Everyone's thinking about war in first official pics from Game of Thrones Season 8

Game of Thrones finally returns for its finale season in just two months, and HBO has just released the first official photos of all the major players in action. 

As expected, the photos don't really give us much to go on in terms of the new season's plot, but each portrait is fiercely contemplative, as every single character internally struggles with the weight of what's about to happen. One thing we do know about the new season, thanks to peeks at footage, is that Winterfell will become home base for Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and her retinue, and these photos confirm that will include Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Varys (Conleth Hill), and Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), who all appear to be hanging out at the seat of House Stark.

Daenerys and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) are also the only two characters who get to be in photos together right now, confirming that the, ahem, bond they established at the end of Season 7 remains intact. Everyone else is alone, and that's particularly evident when we look at Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Cersei still sits on the Iron Throne, and remains the official Queen of a divided Seven Kingdoms, but as you can tell from these photos, she's carrying that burden by herself, and it shows. 

As for the other characters, there's a lot going on in their eyes. Tyrion, who had to grapple with learning of Jon and Dany's union late last season, looks very concerned about the future as he stands in Winterfell, as does Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), who swore to protect the Stark daughters come what may. Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya (Maisie Williams) are betraying little emotion in their eyes, as they've both perfecting an icy (pun intended) gaze through their own individual experiences.

Not everyone looks glum, though. Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) left King's Landing for parts unknown at the end of last season, and he seems pretty happy about it, and Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) is still smiling. That might just be because he's Sam, though, and he's trying to stay cheerful. 

We'll learn much more about all of these characters and what they're up to when Game of Thrones returns for its final episodes on April 14 on HBO.