Sunday 11 March 2012

Game of Thrones Season 2: The More You Love trailer analysis

HBO showed a new trailer for the second season before the premiere of their new film Game Change on March 10 2012. It is called "The More You Love" and is available via the HBO website and their Making Game of Thrones website has been kindly uploaded to youtube by WeedPlanttMMA:



As usual I thought I'd break down the shots we see and the voiceover we hear. Spoilers for season 2 and the book it is based upon, A Clash of Kings, herein. I posted a straight forward breakdown of the trailer without the commentary about the source material on the Game of Thrones Wiki (link) so TV only viewers should think twice before reading on. The spoilers below do not relate to anything not seen in the trailer or give away any of the endings to character arcs in the second book. They do give away a few surprises relating to introductions. The full breakdown and analysis is after the jump.



I have written similar posts for a few earlier trailers now if you haven't read those:

  1. "Seven Devils"
  2. "Power and Grace"
  3. "Shadow"


We open with an establishing shot of a clifftop camp from above. In the midst of the camp a circle of people have gathered around two knights dueling. I believe this is Renly's camp and that the duel is part of a tournament he is holding. He has a grand melee in the book but the footage we have seen in trailers so far suggests this has had to be scaled back to make it easier to film. The show did the same with the grand melee at the Tourney of the Hand in season 1. The clifftop setting probably represents a change of location for this scene as I believe Renly camps at Bitterbridge during his tournament in the book and that is inland. The tourney in Renly's camp occurs in A Clash of Kings chapter 23 Catelyn II. This shot is similar to footage we have seen in behind the scenes videos so it is great to see the camp with a little CGI enhancement and all of the cars and vans removed.

At 0:03 we see Catelyn and Robb walking through a camp. She says “I wish that you were free to follow your heart.” This shot is new although we have seen Robb and Catelyn talking in a military camp before and that shot is repeated in this short sequence. The line Catelyn speaks here is also new. I note that Robb is fully armored in this shot and that Catelyn is wearing a green cloak. This shot seems to match up with another shot of Catelyn and Robb in this short sequence focusing on Robb (at 0:06) so I will talk more about where I think the camp is with that shot.

At 0:04 we see Robb leading a row of mounted men at night in the rain. This was also included in the "Seven Devils" trailer at 0:55. Catelyn continues in voiceover “...But you have inherited your father’s responsibilities...” Although this line seems to follow on from her earlier line we have heard this part of it before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:30. At 0:05 there is a nice long lense focus shift from the eye of Robb’s horse onto his face. This has also been shown before. It was first seen in the "Shadow" tease at 0:27 and popped up again in the "Seven Devils" trailer at 0:54. The order of these two night time shots of Robb in armor has been reversed in this new trailer compared to their first paring in the "Seven Devils" trailer. As I said in my breakdown of "Seven Devils" I think they might be Robb preparing for one of his battles in A Clash of Kings - as he is not a point of view character we see none of them firsthand but notable successes are reported at Oxcross (in A Clash of Kings chapter 33 Sansa III), while scouring the Westerlands (in A Clash of Kings chapter 40 Catelyn V) and in storming the Crag (in A Clash of Kings chapter 56 Catelyn VII).

At 0:06 we see Robb walking across a battlefield in armor, a Silent Sister is seen tending to the dead behind him. We have seen this shot before in the "Shadow" tease at 0:37 and in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:31. I think this is likely to be the aftermath of the Battle of Oxcross because this is his first victory in A Clash of Kings. Seeing this shot paired so closely with the nighttime shots makes me wonder if the fighting takes place at night. This would be a smart choice for the production - darkness can be useful to make smaller scale action seem part of a larger battle. Seeing the aftermath in the morning will give a sense of scale without being cheated of seeing some action during the fighting at night. I hope they have gone along these lines rather than skipping showing actual fighting as they did with the Battle of the Whispering Wood and the Battle of the Green Fork in the first season. Of course my speculation could be way off and the different lighting might be because they are from entirely unrelated sequences.

At 0:07 we see Catelyn talking to Robb in the camp. Brienne is behind her. She continues “...They come at a cost.” Catelyn's whole line across this sequence is "I wish that you were free to follow your heart but you have inherited your father's responsibilities. They come at a cost." I can find no source for this line. I suspect the whole sequence is an added scene for the show. Brienne being in a scene with Catelyn and Robb is a big departure from the books. They never appear together in A Clash of Kings. Catelyn is with Robb at the start of the book and does not meet Brienne until she travels to Renly's camp to treat with him. She returns to the Riverlands with Brienne later in the book but by that time Robb has left for the Westerlands. I wonder if this means the adaptation has Catelyn following Robb into the Westerlands or Robb returning to the Riverlands a bit sooner than he does in the books. I think this scene will almost certainly come later in the season because Catelyn will take the first half of the season to get to Renly and return.

At 0:09 Robb lit by flame leaning forward to kiss a woman. We have seen this kiss before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:35. However this is a slightly extended version where we get to see Robb walk forward and embrace her before the kiss. I said in my analysis of "Power and Grace" that I thought the woman was Jeyne Westerling played by Oona Chaplin. I speculated that Jeyne might not even be a Westerling because no last name was given in casting announcements but have since read confirmation that Chaplin is playing Jeyne Westerling so the character's origins are intact. Catelyn (and readers) do not learn about Robb's relationship with Jeyne until the next book (A Storm of Swords) but he reports that it began after he stormed the Crag. She nursed him after an injury and they fell into bed and then in love. Catelyn learns of his victory at the crag in A Clash of Kings chapter 56 Catelyn VII so the beginnings of his relationship do take place in the timeline of the second book but are not revealed to the reader until the third book. I think it makes sense for the television adaptation to include their relationship now as a way to give more material to Robb when he is not with Catelyn. The show established that it was going to do this in the first season by featuring scenes focused on Robb without a point of view character present (e.g. discussing strategy at Moat Cailin before Catelyn's arrival) and will clearly be continuing to do so this year.

At 0:11 we hear Sansa Stark in voiceover saying “My father was a traitor.” We see her addressing a standing and armored Tyrion from a marquee. They are seen from within an archway behing the marquee and are looking out over the sea. Ser Meryn Trant stands behind Sansa while Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella are seated to her right. This is a gorgeous wide shot and seems to tie the next few shots (until 0:15) together as all being taken from the same scene. We have seen this pavilion scene (but not this shot) before in the "Cold Winds" tease at 0:27, in that shot Meryn, Sansa and Joffrey are seen in the same arrangement from a different angle. We have also seen behind the scenes footage of this sequence being shot on location in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the "Invitation to the Set" featurette.

At 0:12 we see a cloesup of Sansa saying “I am loyal to my beloved Joffrey”. I think this marquee sequence is Joffrey and his siblings assembled for the name day tourney he holds for himself in the Red Keep of King's Landing. This takes place in A Clash of Kings chapter 3 Sansa I. At the close of that chapter (page 37 in my UK kindle edition) she tells Tyrion "My father was a traitor and my brother and lady mother are traitors as well. I am loyal to my beloved Joffrey." The lines in the trailer have been drawn directly from the book but in the book Joffrey has just left as Sansa says them to Tyrion.

At 0:13 we see a reverse of Joffrey watching Sansa, Tommen and Myrcella seated to his right. A Lannister Man-at-Arms is visible in the background. Bouth Aimee Richardson as Myrcella and Callum Wharry as Tommen will get more to do in seasons to come but in the first season we saw them visiting Winterfell and then at the Tourney of the Hand. It seems attending tourneys is their fate for now.



At 0:14 we see a closeup of Tyrion saying “Of course you are” to Sansa. In the book his reply is slightly different "No doubt. As loyal as a deer surrounded by wolves." He is armored and the sea visible behind him. Tyrion arrives in King's Landing during the tournament which would account for him being in armor as he has come from the Lannister camp in the Riverlands (where we left him at the close of the first season). We have seen Tyrion wearing this same somewhat tarnished suit of armor in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:54 while talking to Cersei. I think it is likely that the tournament and Tyrion's reaccquaintance with Cersei will take place in the season 2 premiere "The North Remembers". The armor looks a lot more dirty than when he first donned it before the Battle of the Green Fork in the first season episode "Baelor" but I think it is the same set tarnished by travel.

At 0:15 Sansa directs a sidelong look at Joffrey. Keeping Joffrey around for her insistence of loyalty in the show is probably a smart move. His presence helps to illustrate the danger of her situation and the extreme duress she is under when she calls her family traitors. Having Ser Meryn beside her helps too as he was the one her beat her on Joffrey's orders in the first season finale "Fire and Blood". It does probably mean losing a great little heraldry reference. After Tyrion tells her that she is surrounded by wolves she makes a slip and corrects him that they are Lions. Saying that in front of Joffrey would probably land her in too much trouble though. In the book  the chapter opens with Sansa being fetched by the Kingsguard and her inner monologue turns to the beatings she has received at their hands. Having a visual reminder on screen is a good way of economically adapting that part of the chapter.

At 0:16 we hear Tyrion in voiceover saying  “We’ve come to a dangerous place...” At 0:17 Shae looks out over King’s Landing from a vantage point, probably the walls of the Red Keep. This is a great view and something they did not really attempt in the first season. I suspect it uses a Dubrovnik location but the rooftops of the city below are probably digitally created as a modern city would be too obviously incongruous. Tyrion bringing Shae with him to the capital is a direct defiance of the order Tywin gave him in the first season finale "Fire and Blood".

At 0:18 we see a closeup of Tyrion saying “I would kill for you.” Tyrion continues in voiceover “I expect I’ll have to before this is over.” Positioning this line after the shot of Shae suggests that he is talking to her. That is confirmed when this shot is paired with another in this sequence of her kissing him at 0:22. I cannot find a similar line in the book although Tyrion is devoted to Shae despite knowing that she is enamored with his money.

 At 0:19 Tyrion walks through a group of cheering Lannister men-at-arms. He is followed by a young man and members of the Kingsguard, one with a Greatsword slung across his back. Tyrion is wearing a chain of hands around his neck. We have seen this shot before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:26 and again slightly extended in the "Seven Devils" trailer at 1:10. I notice a new detail each time I see it though - this time it is the greatsword carried by one of the Kingsguard knights. I can't recall one of them in particular having a greatsword but we have seen Ser Meryn fighting with a standard blade in "The Pointy End" so I suppose that rules him out. Tyrion does most of his fighting at the Blackwater alongside either Ser Mandon Moore or Ser Balon Swann. I can't recall either carrying a Greatsword though and I have seen footage of what I thought was the Hound fighting in the Battle of the Blackwater in his standard armor (he does wield a two-handed sword). I think that it is Podrick Payne (played by Daniel Portman) who is trailing behind Tyrion. Pod is his squire and did appear in the first book but not the first season. Tyrion wins the respect of his men by leading a sortie through the Mud Gate in A Clash of Kings Chapter 62 Tyrion XIV.

At 0:21 Shae puts her hands on Tyrion’s face and leans down to kiss him. We have seen a shorter version of this shot before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:35. I think this is probably from early in the season. In the books Tyrion and Shae liase in King's Landing for the first time in A Clash of Kings Chapter 4 Tyrion I.
At 0:22 we see a closeup of Tyrion kissing Shae. The angle and the tilt of his head match this shot with the one we saw at 0:18.

At 0:23 Jorah Mormont says “You have a gentle heart” in voiceover and we see a shot of Dany looking at Jorah. She is wearing a turquoise gown and her hair is unbraided. He is wearing a yellow shirt. They are lit by candlelight and in an elaborately decorated room. We have seen this gown before in the "Notes from the Set: In Production - Croatia" featurette at 1:04 and 1:11 where the producers discuss being able to use Dubrovnik to double as Qarth along with King's Landing so I think this scene is in Qarth.

 At 0:24 we see a shot of Jorah talking to Dany. He says “There are times when I look at you and...”
Jorah continues in voiceover “I still can’t believe you are real.” The first shot appears to be a reverse of this one. We have seen these characters in a similar interior setting and in the same costumes in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:22. In that shot Daenerys was commenting on news of the fighting kings in Westeros. I wonder if Jorah is reassuring her of her destiny here. I can find no corresponding line from the book. At 0:25 we see a tighter closeup of Dany listening to Jorah before turning away. The gold leaf shoulder fastenings of her gown are more clear in this shot.

At 0:27 a title card reads “The epic series returns” backed by the crowned stag of House Baratheon. This title card was part of a trio in the "Power and Grace" trailer and was seen at 1:17 in that clip. The the others featured the lion of House Lannister (seen at 1:13 in "Power and Grace") and the direwolf of House Stark (seen at 1:09). The Baratheon card is the only one of the three to appear in this trailer. The earlier two cards in "Power and Grace" noted that the series is based on the best-selling novels by George R. R. Martin.

 At 0:30 we hear Jon Snow in voiceover saying “You want us to risk our lives for you...” as we see a fast camera move through an icy valley. We have seen this shot before opening the Seven Devils trailer. Strangely the shot has been flipped along its vertical access here. I speculated then that the landscape fit with the time the production spent filming in Iceland for scenes north of the Wall and guessed that this is an establishing shot for some of those scenes. The pairing of it with a line by Jon seems to support that speculation.

 At 0:31 there is a closeup of Jon continuing his line “...and you won’t even tell us why.” In the foreground we see that he is talking to a brown haired woman. Behind him are snow covered trees. I wonder if this is our first glimpse of Hannah Murray as Gilly. Jon meets her in A Clash of Kings chapter 24 Jon III. She asks him to take her and her baby with him to the Wall but he lets her down gently. Here it seems that she is more obscure about why she wants to leave than in the books and that Jon is a little more harsh in his rejection because of it. I think this lends credence to my speculation about more action oriented shots of Jon in a wooded area in the "Seven Devils" trailer at 1:08. I wondered if  those shots are related to the footage we saw in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:28 where Jon is telling the Lord Commander that he has seen something and suggested that Jon might have an added encounter with a wight or a white walker in the show. In the book Gilly is forthcoming about having seen them herself which would make Jon seeing them less impactful.

At 0:32 we see a wide shot of a group of fur clad walkers trudging across difficult terrain. A woman carrying Longclaw looks behind as the rest press on. I think this our first look at Rose Leslie playing the wildling Ygritte. She is introduced in A Clash of Kings chapter 46 Jon VI. I know Rose Leslie from the first season of Downton Abbey where she played a clever housemaid in Georgian England. I am looking forward to seeing how she handles playing somewhat less cultured in this season.

At 0:34 we see a closeup of Cersei saying “I don’t care what you think.” She is wearing a sea blue dress and her Lannister pendant. We have seen Cersei wearing this dress in the first season and in other shots in second season trailers. In the "Shadow" tease we saw Tyrion eating as Cersei paced past him in this dress. In that shot he warned her "you might find it difficult to rule over millions who want you dead." I wonder if this is her response to his warning. Interestingly she is wearing the same dress in a very different shot later in this trailer at 0:53.

At 0:34 we see Cersei wearing a red gown slapping someone in an elaborate red and gold doublet.
At 0:35 we see Joffrey clutching his face, Cersei before him. He is wearing a red and gold doublet so these certainly appear to be matching shots. Neither Cersei or Joffrey is a point of view character in the book. The readers view of them is through the eyes of either Tyrion or Sansa as they are the only point of view characters who spend time with them in King's Landing. I can find no mention of either of them witnessing this so I think this is an added scene. Joffrey being slapped by Tyrion in "The Kingsroad" was warmly received and made into a looped youtube video so I suppose they are repeating their successes!

At 0:36 we see a closeup of Cersei saying “You’ve never taken it seriously.” She is wearing the sea blue dress and her pendant and the framing is almost identical to the first shot at 0:34. I think this is another shot drawn from a sequence of her arguing with Tyrion. I cannot place any of her lines here as being drawn directly from the book. I think this might be adapted from A Clash of Kings chapter 21 Tyrion V. Her next line in voiceover and the next shot are of more use to me in determining that than these ones.

We hear Cersei in voiceover saying “It’s all falling on me.” Cersei begins to show a certain vulnerability here. In Tyrion V she breaks down and cries about the pressure she is under when she learns that Tyrion has arranged a marriage for her daughter Myrcella. She then gets irate for letting Tyrion see her do so. At 0:36 we see Tyrion issuing a baleful stare. He is wearing a gold and red doublet over leather. We have seen Tyrion wearing this doublet before in the "Shadow" trailer at 0:34. There he was grinning and the editing suggested he was talking to Varys. We see him in the same doublet but a noticeably much larger chair in the "Seven Devils" trailer at 0:30.

At 0:37 we see Cersei wearing the same blue gown with the embroidery over her right shoulder now clear. A knight of the kingsguard walks behind her. A Lannister Man-at-Arms is also visible in the background. This shot is new and appears to be an exterior. Cersei is also wearing this gown during the King's Landing Riots so I wonder if this is her watching Myrcella leaving the city in A Clash of Kings chapter 42 Tyrion IX.


At 0:38 we see a brief shot of Jaime in irons. I think this shot is new and this is his only appearance in this trailer. He spends the whole of A Clash of Kings as a captive at Riverrun. We know from earlier trailer footage that he is still held out in a camp for some of the adaptation. We have also been told by the producers that they are planning to give him more to do by using some material from the next book "A Storm of Swords".

Next at 0:38 we see Tyrion barring Varys opening a door. We have seen this shot before in the "Shadow" trailer at 1:02. I think this shot comes from a sequence of Varys visiting Tyrion to discuss the riddle of power and who holds it. This is adapted from A Clash of Kings chapter 9 Tyrion II. The riddle was the main focus of that trailer.


At 0:39 we see someone in an elaborate gold outfit (probably Joffrey going by the blond hair) grabbing Ros roughly by the jaw. This shot is new. I think this is the second time Ros has appeared in a second season trailer. The first was at 0:11 in the "Power and Grace" trailer where she was crying and being comforted by Littlefinger. In that shot he told her "those who have the most power have the least grace." I wonder if this is the incident that prompted that indictment. Joffrey is certainly powerful and graceless. Ros is a show only character making this an added scene. However, Tyrion does muse about taking Joffrey to a brothel in A Clash of Kings chapter 37 Tyrion VIII (on page 388 in my British kindle edition).

 Next at 0:39 we see Melisandre throw back her head and gasp. We have seen this shot before at 0:56 in the "Shadow" tease. I first guessed that it might related to the end of the A Clash of King prologue but an astute comment from Dragster74 on my post analysing the "Shadow" trailer has convinced me that is more likely to be related to Melisandre performing shadow binding magic in A Clash of Kings chapter 43 Davos II because of her apparent nudity in this shot.

Finally at 0:39 we see Theon riding a horse with a young woman in a blue-gray dress in front of him. This is the biggest spoiler of the analysis so non-book readers might want to skip the rest of this paragraph and move on to the next image. I think this is our first glimpse of Gemma Whelan as Yara. Asha Greyjoy has been renamed Yara to avoid confusion with Osha, the wildling living at Winterfell. Asha is introduced in A Clash of Kings chapter 25 Theon II. She poses as a common girl named Esgred and flirts with Theon before revealing that she is his long estranged sister.

At 0:40 we see Margaery Tyrell turn Renly Baratheon’s head towards her. This sequence of five shots from here until 0:43 focuses on Margaery, played by Natalie Dormer, and Renly, played by Gethin Anthony. Natalie Dormer was one of the first additions to the cast for the second season to be announced. This shot is lit by flame and appears to be within Renly's tent. We have seen the elaborate wooden screen behind him before in a shot of him watching a woman disrobe in the "Shadow" trailer at 0:55. That shot was repeated in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:38 and is used again here in "The More You Love" at 0:43.

Next at 0:40 we see a closeup of Margaery telling Renly “You are a king.” Renly is indeed one of the kings featured in A Clash of Kings but like all of them he is not a point of view character. He appears in Catelyn's earlier chapters in the book. Showing him in a private moment like this one is therefore an added scene. Renly is the youngest of the three Baratheon brothers and appeared in the first season. He is a closeted homosexual in the series and was shown having an intimate talk with Loras Tyrell in the first season about becoming king. It seems that Margaery is just as keen for Renly to seize the Iron Throne as her brother. I wonder how much she knows about Renly and Loras in the series.

At 0:41 we see Brienne the Blue kneel on sand before Margaery and Renly. They are seated on a wooden platform. A cliff face is behind them. A crowd of onlookers are to either side. Several are armoured knights and some are holding Renly’s banner of a golden crowned stag on green. This matches behind the scenes footage of this sequence being shot in the "Invitation to the Set" featurette at 0:12. The cliff and the circle of sand place this at Renly's camp. I think this is Brienne swearing fealty to Renly after the melee in A Clash of Kings chapter 23 Catelyn II.

At 0:42 we hear Margaery in voiceover “Your enemies aren’t happy about us.” We see Renly and Margaery watch intently from their viewing platform. I suspect this shot is them watching the tourney rather than responding to Brienne. I love Renly's armor with the antlers embossed on his gorget. His crown is a far more delicate affair than the one Robert wears in the first season which I suppose is fitting given their very different personalities. Renly seems just as much a fan of tournamanets as Robert was though.

At 0:43 Margaery disrobes in front of Renly. They are in Renly’s tent. His light undershirt is a match with the one he is wearing at 0:40 in this trailer. Margaery and Renly are married by the time we see them in the book (A Clash of Kings chapter 23 Catelyn II page 250 in my British Kindle edition). I wonder if we will meet the alliance between Renly and House Tyrell a little earlier in its formation in the series? This appears to be an intimate scene and given Renly's sexual orientation I think they are unlikely to sleep together frequently after their wedding night.

At 0:44 we see Melisandre run her hand over Stannis’s shoulders. He is wearing a leather surcoat. Melisandre and Stannis are not widely known as a couple but they seem to have far more chemistry than Renly and Margaery do. The book implies that they are sleeping together. Stannis acknowledges that his bannermen have been gossiping about him keeping Melisandre in his tent at night in A Clash of Kings chapter 43 Davos II.

Next at 0:44 we see Melisandre bring her lips close to Stannis’s ear. As with Renly and Margaery neither Stannis nor Melisandre is a point of view character in the book. We see them through Catelyn and Davos chapters. An intimate moment like this one seems to be is not shown directly to readers but I think it is a good idea for the adaptation to be more direct. I'm really looking forward to Carice Van Houten's Melisandre; she looks great in the trailers and I saw Black Death last week and she played an excellent morally dubious priestess in that.

Finally at 0:44 there is a closeup of Littlefinger dressed in black. He is looking down at something. I cannot place this scene based on the limited information in this one shot. Littlefinger wears black or grey for most of the first season and his outfit here looks similar to what we have seen him wearing in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:11 and 0:40 but I don't think that is enough to related this shot to those ones.


At 0:45 we see Daenerys looking over her shoulder. Xaro Xhoan Davos is with her. She is wearing the same gown with gold leaf shoulder fasternings as in her conversation with Ser Jorah. This shot appeared in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:21.  Xaro, played by Nonso Anozie, is a merchant Prince of Qarth and a member of the powerful group known as the thirteen. He is one of several Qartheen competing for Dany's favor in A Clash of Kings and positions himself as a potential suitor.

 0:45 Daenerys wearing turquoise and gold armor saying “I am not your little princess.” I can find Daenerys being called "little princess" only once in A Clash of Kings - in chapter 49 Daenerys IV during her visions in the House of the Undying. I think that may again be Xaro out of focus behind her in this shot so I don't think this shot is based on that sequence because she goes into the House of the Undying alone. We have seen a similar shot of Daenerys in the same costume in the "Shadow" trailer at 0:50. There she was saying "I am Daenerys Stormborn and I will take what is mine with Fire and Blood." I wonder who it is that has annoyed her in this sequence.

At 0:46 we see Daenerys peering through a gap into a darkened space. There is a lot of bright foliage visible behind her. I would guess at this being during her exploration of Qarth but I can't place it any more specifically. At 0:47 we hear Daenerys in voiceover saying “I will take what is mine with fire and blood.” As noted above we have seen her delivering this line in the "Shadow" trailer and it is incongruous with the shots it is played over here.

Also at 0:47 we see a small group of people and horses stand before a walled city. A force of spearmen bar their entrance. A group of dignitaries are walking towards the walls. Two silhouetted figures are closer to the spearmen, one is wearing a sword. This is a new shot but I think it is drawn from a sequence we have already seen a lot of. I think this is from Dany's arrival to Qarth and that she is the silhouetted figure closest to the spearmen in this shot. A great deal is being made out of Dany's arrival to Qarth in the trailers but in the books this was a non-confrontational affair (A Clash of Kings chapter 28 Daenerys II) so I imagine some changes have been made. The relative brevity of Dany's second book story necessitates a broader adaptation for the series.

At 0:48 we see Ser Jorah in armor and Daenerys in her Dothraki outfit. Jorah looks at Daenerys as she stares defiantly forwards. We have seen a very similar shot before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:07. In that shot we saw Daenerys saying "When my dragons are grown they will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground." I think that this shot is also from the sequence of Daenerys outside the gates of Qarth.


At 0:49 the camera closes on Melisandre’s face, her choker is glowing red around her neck and she is looking down at something, head tilted to one side. I wonder if this is from the end of the prologue where her red God protects her from poisoning. The choker is first described as glowing in the book at that point.


At 0:50 Jon rises from a kneeling position on icy ground, sword in hand. He pads forward, crouched down. I think that this is likely related to a similar shot of Jon sneaking around icy rocks with his sword drawn at 1:33 in the "Power and Grace" trailer. I think this sequence is likely adapted from A Clash of Kings chapter 52 Jon VI where Quorin Halfhand's group ambush a part of Wildlings.



At 0:51 we see a closeup of Jon looking over icy terrain. This shot is new but gives us very little information to place it in Jon's story. It is similar to a shot of Jon seen in the "Shadow" trailer at 0:14 and reused in the "Power and Grace" trailer and the "Seven Devils" trailer but his expression is noticeably different here.


At 0:51 we see a silhouetted Robb kissing a woman on the forehead. I think this is his mother Catelyn but am not 100% certain. They are in a tent so this is probably another scene of them at Robb's camp. We saw them talking in a tent in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 0:34 and in that shot Robb told Catelyn "I love her." I think that places both shots later in the season after Robb has met Jeyne Westerling. As I said before Robb and Catelyn do not reconnect until A Storm of Swords after she leaves for Renly's camp so this is probably a new scene for the adapatation.

At 0:51 we see a closeup of Arya saying “Anyone can be killed.” This has been shown before in the "Shadow" trailer at 0:54 and the "Seven Devils" trailer at 1:39. As I said in my analysis of that trailer this is not a direct quote from the books but is nevertheless fitting for Arya given the painful reminders of mortality she has experienced in the first season and will experience in this one.

At 0:51 Arya looks around a stone wall into a courtyard as a red cloaked knight rushes away from her. I think this is from her time spent at Harrenhal but it is difficult to say exactly when in the book this is drawn from. I read over the weekend that the fifth episode of the second season is called "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and I wonder if this shot is from that episode. In the book unexplained events at Harrenhal are attributed to a ghost in A Clash of Kings chapter 48 Arya IX.

At 0:52 we see Theon sleeping while the woman next to him lifts herself from the bed. I think this is our first glimpse of Amy Dawson as the Captain's daughter and that this is adapted from A Clash of Kings chapter 12 Theon I. Theon sleeps with the girl on his way to the Iron Islands. I have read speculation that the woman in this shot is Osha, played by Natalia Tena but they do not sleep together in the books and I think my first guess is slightly more likely. The strange look the woman gives the sleeping Theon does make it seem that there is a bit more going on.

At 0:53 Shae struggling with a woman, possibly Sansa or Ros. This is a pretty short shot and the action of the scene makes it difficult to identify who Shae is grappling with. She does not meet Sansa in A Clash of Kings and of course Ros is an added character. Shae moves within the Red Keep by posing a lady's maid in A Storm of Swords. She initially works for Lollys Stoakworth. I wonder if some of her story from the third book has been brought forward to this one and she is restraining Sansa or Lollys here.

At 0:53 we see Cersei escorted through rioting smallfolk by Lannister Men-at-Arms. She is wearing her sea blue gown with long sleeves again. We have seen this before in the "Shadow" tease at 0:45 and in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:20.  I think this shot is taken from scenes involving rioting in King's Landing due to dissatisfaction with Joffrey's rule. These are drawn from A Clash of Kings chapter 42 Tyrion IX.

At 0:54 Renly kissing Margaery. The angle and the clothing fits with the earlier shot of her turning his head at 0:40 so I think this is also drawn from their intimate scene in Renly's tent. Renly doesn't seem to be enjoying the kiss that much which is consistent with his homosexuality. As I said earlier I wonder if this scene relates to their wedding night.



At 0:54 we see Sansa in a pink gown surrounded by rioting smallfolk. I think this is another shot from the sequence showing the King's Landing riots and is based A Clash of Kings chapter 42 Tyrion IX. Sansa looks isolated here which is consistent with what happens to her during the riots in the book. Hopefully someone will come to her rescue.


At 0:55 we see Catelyn holding a dagger towards an opponent. The walls of the tent behind her place this scene in Renly's camp. This shot has been shown before in the "Shadow" teaser at 0:12. In that trailer it was paired with a reverse of Littlefinger recoiling from the dagger. Littlefinger leaves King's Landing to go to treat with House Tyrell on behalf of Joffrey in A Clash of Kings chapter 37 Tyrion VIII. Likewise Cat goes East to treat with Renly Baratheon on behalf of Robb. Their paths do not cross in the book but it seems they will meet in Renly's camp in the series.

At 0:55 Daenerys is held back by a Dothraki man. I think that this is our first close look at Steven Cole as Kovarro. Kovarro is a new character for the television series. Daenerys does not meet new Dothraki in A Clash of Kings so I think it is likely that he is one of the young warriors who remains with her after the death of Khal Drogo in season 1 and that we just haven't seen him yet. The actor has tweeted about getting riding lessons and filming on location in Croatia. I know that Elyes Gabel who played Rakharo was filming World War Z in Scotland and Malta during the time season two was shot so I wonder if his character has taken a back seat and Kovarro has been given some of the material handled by Dany's bloodriders Rakharo, Jhoquo and Aggo in the book. I can't place this scene specifically
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At 0:55 Arya recoils from something on leafy ground. We have seen this before in the "Power and Grace" trailer at 1:34. I think it is Arya approaching the chained men with Yoren’s party of recruits. She recoils from their wagon when one of them tries to grab her after drawning her closer to it. This occurs in A Clash of Kings chapter 2 Arya I.



At 0:56 a title card reads “Game of Thrones”. This is the same logo used in the "Power and Grace" and "Seven Devils" trailers. In the teasers the title was ringed by fire. We next hear Cersei in voiceover saying “The more people you love the weaker you are.” This certainly ties together the trailer thematically but I cannot find a corresponding line in the books. I think it fits well with Cersei's first season sentiment that "Anyone who isn't us is an enemy." She like to keep a close circle of family and is completely without empathy or mercy for those outside of it.

At 0:58 a title card reads “04.1.12 #GAMEOTHRONES” Again this card was used in "Seven Devils" and "Power and Grace". I'm looking forward to that date. Thank you for reading and well done if you made it through my thoughts on all 64 shots! Please let me know what you think of my speculation in the comments, particularly if you disagree with anything.

3 comments:

  1. Very well done.

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    1. Thank you. I'm going to have to come back to these in two months and see how the guesses worked out!

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  2. I was very wrong at 0:52. That was not the Captain's daughter.

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