For those of us who have read the entire 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series twice it is an exquisite form of schadenfreude watching HBO set up each season of the show, already knowing what we know.
We are burdened with glorious terrible knowledge. It is our sworn duty to keep a straight face at all cost. To let the horror of George R.R. Martin's vicious genius wash over the virgin eyes of our show-watching friends. To not sully their innocence lest we deprive ourselves of the decadent delight of watching their hopes crushed as ours once were when we threw novels thick enough to cause concussions across the room while shrieking “NO!”
But then Entertainment Weekly and HBO come along with their exclusive images and the whole charade goes up in flames. How, I ask you, are we supposed to keep a straight face while looking at this?
Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
Or not gasp at the audacity of this image? Are the marketing people purposely trying to put cracks in our carefully crafted armor? That seems to be the case.
Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
This is clearly psychologically warfare. Entertainment Weekly just threw down the gauntlet, defying book readers not to give a little something away as we struggle to keep our faces a neutral mask while faced with such obvious trolling. Look at this!
Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
I mean, really? This scene?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
Be careful, HBO. If there's one thing fans of both the book and show know it's that the Internet is dark and full of spoilers. And you might just be birthing a shadow blob baby.