10 Questions Raised By The ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6 Premiere

9. Why Would Tyrion and Varys Have No Bodyguards?

We got to visit Tyrion and Varys, a.k.a. the best platonic bromance in Westeros and beyond this week, as the two walked the streets of Meereen and debated the finer points of how to walk without looking like a rich person and just how the heck they’re going to deal with the city’s many problems. Although this was a great scene that ended on a suspenseful note with the unexpected burning of the Daenerys’s fleet, the fact that the two walked around with no protection was actually distracting. Here are two foreigners in positions of high command, in a city with an active insurgency group, walking around as if they don’t have a care in the world. Tyrion has Dany’s army of Unsullied at his command; why not bring a few with him just for peace of mind? Obviously nothing terrible befell either character, but it still felt odd to see two characters with limited ability to defend themselves openly walk around with no protection.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/24/11499472/game-of-thrones-premiere-recap-the-red-woman-winners-losers-melisandre Source: vox.com

8. Why Does The Dorne Story Still Suck So Much?

You won’t find many Game of Thrones viewers who enjoyed Season five’s Dorne setting all that much, as it was easily the weakest link in the show’s story chain. We had been hoping that things might improve in season six, but judging by the events of “The Red Lady,” our hopes may have been misplaced. Not only did the assassinations of Prince Doran Martell, his son Trystane, and his bodyguard Areo Hotah feel incredibly rushed, it also didn’t feel realistic. Setting aside the randomness of Trystane inexplicably being on a ship with two Sand Snakes, Ellaria Sand is now responsible for the deaths of two children, who she had killed as part of her unclear plan to avenge her husband Oberyn’s death. Oberyn may have been the adventurous, uncompromising type, but he hardly seemed like the kind of character who would be okay with murdering children, especially when his entire arc was devoted to avenging the deaths of his late sister and her children. To sum it all up, Dorne is still the worst part of Game of Thrones and we have no idea why it continues to be so bad. Hopefully having less characters around will help refocus the story there going forward.

http://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/game-of-thrones-season-6-episode-1-the-red-woman-five-major-talking-points-from-the-dorne-plot-to-a3232576.html Source: standard.co.uk

7. Will More Sworn Brothers Defect To Davos’s Side?

It’s easy to forget sometimes that the population of Castle Black is much larger than Game of Thrones often lets on. The season five finale gave the impression that the majority of the Night’s Watch was in attendance to murder Jon Snow, but as “The Red Lady” makes clear, it was actually a small band operating under the command of Ser Alliser Thorne, and most of the Night’s Watch had no idea it was happening. What’s interesting is that a sizable portion of the sworn brothers in attendance at Thorne’s meeting protest the murder of their Lord Commander. Although Thorne seems to sway the majority to his side, there is the implication that Ser Davos and the few men loyal to Jon may have more allies than they know among the Night’s Watch. With a battle between the two sides imminent, it will be interesting to see if some of Alliser’s men pull a fast one on him and defect to the other side.

http://www.slashfilm.com/game-of-thrones-season-premiere-recap-the-red-woman/ Source: slashfilm.com

6. What Is Sansa’s Next Move?

We know that Sansa is going to try to make it to Castle Black, but come on, does anyone actually expect her to end up there? With Jon (currently?) dead and few potential allies left there, it makes little storytelling sense for Sansa to actually get to Castle Black. So where is she really going to go? With Ramsey still hot on her trail, Sansa needs allies more than ever, which means that she could either seek out the Wildling army or northerners who are still loyal to the Starks. The latter option seems the more likely of the two, although with Theon by her side, there’s also the possibility that she may get some help from the Ironborn (though if the show follows the books closely in his regard, it’s hard to see the Greyjoys offering much assistance – Kingsmoot, anyone?). Regardless of which direction she goes, Sansa seems poised for a power play; the only question now is whether or not she will be successful.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/game-of-thrones/63284/game-of-thrones-spoiler-light-reviews-of-creepy-season-six-premiere Source: theweek.co.uk

5. Will Arya’s Storyline Ever Become Interesting Again?

It seems hard to believe that Arya Stark, Game of Thrones’s feisty, revenge-minded hellion, would become one of its most boring characters. That’s not a criticism of Maisie Williams, who is still as good as ever in the role, but ever since Arya left Westeros for Braavos, her story has largely been a snoozefest. Sure, the Faceless Men are inherently interesting and mysterious, and Arya’s assassin’s training has been the right arc for the character, but the problem is that none of this content been woven into the show’s larger story, or at least not as well as it should be.

Sure, it’s cool to see Arya on the path to becoming a highly-trained killer, but at this point, why should we care? Arya has been separated from almost every other major character for so long that her scenes have started feeling like annoying diversions rather than meaningful additions. Undoubtedly, Game of Thrones is taking this story in a direction that leads to some sort of payoff, but if Arya spends the entire season getting smacked in the face by the supremely annoying Waif, she might as well just be written out of the show altogether.

http://screencrush.com/new-game-of-thrones-season-6-photos/ Source: screencrush.com

4. Is Tommen Doomed?

One of the best scenes in this episode is the emotional exchange between Cersei and Jaime as they mourn the death of their daughter Myrcella. Not only do we get to see more of Cersei’s sympathetic side thanks to the always wonderful performance of Lena Headey, but there’s also a nice callback to the season five premiere. As you may or may not recall, that episode began with a flashback that showed Cersei having her future predicted by a soothsayer. The woman tells Cersei that she will lose all of her children, a point which she alludes to in this new episode. While neither Jaime or Cersei make reference to Tommen by name, as their only remaining child, does this not mean that King Tommen is pretty much doomed to die sooner rather than later? We actually don’t get to see Tommen in this episode, but it’s hard to see the young king escaping his doomed fate, especially in a show as kill-happy as Game of Thrones.

http://watchersonthewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/GOT507_101414_HS_DSC_00711.jpg Source: watchersonthewall.com

3. Will Khal Moro Ally Himself With Daenerys?

Daenerys Targaryen has fallen on hard times as season six begins. Separated from her army and dragons, she’s now essentially the prisoner of Khal Moro and his Dothraki Khalasar. Thankfully, Dany is able to avoid getting raped or worse by revealing that she is the wife of the deceased Khal Drogo, which as we discover, commands her a certain level of respect among the Dothraki. Right now, Moro wants to take Dany back to Vaes Dothraki, where she can live out the rest of her days among the other Khal widows.

Of course, we highly doubt this is how things will play out, but considering the sheer size of Moro’s horde, we’re also not confident that Jorah and Daario’s rescue mission will prove successful. Does this mean that Dany may somehow sway Moro to her side? After all, her original plan was to conquer Westeros with Drogo and his army, so perhaps things will come full circle and she’ll be able to use the Dothraki to her benefit again. There’s also the possibility that her dragon Drogon will just swoop in and burn everyone which, while not the most nuanced of plot devices, would at least be highly entertaining to watch.

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/game-of-thrones/news/a791485/game-of-thrones-season-6-episode-1-new-photos-daenarys-sansa/ Source: digitalspy.com

2. Jon Snow is Dead … But Is He Really Dead?

Many fans had hoped that last season’s biggest cliffhanger would get some sort of resolution in this first episode and in a way, it did, as Jon Snow is most certainly dead. However, most viewers (ourselves included) are still unconvinced that this is truly the end for Jon Snow. It seems a bit odd to focus so much of the season’s early conflict on a battle between two factions for the body of the fallen Lord Commander if his role is well and truly done, and there’s also the small matter of the Red Priestess Melisandre conveniently showing up the same day Jon is killed. Game of Thrones has shown that resurrection is possible in its universe and although Melisandre doesn’t exactly look like she’s in any state to attempt a resurrection right now, there is the possibility of her finding another way of bringing Jon back …

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/i/2015/06/15/gam-of-thrones-finale.jpg Source: ew.com

1. Will Melisandre Sacrifice Herself To “Save” Jon?

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around Melisandre’s shocking revelation in the episode’s final scene, where she unveils her true appearance: that of a centuries-old woman. Jon’s death appears to have rocked the Red Woman’s faith in the Lord of Light quite hard and it’s difficult to not get the sense that she now has a defeated, “I’m too old for this” attitude towards the prophecies she’s been spewing ever since the second Season. That being said, we know that Melisandre has some powerful magic abilities and this could be a set-up for her to sacrifice herself to bring Jon back. Whether or not she does that will depend on how strongly she feels about Jon’s destiny (or if she’s even capable of performing such a feat) but right now, it’s looking like the beginning of the end for the Red Priestess, but not before she does something incredible with her final act.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/24/11495384/game-of-thrones-red-woman-recap-melisandre-old