5 Wild Things We Expect to Go Down on 'Game of Thrones' Season 7

Season 7 of Game of Thrones has a new trailer, and we have five predictions on the upcoming season based on what we've seen and heard.

A promotional picture of the main cast of 'Game of Thrones.'
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Unapproved Source: Digital Spy

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A promotional picture of the main cast of 'Game of Thrones.'

By now, you've all probably seen the trailer for the upcoming season of Game of Thrones. In less than two minutes, HBO drove hype through the roof for what is already one of the most watched and anticipated series on television. Visions of dragons will be dancing in all our heads until July.

So what can we take away from those two minutes? There are a lot of predictions for the upcoming season floating around now that we have some visuals to tie to the series, but the newest seasons are harder to figure out because the material is still fresh. Elements of the upcoming sequels to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series will be incorporated into the show, but just like Season 6, Season 7 will feature original content independent of the books. This makes it a whole lot harder to guess what's coming next.

With the knowledge that most of these predictions will probably turn out wrong, here's what we think might happen when Game of Thrones hits in July.

Daenerys will arrive in Westeros, and she's going to do damage...

We've been waiting for Khaleesi to begin her push for the Iron Throne for years now, and everything seems to be lining up for her to hit the continent this season. When Season 6 came to a close, Daenerys had thwarted a plot from slavers and built an alliance with the Greyjoys, the latter of which gave her access to the Iron Fleet. The final image from Season 6 was of those ships heading toward Westeros, with the dragons screeching and flying around them.

The dragons are no less prominent in the new trailer, and this time they're ready to make a land attack:

game of thrones dragon

We've already seen what kind of damage the dragons can cause on their own. With an entire fleet to accompany them, and a growing respect of Khaleesi amongst the people, expect nothing less than an all-out assault on Westeros this year.

...but at least one of her dragons will die

Everything has gone a little too smoothly for Khaleesi up to this point, at least by Game of Thrones standards. She's been building up her forces slowly and steadily, with the might of her dragons promising to rain destruction down on her enemies.

Daenerys will be fighting a two-front war when she arrives in Westeros, and once her enemies wise up to the fact that she has dragons, they are going to do everything possible to remove them from the equation. It's going to take a lot of man power to kill even one of the dragons, let alone the trio, but she's not going to just waltz up to the throne unscathed, or without suffering serious personal loss. Those dragons are the crown jewel of her army, and they will be prioritized as targets accordingly. 

Littlefinger will betray the Stark family

Has there ever been a character you trust less than Littlefinger? While there have been more than a few unscrupulous types in Game of Thrones,  most of the slippery thieves and liars in Thrones have gotten iced along the way, or manipulate at a pace much slower than Littlefinger's. In the finale of Season 6, Sansa even went so far as to tell Jon Snow, "Only a fool would trust Littlefinger."

I mean seriously, why would you trust this dude?

littlefinger

In the new trailer, we hear him trying to goad Sansa Stark once again, and given her general distrust of Littlefinger, I'm expecting her to push back against whatever it is he's aiming for. And when you turn on Littlefinger, it's never long before he decides you're just a pawn to be used in his long game.

Cersei Lannister will die at the hand of one of her siblings

Death can be used in a variety of ways to move the plot forward in television dramas. The Sopranos often telegraphed who was going to get whacked and how, whereas The Wire used sporadic gun violence to illustrate how quickly people could be cut down by Baltimore's drug game. Game of Thrones uses death in a similar manner to the latter; while there are ongoing wars and feuds tying the plot together, it's often small rivalries and the people you least expect who end up with blood on their hands.

its a big map

Cersei has enemies far and wide—as you can see her highlight in the map scene—but her dysfunctional relationship with her own family could end up being what does her in. It would be quite a twist for Jaime Lannister to turn on his sister and lover, or for Tyrion to find an opportunity to strike, but these are the moments we've come to expect from Thrones.

Jon Snow will unify rivals for a fight against the White Walkers

The small pieces of chatter we do get all sound ominous. When Davos tells an unseen figure that it, "doesn't matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne," it seems obvious the White Walkers are the biggest threat of the season, despite all the other smaller battles taking place.

And really, that's what we've been building up to for six seasons now—humanity's final stand against the threat from the North. The White Walkers don't appear in the trailer, but the Night King has featured prominently in the teaser artwork for this season:

the night king thrones

When Jon says, "The Great Wall is here" to close the trailer, it sounds like he's trying to speak truth to power, rather than referring to the actual, physical wall. Humanity needs every last body and sword it can muster in the fight against the Night King's undead army, and Snow wasn't brought back to life by Thrones creators for no reason. The people need him to rally the troops, and rally the troops he shall.

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