You didn’t think HBO would succumb to us Game of Thrones fans so easily, did you? Jon Snow’s ultimate fate will only be decided during the airing of the show, and not in their forthcoming promo material. Of course, I still believe he’ll be back in some form, somehow but HBO has done a great job so far of subverting our expectations after hearing of set reports and the like. Here’s the season 6 trailer in full:
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuH3tJPiP-U[/embedyt]
He’s so dead here, in fact, that we get two shots of his dead body and one shot of Ser Davos picking up Longclaw to do some sort of unfortunate violence. We’re going to be playing the long game as it comes to the fate of our lovable Crow.
Now, onto everything not Jon Snow, and there’s a lot!
It looks like the High Sparrow is still reigning supreme over the Red Keep, but Cersei’s retaliation is nigh as we finally get a look at the goddamn Mountain, back from Hell’s gates. The brilliance of Game of Thrones is that it is able to waiver your allegiances, one horrible deed at a time. Now, I’m all for some High Sparrow comeuppance after Cersei’s public shaming. Let loose the Foul Beast Gregor Clegane!
The all-knowing Red Priestess, Melisandre is finally cut down, forlorn after the loss of Stannis at the hands of the Bolton’s (though actually by Brienne). It’s strange to see her in this light, vulnerable after having spent seasons and years being right and pushing Stannis toward his ultimate victory. It seems as if Ser Davos has the upper hand in the relationship now and he will have to fight to hold on to Castle Black after the betrayal of Jon Snow. Ser Davos has become one of the most interesting characters on the show and not that he’s in sight of some real power, allowing his good will to manifest itself externally…. it’s sure to all go wrong and we’ll all be heartbroken. But one can hope!
Deanerys isn’t in a much better position, now a Dothraki slave after her capture at the end of last season. Ser Jorah is now looking for either Dany or Tyrion or both now that he’s been exiled (again) and left with nothing (again) and a ticking clock after having been poisoned with Greyscale (although Shireen Baratheon overcame it before she was burned alive by her father–I’m still reeling from that one). Though in one small clip of combat, there is one soldier wearing armor with the House Targaryen Sigil. It doesn’t look like he’s on Dany’s side of the Narrow Sea, though, as those seem to be Northerners he’s battling. Still, hope in some form.
Elsewhere, Reek is captured again, though it looks like at the hands of his former kinfolk. Could he become Theon Greyjoy again? It looks as if his Uncle Damphair is performing the Ceremony of the Drowned God upon him, so maybe there’s hope.
Arya seems to have faired much better. She gets tossed around quite a bit in this trailer. But then she’s got this going for her now:
And then we have the money shot:
Good ole Bran is back after a year of absence and it looks like he’s walking again, only to turn around to be RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE NIGHT’S KING (though we’re still unconfirmed if this horned leader of the White Walkers is the Night’s King of which George R.R. Martin writes in the books)! This could be, and likely will be, some sort of warging where the Three-Eyed Raven has helped Bran discover more of his powers and this scene is just a warning or hallucination. Still, The Night’s King is still out there and now likely aware of Bran and his powers.
Just this trailer has given us so much information and added so much more confusion that I hope HBO releases very little else leading up to season 6’s premiere on April 24th.
