The new Game of Thrones season 8 poster is here to give you chills

The season 8 posters for Game of Thrones have been beautiful so far. Not so with this one, which is instead meant to chill fans to the bone.

All along, Game of Thrones has asked its characters what they would do for the throne. It’s even the special hashtag for this season. However, at long last, the newest poster is following up on this morning’s surprise teaser — and thus flat-out implying that some characters may die for the throne.

Note also the shape that the bodies are arranged in. Why yes, it really is the Iron Throne, made out of people this time. How lovely, right? It’s always been a grim and gruesome thing — moreso in the books — but this just takes it to a whole new level.

Check it out below:

Let’s also get into word choice in the caption. “The great war was here,” emphasis ours, shows that things are going to come to an end, especially since the previous season emphasized that, at the time, it was only coming.

Even as you worry, though, that everyone being dead portends a bad ending, note that the Night King is also dead and part of the throne. In other words, don’t read too much into this poster. It’s meant to hit you in the gut and make you more horrified than ever, and wow, is it succeeding at that.

Note also who’s at the top of the throne, so to speak: Jon, Daenerys, the Night King, and then Cersei, already on the downswing again. It’s a subtle way of reminding us who’s playing for the throne. We didn’t need it, necessarily, but we have it all the same. Jon also actually gets to hold Longclaw, even if the implication is that he’s dead.

You can also spot Melisandre at about the same level as the show title, as well. We know she’s likely to come back based on her own prophecies, but this is the first time she’s shown up in promotional material for season 8.

What sticks out to you in this poster? Game of Thrones returns on April 14.