Game of Thrones season 8: Teaser clue you may have missed

There’s a fair bit to unpack in the new teaser for Game of Thrones’ final season — but here’s one major detail you definitely need to get across.

Amid all the hype surrounding HBO finally giving Game of Thrones fans a season eight premiere date, it was easy to miss this small — but very significant — detail.

On Monday, the network revealed that the final six episodes of the show will begin airing on April 15. To drive fans even more wild, it also dropped a new teaser, shrouded in mystery.

While the footage is likely to have been shot specifically for the promo, and won’t appear on the show, it still points to a major story arc.

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In the 1 minute 45 second clip, Jon Snow walks through the crypts of Winterfell, and as he passes by the tomb of Lyanna Stark, a feather falls from her statue’s hand.

A small but important detail.

Jon is then greeted by Arya and Sansa and the three Stark children continue walking through the tomb together.

While they make their sombre procession, the voices of deceased Starks from previous seasons can be heard speaking. Lyanna Stark says, “You have to protect him,” Catelyn Stark says, “All this horror has come to my family, it’s all because I couldn’t love a motherless child,” and Ned Stark says, “You are a Stark. You might not have my name, but you have my blood.”

When they reach the end and see their own statues and tombs, the lights suddenly dim, the torches quickly extinguish and a frosty mist begins creeping in.

The clip ends with Arya and Jon drawing their swords, preparing to confront whatever threatens them. (White Walkers, it would seem, considering the mist.)

The Stark children are facing more mortal danger in the final season.

So what does it all mean?

Eagle-eyed fans may remember that the feather was originally placed on Lyanna’s tomb by King Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones’ very first episode, and during that moment, he told Ned Stark that he dreamt of killing Rhaegar Targaryen every night.

“It’s done, your grace. The Targaryens are gone,” replied Ned.

When King Robert replied with “Not all of them” viewers assumed he was referring to Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen, but now we know it also refers to Jon Snow.

The feather popped up again in season five, when Sansa found it as Littlefinger was telling her the (now-discredited) story of Lyanna and Rhaegar’s first meeting at the Harrenhal tournament. At the time, they believed that after Rhaegar won the tournament, he snubbed his wife and instead chose Lyanna. As the story goes, he then kidnapped and raped her, sparking Robert’s Rebellion and leading to King Robert’s claim of the Iron Throne.

(Worth noting as well that while Littlefinger and Sansa were talking, she picked up the feather and wandered off with it, so it’s highly unlikely it made its way back there for the final season.)

As we now know from the season seven finale, Rhaegar and Lyanna were actually in love and secretly wed.

Based on the significance of the feather in the teaser, it’s pretty clear that Jon’s parentage is going to be a fairly major focus in season eight — meaning he’ll figure out his new lover, Daenerys, is actually his aunt and also that he has a claim to the Iron Throne.

When you realise your boyfriend is also a close relative. Picture: HBO

Game of Thrones returns April 15 on Foxtel.

Originally published as Game of Thrones season 8: Teaser clue you may have missed