Game of Thrones' highly anticipated fourth season premieres in less than two months, and after several short teasers, HBO has finally given eager fans something substantial to chew on: A 15-minute preview that serves as both a retrospective for Game of Thrones' most iconic moments and a preview for what the show has in store when it returns in April.
Here, a few revelations from this new video.
The actors got emotional over the Red Wedding, too
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Last year's famously shocking scene, which killed off three major characters, affected the actors as much as it affected fans. "That moment. I knew it was coming, and it ripped me up inside. I cried," says Gwendolyn Christie (Brienne of Tarth). "I actually shed a tear," confesses Rory McCann (Sandor "The Hound" Clegane). Even one of the orchestrators of the Red Wedding was a little shaken up: "All the performances were extraordinary, and it was very emotional to do," says Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton).
There's another big wedding on the horizon
The Red Wedding ended rather poorly, but there's another big nuptial in the works for season four: The wedding of King Joffrey (Jack Gleason) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). "A royal wedding is history," says Joffrey in a brief clip from the fourth season. "The time has come for us all to contemplate our history."
David Benioff describes the challenge of shooting the upcoming wedding scene, which takes up half of an episode. "It was like shooting a short film in itself," says Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister). "It was majestic, it was shimmering, It just looked pristine," says Jack Gleason. "I think that's what Joffrey likes. He likes something ostentatious and grand."
Everybody hates Joffrey as much as you do
Asked if Joffrey has any redeeming qualities," Rory McCann (Sandor "The Hound" Clegane) scoffs. "Joffrey's a wee prick. Mommy's boy, bully… He's got nice eyes."
"I feel like Jack, the actor, has an abundance of redeeming qualities," says Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen). "I feel like Joffrey, the character… less so."
Even his father agrees: "Joffrey is clearly, like, the last person on Earth you would want to have any kind of power," says Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister).
The fourth season is the biggest yet
For anyone who's worried that Game of Thrones will never be able to top the Red Wedding, Game of Thrones' cast and crew wants to reassure you that the fourth season will be bigger and crazier than ever. "Some of the most shocking and mind-blowing scenes of the entire series come at the end of this coming season. Some very bloody confrontations," says co-creator David Benioff. "I know how important the Red Wedding is to so many fans of the show and the books. But we pick up the pieces, and top it, in many ways," promises Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister). Some of the big stories teased: Jon Snow's return to the Wall, Daenerys' ever-growing dragons, and the machinations of a new character, Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal).
Several actors also promise that the show will be "dark" — but anyone who's worried about a redux of the Red Wedding can take heart in the words of Maisie Williams (Arya Stark): "The good guys are coming back this year. That's nice to see. We're making a stand."
