Game of Thrones is officially back from what seems like a forever hiatus. Season 6 kicked off on April 24, 2016 to one heck of  a premiere with one of the most disturbing endings: “I guess the night is truly dark and full of terrors!” So lets break down some highlighting moments and our own personal thoughts about the episode 1 of Season 6. 

Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch

The episode began with whimpering howls of  Ghost (Jon Snow’s Direwolf) as Jon lay dead in the snow, his body frozen over from exposure to the cold. The howls from Ghost catch Ser Davos’s attention, and he makes his way out to the courtyard to discover the fallen Lord Commander’s body. He asks for assistance to carry Jon Snow’s lifeless corpse into Ser Davos’s chambers. He is joined by Jon Snow’s trusted allies and followers along with Ghost to keep Jon Snow safe from Alliser.

Meanwhile, word gets around the Night’s Watch of the Lord Commander being murdered. Alliser openly admits that he and his companions killed Jon Snow, leaving the Night’s Watch at odds. Alliser, always on the mission, discovers that Jon Snow’s body is being safeguarded by Ser Davos and men of the Night’s Watch. Alliser offers Ser Davos a horse and safe passage home if he relinquishes Jon Snow’s body. See Davos, with his experience while serving as a knight, knows that Alliser’s offer is just a ruse, and that they will all be killed if they allow Alliser and his men in.

The group of men feel helpless about the prospect of honoring Jon Snow, or preserving his body in the hopes to resurrect him with the help of “The Red Woman” (Melisandre). Melisandre, upon returning to Castle Black, quickly learns of Jon Snow’s death, and is upset by her visions.  She recalled in her vision through the flames that Jon Snow would be The Savior. 

Just as the episode began at Castle Black as does the episode end with Melisandre in her chambers. She sees her reflection in the mirror, and de-robes , lastly taking off her necklace. We believe that her necklace was more than just costume jewelry as it seems to bind her eternal youth to her body. For once the necklace is removed, and a hundred year old naked body is shown before the mirror. We have the feeling that Melisandre, with the death of Jon Snow and Stannis Baratheon, is beginning to question her abilities as her visions failed with both (she saw Jon Snow fighting at Winterfell).  This has us thinking that she will sacrifice her abilities and life to resurrect Jon Snow.

Sansa Stark

Sansa Stark’s storyline has a small, but intense portion in the premiere.  We see her running for her life with Theon Greyjoy through the snow fallen woods. Theon is clearly suffering from an injury after jumping from the walls of Winterfell with Sansa Stark. Theon looks to be  growing a backbone and some thick skin in this episode that has been lacking now for some seasons. At one point, he coaxes Sansa to tread through the icy river to throw off the hounds, and later risks his life to protect her when the hounds sniff them out.  We like this will be new Theon viewers have been waiting for, and hope to see more of this in later episodes as he throws off the chains of “Reek”.

At first, it seemed all hope was gone for Sansa as the hounds sniff her out despite Theon trying to lead them away, and it looked like she was going to be returned to the monstrous Ramsay Bolton.  Then Bam! Out of nowhere, Brienne of Tarth comes to the rescue with some help from Podrick and Theon to take down Bolton’s search party.  After Sansa is saved, Brienne of Tarth proclaims her allegiance, in which Sansa finally accepts Brienne as her sworn sword. We were excited for this moment because not only did Brienne become Sansa’s sworn sword, but is one of the strongest knights (in our opinion) to be at her side as Sansa raises her army. We are just hoping by the end of Season 6 Ramsay Bolton gets what has been coming to him for a long time (hopefully by the hand of Sansa herself).

Dorne and House of Martell 

We all know that HBO and the writers for Game of Thrones love to “Shock” viewers. Once again they have caused a fandom frenzy over the deaths of Doran Martell and Trystane. Ellaria and her Sand Snakes take down Prince Doran and Trystane after Myrcella’s death.  This will cause quite the upset in Dorne in that any time a head of power is taken out there is a power struggle over the now vacant position. What this will mean for Dorne we are not really sure as it doesn’t really seem Ellaria has a plan in place for what will come after.  It does seem completely unwise to create this disunity in the nation with the Lannister’s looking to get revenge.  At the very least, she should have kept Trystane alive as a puppet king.  The people, as she said, may not like Doran, but we think they may get upset when they hear that the crowned prince was killed as well.

Jaime and Cersei Lannister

Speaking of the Lannisters, Jaime Lannister arrives back at King’s Landing with a heavy heart as he delivers Myrcella to, what is at first, an eager Cersei at the shoreline.  After all Cersei has been through, she wanted to see her daughter again. Cersei quickly sees the golden shroud over Myrcella’s body and is grief stricken as the realization of the witch’s prophesy is coming true.

An angered Jaime Lannister pleads with Cersi to seek revenge for Myrcella’s death. Looks like Ellaria will get her wish after all of war with the Lannisters’, but, judging by  the numbers and force alone, looks like Ellaria is in over her head and will be defeated. This change to the story is what fans are in an uproar about as it goes against the storyline of Prince Doran in the books and kills the character off before viewers could see his potential. Why bring on a gifted actor only to give him little screen time and kill him off within two seasons? Sometimes we question the book to series adaptation, and we are with fans on this “shock” value killing of the Martells.

Daenerys 

The last we saw of Daenerys she had just escaped Meereen on the back of Drogon, and ends up out in the wilderness where she is found by a Khalasar.  She is taken prisoner by men of the Khalasar without any knowledge of who she is.  In fact, they speak crudely about her in front of her thinking she doesn’t understand the language.  Daenerys is taken to Khal Moro, the leader of the Khalasar, who immediately takes a liking to her strange beauty, and basically says he’s going to “take” her.  He and his comrades are taken by surprise when Daenerys starts to speak Dothraki, stating her title as the mother of dragons, which they laugh at.  Khal Moro calls her the “Queen of Nothing”.  It is only when she mentions that she was the wife of the deceased Khal Drogo that Khal Moro’s demeanor changes, and he cuts her loose, claiming that no man can touch a Khal’s widow.  She demands to be escorted back to Meereen to which Khal Moro states that she is to go to Vaes Dothrak, a place ruled by the Dosh Khaleen (the widows of Khals).

We like the strength Daenerys shows in this part as she has no problem standing up to Khal Moro.  In comparison to what she was like the first time she was presented to a Khal as bride in season, it is like night and day.  We do see some turbulence in the future for her as we do not think that she will go quietly or willingly to Vaes Dothrak.  And where is Drogon?  We want to see more dragon action in this as well.

And as for Meereen, we should mention that Tyrion has taken over ruling, but we see in this episode that he is becoming more and more aware of the powder keg he sits on.  In this premiere, all the ships in the harbor are burned which cuts off any real sort of quick escape he was going to use.  We see hard times coming for our favorite “half-man”, but we are confident that he will just the right person for the job.  He is, after all, a man who “drinks and knows things”.

Arya Stark

Arya’s part in the premiere was not very big, but it was important.  As it left off in season 5, Arya is blind and begging at the street corner.  We see that her other senses are becoming more sharp as she is listening to the conversations around her.  Her nemesis, the girl who taunts her from the House of Black and White, finds her and starts attacking her with a pole.  We see Arya get thrashed in this brutal form of training, but we have a feeling this is only going to make her stronger as Arya continues her journey in becoming a “Faceless Woman”.  We are eager to continue that journey with her as we see Arya coming back swinging this season.

Things To Keep In Mind

• Ramsay Bolton without Sansa Stark is without an heir. His father’s wife is pregnant and looks to be a boy. We have a feeling this Season will be the down fall of Ramsay!
• Sansa is on her way to Castle Black to get protection from Jon Snow.  What will happen at Castle Black now that Jon Snow is “dead”?  We have a feeling that Sansa’s arrival will really stir the pot in the Night Watch as Alliser will, more than likely, try and give Sansa back to Ramsay, but those who supported Jon Snow will protect her.