How depressing is this first trailer for the series. Knowing how most of these characters have been killed, or forever transformed because of their hellish journeys. I'll never forgive the Lannisters for killing Ned
Wolfpack forever
This is....actually kind of a weak trailer. Especially serving as an introduction to a mainstream audience.
I mean, I didn't watch season 1 as it aired so I have never even seen this. So I was trying to imagine I knew absolutely shyt about the books or story as I watched the trailer and it came across as confusing, all over the place, yet still generic.
Like, what's a white walker?
The ugly guy got his head chopped off for deserting? Deserting what?
What's a nights watch?
What's a Targaryen girl?
Who is this fat guy naming Sean Bean hand of the king? And whats a hand of the king anyway?
It's not totally clear that the fat guy IS the king. It almost looks as if the king died and the throne is vacant, especially when they flash the shot of the vacant throne.
Who are the good guys?
What is the conflict? A horse lord wants to invade? Invade what?
What is the tone of this? Is this gory?
And I could see people drawing complete blanks on what Tyrion, Cersei, Alliser, Littlefinger, and Drago are supposed to be. And the last 20 seconds are just a bunch of out of context quotes and too quick to even see flashes of fighting.
I mean yeah I get it's supposed to build suspense so that you are compelled to find out the answers to these questions, but I imagine for a lot of people they watched it and came away not knowing wtf they had just watched
Compare that to the first Lord of the Rings trailer, and it basically held your hand through explaining what this it is
Could be a reason why Deadwood, Rome, and Boardwalk Empire all debuted with much higher viewers for their pilots.
I just found a fan made trailer for season 1 and aside from the spoilery moment of Tyrion being arrested, I think it did a better job of serving as an introduction to the series for a casual audience than the official one HBO made.