Game of Thrones: 4 Takeaways from the HBO Season 8 preview

One aspect being ignored is the quick flash of the Dothraki war charge.

Most of the attention from the preview is being focused on the tense interaction at Winterfell. Sure, the Targaryen, Snow, Stark, Mormont reunion tour will be a great, but there is a small detail being ignored. There appears to be a battle brewing between warring human armies in Westeros.

The initial snippet in the preview shows the Dothraki army charging on horseback. Several in the initial wave are swinging their arakh – the crescent moon-shaped blade – above their heads to hype up the troops. Their existence doesn’t indicate a battle against other humans, but two other things do. First, those weapons don’t appears to be dragon glass. Second, the dragon is a clue.

While the scene is brief, the fact that Khaleesi’s number one dragon Drogon is flying solo above her army is critical. Even more important, however, is the height Drogon is flying. After losing Viserion to the White Walkers, there is no way Danny would let her other dragons fly so low into battle against the same threat. Losing two dragons would basically doom humanity before the battles even begin. This indicates a war against a human adversary. In other words, the battle against Cersei’s army is happening this season, whether it’s a betrayal of the truce or after the White Walkers are defeated.