Game of Thrones returns a little later than unusual this year, with season 6 premiering in late April. That’s surely a scheduling decision by HBO more than anything else, but since fans are frothing at the mouth to learn the fates of more than few characters (though obviously one in particular), having to wait even longer for a new season is torture. Which is sort of fitting, actually, considering how cruel Game of Thrones often is to its characters - why not send a little pain the viewers way as well?
But it must be said that HBO isn’t entirely without mercy. They may have already dashed the hopes of journalists everywhere by declaring no press screeners for Game of Thrones would be released this year, but as amends they’ve dropped a new trailer without warning. Well, without notice would be a better way of phrasing that because the trailer certainly comes with some warning - it’s a red band trailer, meaning it features the kind of R-rated content Game of Thrones is known for.
Give the new red band Game of Thrones season 6 trailer a watch below.
Whew! Where to begin? Even though it runs under two minutes, this trailer certainly offers plenty for fans to pour over and discuss between now and the season 6 premiere. Let’s get right to it - has Jon Snow survived? No. Which really shouldn’t come as a surprise given how adamant everyone involved with Game of Thrones has been in saying so. Still, no one is expecting it to be as simple as all that, and judging from Melisandre and Ser Davos standing watch over his body it seems likely the red priestess will at least attempt a resurrection. However, just how far within the season this will happen isn’t clear, but they must be desperate since Melisandre admits her visions were wrong and Davos is ready to clash swords with brothers of the Night’s Watch.
In King’s Landing, the church and the crown continue to wage war - with the High Sparrow and his legions of followers on one side and the remaining Lannisters on the other. Cersei’s trial by combat is expected this season and there’s something of a tease with her refusing to tell her champion, Ser Robert Strong a.k.a The Mountain Monster, to step aside. She and Jaime will also be reunited, and though their last reunion was not a happy one, now that Cersei has had her pride wounded just as Jaime’s was and they’ve lost yet another child, they’ll certainly reconcile. After all, they need to keep a united front if they have any hope of refuting the claims on Tommen’s legitimacy and keep him on the throne.
Up in The North we see the aftermath of Stannis’ suicide crusade against The Boltons in Winterfell, with a rather nasty look at some unfortunate nailed and flayed on a cross. Not much screen time is given to Roose and his legitimized bastard, Ramsey, but surely the hunt for Sansa will be on in earnest. She appears too, though briefly, but it suggests that she and Theon aren’t on the lam for long. Littlefinger also makes a quick appearance, seen standing in the snow, which might mean he returns to The North to collect his “daughter”.
This season will also see more characters across the Narrow Sea, where Arya is continuing her training with The Faceless Men and Tyrion is trying to hold together Meereen in the wake of Daenerys’ dramatic departure. For her part, Ayra’s assassin training was already in full swing last season, but this year she’ll not only become even more adept in the art of killing, she’ll likely begin warging, too. There’s a very quick look of Arya with white eyes in the trailer, and though it’s similar in appearance to warging, this might just be her current blindness. We don’t see a lot of Tyrion either, but the shot of him descending stairs with a torch in hand could be him inspecting the basement of the Great Pyramid, where Daenerys has her other children locked up. One of the strongest theories of what’s ahead for Tyrion suggests he forms an attachment with one of those dragons, perhaps this season they’ll begin planting those seeds?
But as for the dragon queen, she appears to be off to Vaes Dothrak again, only this time as a prisoner and not a khaleesi judging by the fact she’s walking and not on horseback. Good thing her faithful knight and mercenary, Jorah and Daario, are in pursuit. Though, a massive army of Dothraki won’t feel threatened by only two men. Here’s hoping that Drogon makes another timely arrival, because he may be his mother’s only hope.
However, the real stinger of the Game of Thrones season 6 trailer is Bran coming face to face with The Night King. Since Bran is upright the scene obviously comes from a vision, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out whether what he’s seeing is a look at the past or the future. If it’s the former, then Bran’s visions may help answer the many, many questions we have about the White Walkers, and if it’s the later, well then, anything involving The Night King is a bad omen.
A flurry of scenes come in a montage at the end, and within them we can see Brienne looking angry, the arrival of the Greyjoys, Margaery as a captive, Theon getting his head dunked [EDIT: This may actually be his uncle, Euron (Pilou Asbæk)], and the promise of lots of bloody battles. All in all, Game of Thrones season 6 looks like it really could be the most insane yet. Let us hear what else you’ve spotted from the trailer in the comments below!
Game of Thrones returns with its season 6 premiere on April 24th, 2016 on HBO.
Source: HBO
