Game of Thrones, Season 6 Episode 1, The Red Woman: five talking points, from the Dorne plot to revenge of Ramsay Bolton

The season premiere left many questions to ponder this week until the next episode arrives - WARNING: this piece does contain spoilers
Fresh blood: the storyline in Dorne suddenly got interesting in the Season 6 premiere
HBO
Ben Travis26 April 2016

Thank the old gods and the new: Game of Thrones is back, with its most important season yet.

Fans have been itching for the show’s return ever since the Season 5 finale left poor old Jon Snow bleeding out in the grounds of Castle Black, and with season premiere The Red Woman they finally got it.

While viewers will have been hoping for answers to the cliffhangers that last year’s finale brought, the start of Season 6 was almost a recap of where everyone was up to – but there were still hints at what's to come.

From bloody mutiny in Dorne, to the introduction of a new Dothraki horde, to the fate of Jon Snow, there’s a lot to dissect about the season premiere. Here are five major questions and talking points from The Red Woman – and be warned, there’s spoilers galore.

1) Is the Dorne storyline about to get good?

The one action-packed moment of The Red Woman took place in Dorne, with a whole bunch of gory killings as the Sand women overthrew the ineffectual monarch - single-handedly making up for the most underwhelming Season 5 plot.

It was thrilling to see Ellaria Sand take charge, bumping off Prince Doran and announcing that “weak men will never rule Dorne again”. Bravo.

The subsequent montage of grisly murders saw the Sand Snakes finally get a bit of action too after being locked up for most of last season.

Dorne just moved up a few notches in the ‘storylines we actually care about’ hierarchy.

Game of Thrones: Season 6

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2) Is Ramsay Bolton going to get more despicable?

The show’s out-and-out human villain is a petulant psychopath who’s constantly trying to prove himself to his equally horrible father – and daddy’s not impressed that Ramsay's newlywed Sansa has escaped.

Even though Ramsay is sure to get his comeuppance in the end, he has more motivation than ever now to be truly awful in his pursuit of his runaway bride, especially as her loss means he could lose any hope of power in the North.

(HBO)

3) What are the other four best things in life?

Upon being introduced to a new Khal, Daenerys was told that seeing a beautiful woman naked for the first time is one of the five best things in life.

The question of viewers everywhere: what are the other four?

Here’s Conan the Barbarian with a few suggestions.

4) How long will it take Arya to turn into Daredevil?

For so long, Arya Stark was one of the show’s greatest characters with a genuinely exciting and dangerous arc. But her journey to Braavos in Season 5 saw her progress slow to a crawl, and she was left blind at the end of Episode 10.

It seemed like her story could have been really dull this time around – was she going to have to beg and prove herself worthy to re-gain her sight and return to the House of Black and White? Hell no – it was part of the training all along, and her blindness is another step on her journey to becoming ‘no-one’.

For now she’ll have to take after Marvel superhero Daredevil and hone her other senses to become a pint-sized warrior. One of Episode 1’s most pleasant surprises.

(HBO)

5) IS JON SNOW COMING BACK OR WHAT?

The question that was on everybody’s lips got a sort-of answer: is Jon Snow dead? Yes.

It seems for now that Kit Harington wasn’t lying about being a corpse, and those hoping for the Lord Commander’s immediate resurrection might have been disappointed.

But surely he’s coming back at some point, right? If he is, this Episode didn’t offer many more clues about how it could happen. Melisandre is Snow’s best hope, but her faith seems entirely shaken after the fall of Stannis, and the final shot of her as a haggard old woman showed the icy and overtly sexual character in her most vulnerable form.

Bonus point: Ser Jorah’s confession

Season after season, Ser Jorah Mormont has loitered around Daenerys being friendly, helpful, and loyal – and clearly fancying the absolute heck out of her.

Finally, Daario Naharis asked the question that we’ve all been wondering for years: is it frustrating knowing you’ve been, like, totally friend-zoned?

The answer: “Of course it is.” Give it up, Jorah.

Sky Atlantic

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