The War Of Winterfell is going to see some serious casualties as Game Of Thrones gets brutal with its longest episode ever and most bloody battle to date.
With the final season promising that no one is safe, you can place your bets now that we’re about to lose some loved ones.
But while the trailer alone had us fearing for GreyWorm and Brienne of Tarth, it also gave us a nod to a bunch of other things to come.
Here are just some of the vital clues we’ve been given ahead of the next episode…
Arya on the run
While Arya (Maisie Williams) has never seen war, she has proven herself to be quite the fighter – but her mission might be completely different than being on the battlefield.
In previous trailer Aftermath, Arya was seen running through a string of underground tunnels with a flaming torch, and in one brief moment she was seen again, in the same tunnels, for the upcoming siege.
Now we kind of know the reasons behind her frantic dash, could be seen as running with purpose rather than panic – even though she’s clearly distressed
Is she going to be taking the White Walkers by surprise with an underground attack?
Beric’s flaming sword and the Hound
Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) and his flaming sword were seen in action alongside The Hound (Rory McCann) as the siege gets underway.
Standing side-by-side underground, while Beric has his sword primed and ready – The Hound looks panicked.
It’s pretty much a cert that one of these people will die – considering they are by themselves rather than shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the army.
All it would take is a few White Walkers to notice them and they could be overpowered – and having a glaringly obvious thing like a literal flaming sword is a bit of a dead giveaway.
Brienne’s life is racing against the clock
We’ve said it before but it bears repeating – our beloved Brienne is living on borrowed time, and so being on the frontline of Winterfell’s War isn’t exactly the safest place for her.
Her devoutly loyal character has been given the recognition she desperately craved form her peers in episode two – when Jaime Lannister knighted her, making her the first woman to ever be given the honour.
Brienne’s life has been for battle, and if she were to die in one, as heartbroken as we are, it would be a fitting end – especially as she would be standing in her rightful place, shoulder-to-shoulder with the man she will never admits she truly loves, Jaime.
The crypt is not as safe as they hoped
‘The crypt is the safest place in Winterfell….Trust us, nothing will happen to you there…You can bet your bottom dollar on it’ — is a stupid thing to say/imply on Game Of Thrones.
It’s the Titanic rule – if you say something is unsinkable, then it’s pretty much a guarantee the ship is going to sink.
So with one brief moment of Varys among women and children locked in the crypt looking worried – pretty much a guarantee that something’s about to go VERY wrong within its walls.
But if the crypt is invaded by the White Walkers, that means that Tyrion Lannister and Samwell Tarly, as well as Varys, are about to meet their maker.
It also means that the lines of defence – including Daenerys’ two dragons, the Dothraki, the Lannisters and the Unsullied – have been compromised, throwing their safety into the fold too.
This shot is a fleeting one with BIG consequences.
Sansa is supposed to be in there too – but we’ve seen her with Arya within the castle grounds, clearly watching the battle unfold, so we reckon she miiiight have just managed to get lucky.
The Night King is missing
With the dead arriving in Winterfell – where on earth is their leader? His absence has us a little shook if we’re honest. He’s the main man after all.
So, speculation hats on, this could mean a number of things for the episode going forward – he’s either not there, and instead focusing on a different target with another army (King’s Landing maybe?); something major could be occurring between him and a character (like Bran, who’s literally waiting for him to pick him off); or he could be keeping us on our toes with something new.
Maybe identifying who he is in the process?
He’s the one that Winterfall want and want to take down, assured in the knowledge that the rest of the army will likely fall without him around.
Jon Snow is injured
Yeahhhhh….it’s pretty obvious that things get bloody in the heat of war, and Jon Snow looks like he’s struggling at several moments of the episode.
Clearly suffering some kind of head injury at some point, it’s unclear who exactly it is he’s fighting – or where, seeing as everything is kind of literally up in smoke and Theon Greyjoy is the only other character appearing to be in the general area.
Jon has cheated death more than once in his lifetime, could he do it again or is this it for him?
Daenerys isn’t in the battle
Not that we’ve seen anyway. There is every chance that she could be on board one of her two remaining dragons, or planning something out of sight.
But seeing as Jon is on foot and she’s now discovered that he is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne before her, it would be super convenient if he were to…like…die so she could get her status back.
If she left him to fend for himself in a war, she could hardly be blamed if he didn’t make it out either, could she?
Game Of Thrones continues Sundays on HBO and Sky Atlantic.
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