‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere Unveils New Title Sequence

Game of Thrones Season 8 premiered on Sunday, and fans were greeted by a much different title sequence this time.

The sprawling world of Westeros is, in many ways, shrinking as the fighting becomes concentrated to one battlefield. The title sequence for Season 8 reflected that, as it zoomed in on just three small model castles.

Warning! Spoilers for Game of Thrones lie ahead!

The new title sequence began by zooming in on the Wall as usual, though instead of following the lift up as in years past, it focused on the section that was broken in the Season 7 finale. The camera swung through that segment from the north, just as the Night King and his armies did, before following their path south.

The title sequence then stopped at Last Hearth, the historic seat of House Umber. Of course, those who watched the episode know that Last Hearth is unlikely to make it into the rest of the title sequences this season.

Since the title sequence made fewer stops this time around, each one was longer and more detailed than in years past. For example, when the camera next arrived at Winterfell, fans saw the castle erupt from the ground and the Wierwood tree growing up toward the sky, but they also saw inside the small model fortress.

Likewise, the camera’s last destination was King’s Landing, where the camera zoomed down into one of the towers of Maegor’s Holdfast. It zoomed all the way into the dungeon, showing a giant dragon skull beneath the castle. There was even the faint hint of a sound, like a dragon shrieking, before the camera lifted up to the throne room.

There, the Lannister crest sat above the Iron Throne as usual, though perhaps not for long.

The Game of Thrones title sequence has changed from episode to episode throughout the show, introducing the different settings and showing who is in charge in each of them. With the war for the dawn here, the map will likely be changing from week to week as the Army of the Dead marches south.

For example, the premiere episode already saw the loss of one major castle on this week’s map — Last Hearth. Near the end of the episode, the remaining Night’s Watch arrived to find it pillaged and destroyed by the Night King, with one White Walker left for them as a warning. Hopefully the same fate can be avoided in the other, more familiar locations.

Game of Thrones airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.