By now, you’ve surely seen breakdowns of the “Game of Thrones” Season 8 trailer, you’ve heard the theories about dead Starks rising from the grave, and you’re ready for trailer No. 2. But before you move on, there’s one question that begs further discussion: Uh, what’s the deal with Tyrion?
Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), despite being one of the most popular characters in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, is shown in the trailer just for a brief second, looking up and appearing somewhat distressed. The moment got us wondering what he was looking at, and, through all the theories and possibilities, we keep coming back to one thought:
Tyrion may be watching Jon Snow ride a dragon
Tyrion has been staring at dragons in “Game of Thrones” promotional materials for years. In a Season 5 poster, he took in the sight of a dragon. Then, the Season 6 trailer showed him holding a torch during the scene where he unchained Dany’s (Emilia Clarke) dragons. And the Season 7 trailer featured him watching the dragons from the edge of a Dragonstone cliff. It’s like, we get it, dude, you like dragons.
Given this, it’s reasonable to think he’s looking at dragons in the Season 8 trailer, too. But could he also be watching Jon Snow (Kit Harington) acting like some hotshot dragon flyboy? And what would that mean?
Let’s examine the evidence:
The logistics check out
At this point, everyone expects Jon to ride a dragon in the final season. (It’d probably be more shocking if the King in the North just stayed grounded.) The Ringer’s “Binge Mode” guessed that this moment from the trailer would possibly be when Jon would “mount up” on Rhaegal, a dragon conveniently named after his biological father, Rhaegar Targaryen:
The trailer also features this fiery shot of Drogon and Rhaegal soaring through the wilderness. With HBO having edited out characters from trailers in the past ― much like Marvel does all the time ― it’s suspected that this sequence may actually show Daenerys Targaryen and Jon riding dragons side-by-side in the final season:
Though some believe Tyrion is actually shown at King’s Landing in the trailer, it’s more likely he’s at Winterfell, where he’d have to be to bear witness to all of this. Redditor Excellent_Aerie explains:
OK, now that there’s at least a possibility he’s looking up at Jon, another hint seems to be that troubled expression on his face.
Tyrion’s look is reminiscent of his last scene in Season 7
The last time we saw Tyrion, he was also looking distressed as Dany, Jon and the King in the North’s golden ratio hiney were all getting to know each other behind closed doors. His look in the Season 8 trailer immediately harkens back to this moment, possibly hinting he’s looking at Dany and Jon again.
Dinklage later explained the Season 7 look to Entertainment Weekly, saying, “Obviously he has feelings for Daenerys. He loves her — or thinks he does. She’s awe-inspiring. He’s questioning that because he doesn’t have a good track record for falling in love. There’s jealousy wrapped up in there.”
Translation: Tyrion hates that Jon Snow is sliding into Dany’s DMs, but his “jealousy” likely goes beyond that.
Jon’s sliding into the dragons’ DMs, too!
Long before Tyrion met Daenerys, dragons were pretty much all he ever wanted. In Season 6, he professes his childhood love of dragons when removing Viserion and Rhaegal’s chains. He even dreams about dragons in Martin’s books. Tyrion loves dragons so much that there’s a popular theory that he’s secretly a Targaryen. (The shot following the Tyrion moment in the trailer is a dragon breathing fire, so that theory lives on.)
Just think about it from Tyrion’s perspective: If you saw Jon — the guy who’s dating your crush — getting the experience of a lifetime flying on a dragon, the experience you’ve dreamed about since you were a little kid, wouldn’t you also make a poo poo face like this?
Tyrion’s concern could foreshadow a much theorized betrayal
Tyrion is one of the most beloved characters in the series. He’s charming, he’s witty and we’re still waiting for him to finish that joke about the jackass and the honeycomb he keeps starting. It’s weird that he’s not in the trailer more, so we’re guessing it’s for a reason. Perhaps Tyrion has something cooking behind the scenes that can’t be revealed yet?
If sad Tyrion is looking up at Dany and Jon riding dragons, it could fuel the theory that he’ll betray Dany (and subsequently Jon) before the series is over.
Let’s go way back to Season 2 and Dany’s super fun side adventure to the House of the Undying.
In the TV series, after Dany’s dragons are stolen by a warlock who looks like he’s had too many blue raspberry Blow Pops, she goes to Qarth’s House of the Undying to retrieve them. During this excursion, Dany sees a snowy throne room, a tent with Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) and, eventually, a chamber holding her dragons. That basically sums it up. However, in Martin’s novels, the holy texts whence HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was born, Dany experiences many more visions, including hearing a prophecy that she will have three betrayals. This comes from Martin’s second book in the series, A Clash of Kings:
Three treasons will you know… once for blood and once for gold and once for love…
Daenerys is convinced in the books that Mirri Maz Duur, the maegi who left Khal Drogo in a vegetative state and took the life of her unborn baby, was the first treason for blood. Jorah Mormont could be the second treason for gold, as he was spying on behalf of Varys.
Though the HBO version differs from the books, those two betrayals have remained, so it’s possible the show will include Tyrion as the betrayal of love. (In addition to Dinklage’s comments, the Season 7 scripts confirmed Tyrion’s love for Dany as well, according to Vanity Fair.)
Perhaps supporting this well-worn fan theory of Tyrion’s betrayal is his Season 7 tete-a-tete with Cersei (Lena Headey), where he tells her, “I don’t want to destroy our family. I never have.”
Tyrion’s potential treason could be for love of Dany or simply love of his own family. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is coming North after all, and he was just fighting a war against Dany in Season 7. There may be ample opportunities.
Is Tyrion looking up at Jon riding a dragon? We’ll just leave this damning piece of evidence here:
