We get two scenes that point to major blows being dealt to Cersei and the Lannister army. In the first, we see Unsullied pouring into a courtyard—a courtyard marked with an "L" and two rampant lions. This is most certainly Casterly Rock, which is an odd target for Daenerys to take, given that it's on the other side of the continent and would be impossible to supply. A shock-and-awe battle to defeat them on their home turf could prove demoralizing to the Lannister army, however.

Note that is there is at least one dead Lannister soldier on the ground before the Unsullied come charging in. Could someone have let them in from the inside? Daenerys has used this tactic before, first when she sent Jorah, Grey Worm and Daario into Yunkai, and again when she sent her Unsullied through the sewers into Meereen. It should also be noted that she now has Tyrion on her side, who once was put in charge of all the sewers and cisterns in Casterly Rock by his father. If anyone knows a secret way in and out of the Lannister capital, it's him. Later in the trailer, you can spot Tyrion's hand knocking over a lion marker near the edge of the map table. We'll bet anything that it was placed on Casterly Rock.

As the shouts of his pledged lords fade, Jon turns around in the Great Hall, looking over his shoulder at someone who's just entered the room. You can spot Brienne in the background—which means she and Pod make it back from Riverrun. Who might have entered? Here's hoping it's Bran or Arya, who both look to be on track to return home this season. The trailer cuts to a different scene in the hall, with all the lords assembled, including Lyanna Mormont near the front, and another child lord seated on the benches. It seems likely this is the new lord of either House Umber or Karstark. Littlefinger is lurking near the side of the hall, and we also get a glimpse of him talking alone with Sansa, obviously trying to push her towards some decision.

We see a shot of Theon, looking stunned as ashes and sparks fall through the night around him. Later, we see a pitched battle fought in the dark on the flaming deck of a ship, with a gangplank in the background. It seems obvious that this is going to be a battle between Euron's fleet and Yara's, with boarding parties sent to torch her ships and kill or capture those aboard. Later in the trailer, there's a clip showing men running across a gangplank holding torches, which is probably the start of the attack. There's also a later shot of two men falling into the water with fire above the surface, but it probably isn't from the battle at sea. Keep reading to learn why.

We see a shot of the gate at Castle Black opening, but why? It could be to let Bran and Meera through from beyond the Wall or to let a party go north into the wilds. Later, we see a group of men in Wildling-style furs running away from something, through a choke-point into a bowl-shaped area—perhaps a lake beyond the Wall. One of the men is injured. Another shot establishes that at least two of these men are Jon and Tormund, and they look frightened. They could be setting up an ambush, but it seems more likely the Night King's army has them on the run.

As a blizzard sets in, a small group of the men backs up into a circle, facing a threat from all sides. One of the coolest reveals from that split-second shot is that the man on the right side of the circle appears to be carrying a warhammer. Robert was famous for carrying a warhammer, and Joe Dempsie has been spotted filming this season, so the best bet is that Gendry is with Jon and Tormund beyond the Wall for some reason.

Backing up a bit, we see Littlefinger peeking around a corner in a dark room, smirking that infuriatingly creepy smile. Judging by the stonework and the flickering torchlight, this is probably in the crypts beneath Winterfell. We later get a short clip of Jon literally throttling Littlefinger, taking him by the neck and slamming him against the wall of the crypt. Two neat Easter eggs immediately pop out in this scene; first, the shot directly echoes/mimics the confrontation between Ned and Baelish in season one, when Ned chokes Littlefinger out against the wall of his brothel, after Ned thought Littlefinger had insulted Catelyn's honor. Secondly, you can spy the statue of Lyanna directly behind the pair when the scuffle occurs. Given the heavy echo in the scene, it's not a stretch to imagine Jon snapping after Littlefinger makes a vulgar quip—perhaps about his feelings for Sansa, or maybe even telling Jon that Lyanna is his mother (which Jon would interpret as Baelish suggesting incest between Lyanna and Ned.)

We get a glimpse of Davos as he lectures someone about the great war to come and how the warring armies need to unite if the world is to survive the coming threat. Judging by the lighting in the room, and the cut to Daenerys and Tyrion at the map table directly afterwards, it seems likely Davos is addressing Daenerys and accompanies Jon to Dragonstone. We also get to see zombie Gregor Clegane in his spiffy new Queensguard armor—all black, with silver motifs that resemble Cersei's power shoulder pads and a lion crown logo much like Cersei's. For her part, Cersei appears to be sticking to black again this season, with high necklines and cloaks required due to the chilly weather. Finally, we see a very quick shot of a man's hand, twisted and blackened, reaching out of a small porthole through a door. Is it a wight? Perhaps someone burned by dragonfire? Possibly, but we think it's really the arm of poor Ser Jorah—the greyscale has spread far up his arm, all the way to his trademark linen shirt sleeves.

The trailer is lacking in sex scenes, although we do get two glimpses of some action about to happen. In the first, we see a topless Missandei removing Grey Worm's shirt, which means the pair are really kicking up their relationship a notch. Next, HBO sticks to its "one Yara makeout scene per trailer" rule by inserting a short clip of Yara getting down with none other than the head Sand Snake herself, Ellaria Sand. With only two seasons left, even sex scenes have to serve a purpose, and our guess is that while Yara and Ellaria are indulging themselves below deck, Euron prepares to make his sneak attack—catching Yara and the rest of her crew off guard.  

We see Arya again much later in the trailer. She appears to be setting up camp and lighting a fire in a wooded area. The frost from earlier is now snow. and there are conifer trees behind her, which means this shot probably takes place after the first one and is set north of the Riverlands. As she kneels to feed her fire, she still appears to be wearing poorly-made clothing, which means this scene probably happens on her way north. The low-angle tracking shot at the beginning of this scene might point to an Arya reunion with her long-lost direwolf pup, Nymeria. We get another brief clip of Arya looking under a bed for something, which appears to have been shot in one of Winterfell's stone-floored bedrooms. Welcome home, Arya; try not to kill anyone.

Remember how we said there were two Lannister battles in this trailer? Well, here's the second. We see a shot of a Dothraki horde charging across a sere field, with the riders leaping from the mounts in attack. In one of those shots, you can see a Dothraki warrior descending, arakhs flashing, upon a man in Lannister armor. The final shot of the trailer also establishes that the landscape is steppe-like, which seems to fit the area around northern Dorne or the Reach (region of House Highgarden). We see a massive Drogon flying above the Dothraki army, and a pause at the right moment will reveal Daenerys, now dwarfed by his size and riding on his back into battle.

Now, remember the clip of men falling into water from before? We think it actually belongs to this scene. If you watch closely, you can see that unlike the nighttime battle between the Greyjoys, the water the men fall into is lit from above with sunlight. Additionally, right after they fall in, a gout of flame shoots through the air above them which looks suspiciously like dragon fire. Perhaps there's a lake nearby during this battle, and two random Lannister soldiers dive in to avoid being burned alive. With so few episodes left, it seems unlikely that HBO would waste such a cool shot on random characters, so our bet is the figures who fall in are actually Bronn and Jaime—the armor of the man on the right even looks like Jaime's. Hopefully they manage to get out of there without drowning or being burned to a crisp.