Let’s break down that Game of Thrones season 5 cut from HBO’s Yearender (GIF)

By now, you’ve probably seen the HBO 2014 yearender, which featured a quick sneak-peek at Game of Thrones season 5. If you haven’t, you can check out what our Ani Bundel has to say about it, here. Of course, you will have to wait until the 1:40 mark to get that tasty morsel of Game of Thrones goodness, so we’ve taken that cut and broken it down in 4 nifty little GIFs. Beware, there will be some minor spoilers for the show.

First up, a shot of Cersei Lannister. The Queen Regent looks almost peeved as she is walking down a hallway, House Lannister guards in tow,  in what appears to be the Red Keep. Perhaps Cersei is angry at the fact that her youngest brother escaped an execution, while putting an arrow in their father’s gut.

Next we have Jon Snow, at Castle Black. While it’s certainly very cool to see Jon alive and well, the focus should be whom he is sharing the scene with. That boy (Brenock O’connor), behind Jon is the one who killed Ygritte, from Game of Thrones season 4, “Watchers on the Wall”. His name is Olly, and he is not a character from the books. So, if he is appearing in season 5, then I wonder what Benioff and Weiss have in store for young Brenock’s character.

Here we have everyone’s favorite dwarf, Tyrion. Obviously, Tyrion is on the lam after killing his father, Lord Tywin Lannister, in the Game of Thrones season 4 finale. There have been some grumblings from fans of the books, who are upset with the assumed rapid progression of Tyrion’s story-arc.

It looks like Tyrion is very much trying to hide his identity. Notice the blonde hair and fully grown beard, which by the way, is more of what he looks like from his description in the books.

Finally, we come to Arya. From the looks of the scenery around her, I would posit that Arya is just arriving to Braavos in this cut. Arya is still garbed in the clothes that we last saw her in, from the Game of Thrones season 4 finale, with Needle securely tucked in the front of her belt.

That’s it for now, usually HBO will air a special look ahead for the next year, sometime around New Year’s Eve. That’s when I expect a little bit more from the Game of Thrones season 5 scenes.

Remember last year, we got our first looks at a much larger Drogon, the Wildlings attacking Castle Black with Tormund leading the charge, and Tyrion walking into the throne room, in chains.

I expect the first full trailer for Game of Thrones season 5, will be sometime around the middle of January. I don’t know this for sure, but season 4’s first full trailer aired on January 14.

What are your thoughts on these brief cuts from season 5 of Game of Thrones? Let’s talk about it, in the comments below.

• Published on 12/22/2014 at 11:21 AM CDT
• Last updated on 12/22/2014 at 11:21 AM CDT