Let's just watch this. That's why you're here, right? No fucking around.

So here's the thing: I think that looks totally, utterly, 100 goddamn percent badass—but I've also read the books (or as many of 'em as are out, anyway, and will probably ever be out). But how does that trailer play if, say, one hasn't read all four billion pages of George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic? The story is vast, the characters number in the rough billions, and unlike other filmed fantasy epics—The Lord of the Rings, all things Harry Potter, that goofy Narnia business—there's nary a central character nor singular plot thread to direct the uninitiated toward.

So here's my question: Do these Game of Thrones trailers just look like gibberish if you haven't read the books? 'Cause while I'm all, "Eeeee! A heart tree! Oooooh! A direwolf! SWEET JESUS IT'S THE OLD-TIMEY WOODEN ELEVATOR THAT GOES UP THE WALL!", I'm guessing the average person is all, "Huh. There's a midget at Medieval Times."