Game of Thrones: Watch the first trailer for season 4
HBO's popular fantasy drama looks as dense and riveting as ever
Game of Thrones' fourth season premiere date is still a few months away, but HBO has finally thrown a bone to all the fans eager to spend a little more time in Westeros: The first full-length trailer for the upcoming season.
This first glimpse is heavy on imagery, giving fans a few seconds with beloved characters like Tyrion, Arya, and Jon Snow without offering many clues about the fourth season's overarching plot. After teasing Daenerys' (much bigger) dragons, the trailer reunites us with everybody's favorite character: King Joffrey! "They know I saved the city. They know I won the war," whines the young king to his uncle-cum-father Jaime, who warns him that the war isn't over yet.
Of course, the war for the Iron Throne isn't the only war being waged in the Game of Thrones universe. The trailer takes us both north — where Jon Snow and the rest of the Night's Watch are preparing to fend off the wildlings — and across the narrow sea, where Daenerys Targaryen is waging her own war of liberation. "It's tempting to see your enemies as evil," says Ser Jorah. "But there's good and evil on both sides in every war ever fought."
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At this point, most Game of Thrones fans have a pretty clear idea about who they think is good and evil, but the trailer also introduces a wild card: Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), a new character who has journeyed to King's Landing from afar to settle an old grudge. "Tell your father I'm here, and tell him that Lannisters aren't the only ones who pay their debts," says Martell in a conversation with Tyrion.
It's clear, now as ever, that Game of Thrones will unveil a dizzying array of characters and stories this year. We'll see exactly what the HBO fantasy drama has in store for fans when Game of Thrones premieres its fourth season on April 6.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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