On a commercial break from the 76th Annual Golden Globe Award, HBO released a commercial that included footage from the next and final season of Game of Thrones. Although the commercial was for all of their new and returning shows in 2019, the moment that they chose to share is a pretty critical one, especially considering where last season left off. If you’re not caught up or have chosen to stay completely in the dark ahead of season 8, there are show spoilers below.
The short clip starts 40 seconds into the minute-long commercial, and only lasts a total of 5 seconds. In those five seconds, Daenerys Targaryen stands in Winterfell next to Jorah Mormont. She steps forward, approaching Sansa Stark and Jon Snow. Sansa looks Daenerys up and down before smiling and telling her “Winterfell is yours, Your Grace.” Daenerys nods in response, and Brienne of Tarth is present in the background. The Game of Thrones online community “Watchers on the Wall” pointed out that the coat Daenerys is wearing it the same one Emilia Clark wore alongside Kit Harrington for their Entertainment Weekly exclusive cover.
#GameofThrones returns to @HBO this April.
Understandably, fans went nuts over this small piece of new information regarding the highly-anticipated season. The 5 seconds of new material were especially welcomed as a trailer for the season, which premieres in April, had yet to be released.
@GameOfThrones @HBO YOUR GRACE
@HBO @GameOfThrones @watchmen Winterfell is yours your grace….😳
While some believed the clip foreshadowed camaraderie between Sansa and Daenerys, whom many expected would be in conflict, others used gifs to joke about Sansa’s struggle to be friendly.
@GameOfThrones @HBO Sansa, before saying “Winterfell is yours, your Grace ” —-
This footage confirms that Jon and Daenerys make it to Winterfell in the next season; they were on their way north when season 7 concluded. It also confirms that Jorah and Brienne are unscathed at least up until that point in the season. Considering, too, who was at Winterfell with Sansa at the end of season 7, this arouses suspicions that a long-awaited reunion between Jon and his little sister Arya will happen sooner rather than later.
Also at Winterfell were Bran Stark (the Three-Eyed Raven) and Samwell Tarly, the only two living characters (as far as we know) who know of Jon Snow’s true parentage. With everyone convening in Winterfell, as long as none of those major players left before Jon and Sansa could arrive, it seems like it is only a matter of time until that major secret is spilled.
Watchers on the Wall agrees with the Twitter fans who interpreted the exchange as a tense one, saying “Sansa smiles when she welcomes Dany, and Dany smiles back, but we can tell this is going to be one tense meeting. I can practically hear Jon whispering to Sansa “Be nice” out of the corner of his mouth as Dany approaches.”
With only 6 episodes in the final season and a lot of development to go and loose ends left to tie, it is possible that this scene happens in the season premiere episode, throwing major players right into the action alongside one another. Be sure to watch season 8 of Game of Thrones when it premieres in April.