With only two episodes left to go in season seven, there’s not much in the Game of Thrones pre-premiere teasers we haven’t already witnessed (or, in the case of Beric Dondarrion whipping out Lightbringer and the Fellowship of the King fending off an army of wights, will witness in next Sunday’s episode). But there are two important moments that still left unseen.
There’s the mysterious lens-flared figure, possibly the Hound, unsheathing his sword in the Dragonpit (a tease of the long-rumored Cleganebowl?), as well as Sansa, over scenes set North of the Wall, saying, “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.” That cryptic message harkens back to something Ned told Arya in A Game of Thrones, the first installment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. (There’s a version of this touching scene on the show, but the wording is different.)
“Let me tell you something about wolves, child,” Ned said before he lost his head (it’s one of Dr. Seuss’ least successful books). “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm.” The trailer wants viewers to think Sansa is referring to Jon Snow dying, especially since this is what he’s doing while she’s talking.
(Stop being a one-man army, you dope.)
But another interpretation is that Sansa is stressing the importance of a family sticking together. This is particularly paramount when two of your brothers are dead, your other brother is a raven or whatever, your sort-of brother isn’t your brother, and a leering creep is driving a wedge between you and your recently returned sister. Martin brings up the “lone wolf but the pack survives” phrasing multiple times in the books — it should make its first appearance on the show just in time to save the remaining Starks.
