Game of Thrones season 8: The color of spoilers

Does a new photo from a Game of Thrones actress presage a change for season 8, or is it just to help the hair and makeup crew out?

Warning: This post contains possible spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, or at least some highly suggestive speculation. 

Season 7 of Game of Thrones ended with the Wall getting a brand new gate (if, by “brand-new gate” you mean “gaping hole,” which we do), presaging a much darker turn than the already-fairly-dark penultimate season. Now, in a show where many of the characters have kept to the same basic hairstyles and fashion, there’s been a (possibly) shocking development for one Emilia Clarke, per our sister site, Winter is Coming.

And that development is that Clarke now has short hair that’s the same color as Daenerys Targaryen’s:

Now, WiC speculates that the change could just be for fun, but also points out that all of the tags seem to suggest otherwise, and we’re of the same mind there, especially due to basically the entire caption being about her GoT work. As you can also see in the photo, her hair is pretty short, almost reminiscent of Cersei Lannister’s post-walk-through-King’s-Landing length or Brienne of Tarth’s short hair.

Assuming that this new color might be needed for a change in Daenerys’ fashion, let’s speculate on what could happen. With the Faith of the Seven effectively neutralized, if Daenerys will be getting a haircut in season 8, it likely won’t be because of a High Septon deciding it’s part of her atonement process.

Another, slightly out-there guess may have to do with dragon fire. As we know, Daenerys cannot be burnt by regular fire. She’s shown the ability before. But Viserion no longer breathes normal fire, and if Daenerys is caught in the crossfire (pun not intended) as she fights against the Night King, she might get, dare we say, singed? Yes, the saying is that “fire cannot kill a dragon,” but it doesn’t say anything about undead dragons raised by an eldritch horror that wants to end life as Westeros knows it.

Next: How Game of Thrones became a tale of female empowerment

Speculate away, Game of Thrones fans.