If you haven’t yet seen the latest trailer for Game of Thrones season 6 (what are you doing with you life?), skip over the bits of nasty Ramsay Bolton and get to the good stuff with our trailer analysis. Here are 7 interesting clues about season 6 you might have missed from the trailer. Oh, and spoilers for Game of Thrones if you’re not up to date (what are you doing with you life?).
1. Civil war has come to King’s Landing
Unsurprisingly, Jaime Lannister is none too happy with the High Sparrow for making his sister/lover walk naked through the streets of King’s Landing. In the trailer we see him threaten to “spill blood in this holy place” and lead an army to the gates of the Sept, but if the state is clashing with the church, that spells civil war for King’s Landing. On the other hand, maybe Jaime’s just dropping by the Sept on his way elsewhere (more on that later), but even if that is the case, Cersei’s forces and the Sparrows are definitely going to war because we see zombie Gregor Clegane killing a Sparrow later in the trailer. The poor thing.
2. Davos Seaworth has joined the Starks
After losing his King in season 5, Davos is back at The Wall with the Night’s Watch and while it’s clear from the trailer he’s concerned about the White Walkers, you might have also spotted that he can been seen on horseback with a Stark banner flying behind him. Yep, it looks like Davos has joined team Stark and, given that we also see Sansa on horseback in another scene, he might well be fighting for the Lady of the North. Whether they’re fighting the Boltons or the White Walkers remains to be seen, but whatever battle is taking place it’s going to be a bloody one.
3. House Targaryen has a new champion
You may remember that in season 5 Tyrion tells Daenerys that one (of the many) problems with her attempt to reclaim the Iron Throne is that there’s no House Targaryen anymore. There’s no Targaryen army, there’s no Targaryen bannermen… until now that is.
The eagle-eyed fans among you might have spotted a super quick fight between a pair of soldiers at about 1:00 in the trailer. One of the them meets the pointy end of a sword, but the soldier that does the killing is wearing armour with, you’ve guessed it, the Targaryen crest on it. From the looks of the weather, he definitely isn’t in Meereen where Daenerys is suppose to be so, who is this guy and why does he support her long-dead House?
UPDATE: Some of you have pointed out that this could be a flashback to a fight between Ser Arthur Dayne and a solider from Robert Baratheon’s rebellion. Given that this is part of the books, you could be absolutely right about that, but we'd still say that flashbacks rarely happen in Game of Thrones (there’s only been one so far), so it's by no means certain.
4. Brienne of Tarth has returned to Riverrun
After missing Sansa’s signal for help at the end of season 5, but managing to take revenge on Stannis for murdering Renly (or did she? We didn’t see the killing shot), it looks like Brienne (and Pod) are headed back south. You can see a shot of the pair with the Tully’s banner behind them indicating they’re at Riverrun. Has Brienne given up on rescuing either of the Stark daughters and decided to return to the home of her former mistress Catelyn?
Interestingly, there is a storyline involving Brienne and Catelyn in the books that was never used in the TV show, and if you’re wondering why I mention it given that Catelyn is dead… well, in the books she rises from the dead, renames herself Lady Stoneheart, and starts taking her revenge on everyone that every wronged her family. Yeah. On the other hand, Brienne might not have abandoned Sansa at all. Again, more on that later.
5. There’s (another) new Red Priestess in town
Oh hello, new Red Priestess! We already knew that Melisandre was getting company in the form of Melanie Liburd who would be joining the season 6 cast as a new Red Priestess, but she’s obviously not the only one. In the trailer we see another Red Priestess, played by Ania Bukstein, giving Tyrion and Varys the eye in Meereen. Who knows what she’s going to be up to; perhaps the pair have employed her services to control the dragons? Red Priestesses can do that, right?
6. The Wildlings are joining the fight
Per their deal with Jon Snow (sob) the Wildings are joining the fight in the new trailer. Now, you’d think they would be fighting the White Walkers, but if you check out the battle scene towards the end of the trailer, Tormund Giantsbane and co. are up against soldiers in strict formation with shields. Not exactly the undead. Have they joined Sansa’s army against the Boltons? It looks like it, seeing as the shields in question bear The Flayed Man. Plus, Tormund was Jon Snow’s BFF (sort of) and if he’s gone then it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that the Wildlings would feel some sort of loyalty to his sister. After all, he did save their lives and got multiple daggers in the chest for it.
7. Is House Frey finally paying for the Red Wedding?
We’ve talked about the clues that seem to suggest Jaime is fighting the Sparrows in King’s Landing, and the ones that say Sansa and Davos are going up against the Boltons or the White Walkers in the north. Not to mention the fact that the Wildlings are fighting… someone, but all this might be wrong because of a couple of shots in the trailer.
Remember Brienne and Pod are in the Riverlands, right? Well, there’s a shot of Pod being strangled at about 1:43 and you’ll notice there’s red tents in the background. Now go to 0:59 - there’s Jaime riding around his army and oh look, there’s red tents! Also, at about 2:02 Walder Frey (arsehole!) raises his glass to what looks to be Lannister soldiers, and on top of that, one fan has pointed out that the gloves of Pod’s attacker look a lot like the ones favoured by Jaime’s right hand man Bronn.
So… Jaime could actually be in the Riverlands with the Lannister army probably defending House Frey against House Tully who are no doubt looking for revenge after the Red Wedding. Let’s not forget, Catelyn Stark’s brother Edmure Tully is still being held hostage by the Freys after his disaster of a wedding and last time we checked in with the Riverlands, House Tully was laying siege to the Twins. Also, did we mention Sansa Stark obviously hasn’t forgotten that Mother and Brother were taken from her? The trailer sees the older Stark girl ready for revenge, but has she got her sights set on the Boltons or the Freys? Perhaps Brienne hasn’t left her at all. Perhaps House Frey better watch out.
