“When you play the game of thrones, you win… or you die,” Cersei Lannister told Eddard Stark shortly before his execution. Since the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, the political landscape of Westeros has changed immensely. Now, a new trailer gives us our first real look at what’s to come in Season 7.
The War of the Five Kings has passed and Season 6 ended with Cersei firmly in power, seated on the famous Iron Throne, forged from the swords of defeated enemies. But there are threats to her reign on the horizon, most notably King in the North Jon Snow and the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, but also the ambitious Euron Greyjoy and Ellaria Sand, each with their own fiefdoms and dreams of wider power. There will be no illusions going into Game of Thrones Season 7: Cersei’s hold on power is tenuous at best. And the first Season 7 trailer positions Jon Snow and Daenerys not as claimants to the Iron Throne, but very nearly equal powers themselves. There are more thrones and more paths to power than we could have imagined in the King’s Landing centered first season of Game of Thrones.
It’s a little unclear whether this new Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer is actual footage from upcoming episodes, but it seems unlikely. Instead, this is a symbolic look at the state of play, with Cersei seated on the Iron Throne, Daenerys on what’s probably the throne of Dragonstone (once occupied by Stannis Baratheon, but historically a Targaryen seat of power) and Jon Snow seated on whatever the hell type of chair Winterfell has in its great hall.
And, of course, looming over it all is the specter of death — the White Walker’s Night’s King, winter incarnate.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres July 16 on HBO.
