HBO has released the first teaser for its upcoming season of the dark fantasy drama.
Sure, we’ve seen plenty of promotional videos for Game of Thrones season 3, but most of them have been making-of featurettes, side-projects, or even just dramatic looks at the show’s logo. Though it, unfortunately, still doesn’t give us any actual footage from the upcoming episodes, the new video does give us a look at this season’s major players, and in the case of Peter Dinklage’s character, Tyrion Lanister, we get to see how his healing battle wound will be depicted.
Of course, we knew as soon as he was wounded that the scar would not be as dramatic as the one in the book (where he lost most of his nose). The change is understandable, however. A lost nose would be much harder to pull off with make-up.
The voiceover is read by actor Aidan Gillen, who plays Petyr Baelish on the show. The monologue itself is a good portend of things to come, and the next ten episodes will depict a tumultuous time in the Seven Kingdoms. Those of us who have already read the books know what’s coming. This time in the epic tale is very much about reversals of power and great sacrifices. Lots of new faces join the cast to replace those who have perished (or who will soon) and to complicate the plots already in place.
The show runners have commented several times that this is the season of the show that they’ve been most wanting to do, with David Bennioff even saying that the stories they get to tell this season are the reason for the show’s existence, and that once he’s gotten to do this season, he’ll feel satisfied, even if the show doesn’t survive long past these episodes.
Not to worry however, as HBO has already confirmed that they are fully committed to producing the series until the story is over. A Song of Ice and Fire, the series of books by George R.R. Martin upon which the show is based, is epic in length, and at the current rate at which the show devours the source material, we’ve likely got a total of 10 seasons before the end.
The third season of Game of Thrones, which covers the events of the first half of book three of A Song of Ice and Fire, kicks off March 31, 2013 on HBO. If you need to catch up, you can grab the Blu-rays over on Amazon.
