It’s hard to imagine anything that happens in Game of Thrones’ series finale will be more shocking or upsetting than Daenerys Targaryen, Breaker of Chains, burning Aegon the Conqueror’s capital to the ground. But whatever surprises HBO has in store for fans in the show’s final episode, they are doing everything they can to keep them from us. After sharing a very sparse teaser video after “The Bells,” they have now released just two images from the final episode, and both focus on the fallout from the Mother of Dragon’s torching of King’s Landing.
The episode preview focused entirely on the immediate fallout of Drogon’s dragonflame destruction. It shows Jon and Davos walking through the smoking ruins together, as well as a distraught Tyrion realizing Varys was right as he makes his way through the fallen city. We also get a glimpse of a furious Arya standing among the victorious, cheering Dothraki, before the new Queen of the Ashes emerges to claim the smoking heap of the once great city as her own.
As much as we hate it and don’t understand it, that shot of Daenerys stepping in front of her surprisingly large force of Unsullied and Dothraki is striking, even more so in the official image released by HBO.
Seriously, did anyone think that many of her soldiers survived the Battle of Winterfell?
More telling though is this photo of Tyrion, who has certainly realized the person he believed in failed him and the Realm. We doubt he wants to be Hand for a Mad Queen, so what is he going to do about it?
That’s not a lot to go on though, and we have yet to see any signs of Winterfell, despite the fact we will absolutely see Sansa Stark again. Maybe what’s most revealing here is how little is being revealed.
Clearly HBO is hiding a lot from us, but at this point what could be left for Game of Thrones to do that would be truly stunning? Well, except make the entire fan base happy.
Images: HBO