HBO is gearing back up after a long, stagnant winter as April and the premier of Season Six of Game of Thrones slowly draws closer. We finally got a chance to see what’s in store for this upcoming season, thanks to the release of several stills from the show, featuring familiar faces. You can enjoy the full spread of photos here and hopefully you’ll get some hints as to what to look forward to in the newest installment of everyone’s favorite epic fantasy series. Today, though, let’s focus on the six biggest things we learned from the released photos.
1) Bran is Back!
After Season Five came and went without a sign of Bran, I think we’re all ready to see how one of the last surviving Starks is holding out. Season Six promises to be an exciting one for fans of Bran, as writers of the show have hinted that we will see him really come into his own as he learns to develop the extent of his powers thanks to the tutelage of the mysterious Blood Raven. The released photo from Season Six confirms suspicions that Bran will be flexing his magical muscles, in the above shot which seems to show Bran having a vision of Winterfell (it’s difficult to imagine Bran has truly regained use of his legs). The shot also features acclaimed actor Max Von Sydow who will be playing Blood Raven this season. We know from casting information that we’ll be seeing a young Ned Stark and Hodor, among others, this season, and it would make sense if they appeared in one of Bran’s visions. Altogether, it’s good to see Bran again, and exciting to imagine what part he will be playing in the upcoming season.
2) Myrcella is Officially Dead!
Season Five left a lot of deaths up in the air, and some optimistic fans have been holding out with the hope that characters such as Myrcella might not really be dead. “After all, perhaps there was an antidote to the poison,” a hopeful fan of the Lannister children might conjecture. But sadly, Myrcella’s death is officially confirmed in the newly released photos which shows Jaime returning to King’s Landing with the corpse of the daughter he set out to save. The death of Myrcella is especially brutal because it arrived swiftly after a touching, albeit twisted scene in which she and Jaime acknowledged their father-daughter relationship. Poor Jaime simply can’t hold on to anyone who loves him very long, and speaking of love…one wonders what Cersei’s reaction will be to her brother’s failure and the death of yet another one of her children.
3) Theon and Sansa Survived the Fall!
Some people were concerned about the fate of our two Bolton-beleaguered characters, Theon Greyjoy and Sansa Stark when, after a bit of thrilling heroics on the part of Theon, the pair decided that rather than face any more abuse on the part of the Ramsay and Roose, they’d jump off the walls of Winterfell and hope for the best. Fortunately, it looks like both characters survived the fall. Now let’s hope they get far away from Winterfell and start to rebuild their lives. With the escape of the Bastard of Bolton’s two main sources of entertainment, one can anticipate a temper-tantrum back at Winterfell that will probably involve the pain and suffering of several unfortunate souls. Hopefully, this only the start of a great many frustrations for the Bolton family.
4) Get Ready for Some Greyjoy Action!
Ever since Season 2, the show has been pretty light on Theon Greyjoy’s friends and relations. We’ve only seen Balon Greyjoy and his daughter Yara in a few cameo scenes in Season Three and Four, leaving us to wonder what’s going on over in Pyke. The good news is, this season promises fans a chance to see more of Ironborn, with the casting of Theon’s dastardly uncle,Euron, and the confirmation that a Kingsmoot, an ancient Ironborn rite which determines a new king, is on the agenda for Season Six. We also know that Theon will finally be returning home, so it will be interesting to see what will happen when the Greyjoy family is united.
5) Jon is….?
We’ve learned a lot from the newly released photos, but of course we can also learn something from what is not pictured. Most notably, Jon Snow, whose mortality has become a hot topic of debate, is nowhere to be seen. The good news is, there’s no picture of Jon’s corpse. The bad news, is those who want an easy confirmation that Jon is still alive and kicking are probably going to have to wait for the show to premier HBO knows Jon’s fate is a major source of contention and probably will wait to make the big reveal in the show itself.
Altogether, this is an exciting step forward towards the upcoming premier. Let’s hope we can a trailer soon!
