Anticipating Game of Thrones Season 6 yet? You better be. Fans of the epic fantasy series have so much to look forward to. Not only will this season return to all the characters we’ve grown to love or hate and introduce new characters and new story lines, but this is the first season that the hit HBO show has surpassed the book series by George R.R Martin. The sixth installment, “Winds of Winter,” is not scheduled to be released this year, leaving many of the book fans with only one option: watch the TV show if they want to find out what happens next. The HBO producers and writers are now faced with the task of continuing a show that doesn’t have the source material there. But since the first Season 6 trailer dropped, it has already gained millions of views on YouTube in over a day. It looks like this season is shaping up to be the biggest from all the fan reaction.
The multiple Emmy-winning TV show was left on a cliffhanger last season when Lord Commander Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) was betrayed by his brothers of the Night’s Watch. It was a chilling scene with Jon being repeatedly stabbed in a Julius Caesar “Ides-of-March” fashion. The last shot was him lying in the snow, a trail of blood coming out from his body, leaving many fans aghast about his death over the summer. Did he really die? Game of Thrones has been known to kill major characters before, so it’s no surprise that some fans are mourning Jon Snow. However, book fans have many theories. One theory about “The Tower of Joy” will most likely be uncovered this season, but another theory involves the Lady Melisandra, the red priestess who was loyal to Stannis Baratheon. After her visions about Stannis turned out to be wrong, she returns to the Night’s Watch. Could it be that Melisandra returned there for a reason? She has long been fascinated with Jon Snow and she follows the Lord of Light religion, which gives servants an absorbent amount of power. Perhaps Melisandra has a few magic tricks up her sleeve, but this is all speculation of course.
Another character’s fate that was left on a cliffhanger is Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). She and Reek (Alfie Allen) jumped from a wall at Winterfell escaping the castle now occupied by the Boltons. This was pivotal for both of these characters because they were tormented by Ramsey Bolton, the bastard son of Roose Bolton, the man who murdered Sansa’s mother and brother at the infamous “Red Wedding.” This was a defining moment for Sansa in particular, because she refused to be a victim anymore. She was helpless for many seasons, but this was a breakthrough. It probably was a sigh of relief for both fans and showrunners after the backlash that resulted following the controversial rape scene on Sansa’s wedding night to Ramsey. This scene outraged so many fans, and even caused a U.S senator to quit watching the show.
Over the six years it’s been on, Game of Thrones has caused uproar a few times, most notably with its sexual violence against women. This sparks a lot of debate for a subject that can be deemed as “gratuitous violence for entertainment purposes.” While Game of Thrones does portray disturbing medieval practices, it also gets a lot of praise for having strong female characters that are equally as complex as the male characters. Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is one of the characters that has demanded attention for how complex she is. The disgraced Queen Regent will be plotting to get rid of the Sparrows who overthrew her last season.
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is probably one of the most recognizable strong female characters. Known as the “Mother of Dragons,” she has conquered cities and challenged the system of slavery. After that amazing scene last season of her flying away on the back of Drogon (her eldest dragon), she ended up surrounded by hordes of the Dothraki. You may very well remember that Daenerys was once married to a Dothraki named Khal Drogo, so she is familiar with their savagery. Still the question remains, can she survive this time with the Dothraki again? In the trailer, Daenerys is their captive. The city she rules is in outright revolt, only held together at the moment by Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and some of her closest advisors. If things work out in her favor, she will probably end swooping in to save her city on the back of Drogon.
We also haven’t seen the last of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). The youngest Stark daughter is in the city of Braavos after being blinded as punishment for killing one of the men on her “death list.” Other characters like Bran Stark, who was missing last season, will return, learning new powers from the Three-eyed Raven. As the impending threat of the White Walkers looms over Westeros, story lines will start to converge and characters who’ve never met will finally interact. There’s a huge battle sequence towards the end of Season 6 that looks as epic as the episode “Hardhome” last season. Some of the new characters that will appear are Euron Greyjoy and Kinvara, a new red priestess.
There is a lot of speculation surrounding this upcoming season, but one thing is for sure: this season is going to be insane on so many levels. Game of Thrones Season 6 airs on Sunday, April 24.
IMAGE TAKEN from gameofthronesseason6-streaming.com
