What The New "Game Of Thrones" Teaser Tells Us About Dany's Conquest

    Daenerys seems to have got herself a throne – but where is it?

    Robin Edds
    by Robin Edds

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    As you've probably noticed, HBO have just dropped a new Game of Thrones teaser trailer.

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    7.16.17 #GoTS7

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    As exciting as it is to see the major players again, it doesn't actually show us a whole lot.

    HBO

    Although there is a 💯 lesson in "how to walk down a corridor" from all three monarchs.

    What we do see, however, is three very different throne rooms.

    HBO

    Cersei sits on the Iron Throne, staring straight ahead in the same jazzy get-up we saw her in at the end of Season 6. (You know, immediately after she murdered hundreds of people, causing her last surviving child to jump out of a Red Keep window.)

    Back in the North, Jon – who is definitely still alive – is sat in the significantly more modest throne room of Winterfell.

    HBO

    Again, just as he was in the Season 6 finale, when the Stark's bannermen named him King in the North. The face he's pulling here suggests this was the moment Jon realised what happened to Robb when he was named King in the North...

    But most importantly, we see that as well as a fuck-load of ships, Dany has gone and got herself a throne. Which begs the question...where is she?

    HBO

    Well, the very likely answer to that question is...Dragonstone.

    HBO

    The jagged rocky outcrop visible in the teaser very much looks like Dragonstone – the castle that sits on the island of the same name not far from King's Landing, in Blackwater Bay.

    After Robert's successful rebellion, he gave Dragonstone to his younger brother Stannis, which is where he was anytime we saw him, Melisandre, and Davos arguing about pretty much everything while stood next to a huge map of Westeros.

    We haven't seen the harsh, volcanic island since Stannis sailed north at the end of Season 4, but it looks like its about to get a new inhabitant: Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons. Or "Dany" to her friends.

    But why is this important?

    HBO

    Dany's choice of Dragonstone as Targayren HQ is interesting for two rather significant reasons.

    Firstly, it tells us how the start of Season 7 is going to go. Last we saw her, Dany was (finally) sailing towards Westeros with an armada made up of Unsullied, Dothraki, Martells, Tyrells, Greyjoys, a tiny but wise Lannister, and – last but not least – three fucking massive dragons. Many may have understandably thought this meant she was heading straight to King's Landing to burn the place to the ground and take the throne that is (in the minds of many), rightfully hers. But the teaser suggests otherwise.

    In Tyrion and Varys, Daenerys may have two of the sharpest minds in Westeros on her side, and it would be no surprise at all to see them suggest a more measured approach. Take Dragonstone, rest, refuel, gather intelligence, attempt the diplomatic route, THEN you can burn them all to shit. It's just good sense.

    HBO

    Secondly, the historical context of Dragonstone could say more about what is to come than any trailer we'll see over the next few months.

    The "Targaryen History in 30 Seconds" version of events goes a little like this:

    Hundreds of years before the events of the show, the Targayrens were a not-especially-powerful noble family in the Valyrian Freehold. They remained in Valyria until Daenys Targaryen (or "Daenys the Dreamer") had a premonition and encouraged the whole family to flee to the safety of Dragonstone.

    They did, and just 12 years later the Doom of Valyria wiped out the entire Freehold (and all living dragons, except those taken by the Targaryens). Decades on it was from this base – from the very same throne room in which Daenerys now sits – that Aegon the Conquerer and his two sisters planned their successful invasion of Westeros. From then on, Dragonstone became the seat of the next in line to the Iron Throne, or the "Prince of Dragonstone".

    HBO

    Just as Cersei blowing up the Sept of Baelor in Season 6 echoed the Mad King, Aerys II, trying (but in his case failing) to "burn them all", could Daenerys' invasion be following a very similar – and equally successful – path to her ancestor's?

    She's got the name. She's got three dragons. And now, it seems, she's got Dragonstone. We certainly wouldn't bet against it.

    HBO

    Note: This post solely uses information gathered from the new teaser. There are more detailed predictions about Season 7 out there that are based on set leaks, but please refrain from discussing these in the comments so as not to spoil it for others. Thanks!