In case you didn’t realise just how serious things were getting in the final series of Game of Thrones, a new teaser has arrived to hint at just what horrors we could see in the upcoming episodes of the hit fantasy series – and just how many fan-favourite characters could be for the chop.

In the specially-filmed new footage, we track through a deserted, frozen Winterfell after a great battle has been fought there, and it seems that the engagement went rather well for the Night King and his army of the dead.

Strewn about the place, half-buried in snow we can see familiar keepsakes – Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) dragon chain, Jaime Lannister’s (Nikolaj Coster-Walday) golden hand, the feather from Lyanna Stark’s tomb, Bran’s (Isaac Hempstead Wright) wheelchair, Arya’s (Maisie Williams) sword Needle, Tyrion’s (Peter Dinklage) Hand of the Queen badge – before we centre in on Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) trademark wolf-headed bastard sword, Longclaw.

Streaked in human blood and seemingly approached by the victorious Night King himself (check the shadow) it’s one of the only signs of what must have been a terrible defeat for the living, presumably following this series’ much-teased epic battle of Winterfell (which will take place in the series’ third episode).

And while it’s probably not actual footage from the series, instead hinting what could be to come, the teaser a sobering reminder of the fate that could await the characters we’ve grown to know and love in the eagerly-anticipated new series.

Finally, we’re getting close to watching the fate of Westeros – but perhaps, we should have been careful what we wished for…

Game of Thrones airs Sunday 14th April on HBO and Sky Atlantic

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