Forgot that whole "winter is coming" nonsense. Have you been outside? Winter is still here, folks. Oh, is it so depressingly still here. So bless HBO for heating things up a bit with the release of an epic 15-minute trailer for the fourth season of Game of Thrones.
Featuring scattered flashes of footage from the upcoming season and behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew, the featurette, titled "Ice and Fire: Foreshadowing," attempts to answer the question: how the hell is this show going to ever top the Red Wedding? As Gwendoline Christie (who plays Brienne) says in the video, "I knew it was coming and it ripped me up inside. I cried." But remember: Game of Thrones asked the same question after the beheading of Ned Stark season one. And after the Battle of Blackwater in season 2.
Actually, show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are already that the most shocking scenes they've ever filmed come at the end of season four. Among the things to look forward to, according to this trailer: Joffrey's Royal Wedding, which the entire cast teases as the most grand, complicated scene they've ever set, based on sheer scale. Khaleesi's dragons continue to grow and become more dangerous. "They're dragons in a non-dragon world," Emilia Clarke says. "They're a symbol of her losing control herself, and losing control of what she's doing." Christie says, cackling, that Brienne is going to bite off a man's ear and spit it in his face. So there's that to look forward to. And the footage previews a hell of a lot of sword fighting, too.
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But remember last season when Game of Thrones was epic and grand and operatic…but still kind of boring because absolutely freaking nothing happened until the Red Wedding? And then that episode aired and everyone suddenly forgot that they had previously sat through 10 hours of Rob Starkk staring at a map and Jon Snow walking through…snow, because that episode was so stellar? Apparently, we don't have to be afraid of that happening again. "I think what makes this season differ is things really get going much more quickly," show runner David Benioff says. Bless him.
Season 4 of Game of Thrones begins April 6. Until then, enjoy this footage of random sword fights, people glowering in ornate costumes, close ups of Peter Dinklage looking pensive, and everyone joking about how awful Joffrey is. Oh, and a badass clip of how terrifying the dragons have become.
