A new teaser for Game of Thrones season 5 offers fleeting glimpses at several struggling characters.
The viral-marketing game currently in swing for Game of Thrones season 5 has revealed another “vision” from the Three-Eyed Raven.
The psychic message, which takes the form of a brief video teaser, offers wink-like glimpses at characters whose circumstances will have changed considerably when the epic fantasy series picks up their stories next year.
To avoid eyestrain, we suggest opening the following video in slow-motion and full-screen.
The teaser begins with an opening eye – perhaps Arya’s? – quickly warping into the blink of a raven. A hazy image of Sansa Stark comes next, followed by a brief, darkly-lit glimpse of Tyrion Lannister, who looks decidedly unhappy.
After cutting past a weeping weirwood tree and screaming raven, an eerily familiar image appears; the Great Hall of the Red Keep, coated in snow or ash.
Next, a rowboat passes through a shallow canal and an unseen person – again, probably Arya – drags her hand through the water. Finally, Cersei Lannister peers uneasily through the screen of a litter, and a heavy book slams ominously shut.
Though several elements of the teaser seem to be taken from prior seasons, the message does offer a few eerie and evocative images from Game of Thrones season 5. We suspect that the glimpses of Sansa (who has since dyed her hair an ominous black) and Tyrion (who has spent plenty of time sulking in the shadows) are recycled footage. The shot of the Great Hall also comes from Daenerys’ visions in the House of the Undying – though it retains its chilling power.
But the fleeting suggestions of Arya being rowed through the canal city of Braavos are almost certainly new, and ties together with the glimpse of the House of Black and White seen in the first “vision” from the Three Eyed Raven.
Similarly, our look at Cersei Lannister appears to be new, and – being very separate from the Stark storyline – is an interesting inclusion. Without Tyrion’s wiser presence or Tywin’s dominating influence, what kind of trouble will Cersei get up to in Game of Thrones season 5?
Further messages from the Three Eyed Raven are promised to follow… and we can certainly look forward to further morsels of Game of Thrones season 5 as our calendars flips over to 2015.
Game of Thrones season 5 will air on HBO in Spring 2015.