Climate Change May Hold A Clue To How The White Walkers Are Winning In Game Of Thrones

The season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones gave fans a hint about what's to come in the rest of the season. Not only is climate change something we have to be on the lookout for in our daily lives, but its effects are infiltrating our favorite TV shows, too.

In the premiere episode, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann) looks at the fire while he's having a vision and says, "It's where the wall meets the sea. The dead are marching past." But if the White Walkers, to whom he refers, can just walk around the wall, why hadn't they done so earlier? Fans decided to see if they could find out.

It turns out, a clue was in the opening credits. Viewing an aerial shot of the Westeros from the opening of the show, a difference between season 6's opening and season 7's becomes clear: the Wall, which goes across the whole length of the strip of land, meets the sea on either side in the opening image from season 6. But in season 7, it appears that the sea is beginning to freeze over. Because, you know, winter is here.

Does this mean that the entire army of White Walkers will be able to just walk around the giant wall that was built for the express purpose of keeping them out? And, if so, what will that mean for the story? At this point, GOT fans will just have to wait and see what happens, and if the army itself can be stopped before getting around the Wall. Either way, season 7 is poised to be as nail-biting as the rest of the series.