It’s been a long time since we visited the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens, and more. Though speculation about what might happen next year is sky high, many have stayed out of the guessing game. For those who prefer to be surprised by what’s in store for Season 6, this should serve as a handy refresher of where we left off with your favorite characters. So enjoy catching up before we fully dive back in on Sunday.
JON SNOW
When last we saw the Lord Commander he was bleeding out into the snow in the courtyard of Castle Black. This is as much as book readers know, too. (Though, sure, they have their theories.) Kit Harington says he won’t return for Season 6, but there’s no escaping Jon Snow on the posters and in the trailers for the upcoming year, so he’ll at least continue to be important. Also worth remembering that Melisandre conveniently arrived at the Wall just before the Night’s Watch turned on Jon. She may not always be right (R.I.P. Shireen), but she does have powers (R.I.P. Renly).
MELISANDRE AND DAVOS
As we said, Melisandre has just arrived at the Wall after torching Shireen and then watching Stannis lose very badly to the Bolton army. (R.I.P. Stannis) This shakes her faith because she believed he was the one true king and the mythical hero Azor Ahai reborn. If Stannis isn’t the real savior, then she did all those awful things (R.I.P. Shireen, Renly) for nothing. Meanwhile, Davos knows his king (Stannis) and his favorite (Shireen) are dead, but he doesn’t know how they died. So we’ll see if there’s fallout for Melisandre when he discovers she torched his best friend and reading tutor, and how he plans to avenge Stannis’s death.
BRIENNE
Having just lopped off Stannis’s head (sorry, Baratheon truthers, it’s true), Brienne is somewhere in the wintry woods outside of Winterfell. So that puts her close to Ramsay, Sansa, Theon, and we presume Pod. Where did Pod go, anyway? He was last seen luring Brienne away from the window with news of Stannis just before Sansa put her candle out. Anyway, with or without her squire, Brienne is on the snowy ground up North.
SANSA, THEON, AND THE BOLTONS
Nearby, in Winterfell, Sansa and Theon just bumped off Ramsay’s favorite sex partner (the sadistic Myranda) and took a leap of faith off the high Winterfell wall into what we hope was a very soft snowbank. Sansa is an important bargaining chip to the Boltons. As a living breathing Stark she gives their claim on Winterfell legitimacy. So Ramsay and his father Roose are going to be none too pleased if Sansa either breaks her neck in that fall or manages to escape into the frosty woods. And, as we know, Ramsay is very fond of hunting girls in the woods. It’s also good to remember that Roose’s wife, Walda, is newly pregnant, so Ramsay’s shaky claim to the Bolton name could be made even shakier by a rival heir. He needs that Stark girl.
MISCELLANEOUS STARKS
It’s also good to remember (and easy to forget!) that Sansa isn’t the only Stark tromping around in the snow. In Season 3, Rickon, Osha, and Shaggydog took off for House Umber. If they made it safely, they’re at Last Hearth, which is approximately halfway between Sansa and Theon in Winterfell and Jon at the Wall. There’s also the matter of Bran Stark. When last we left him in Season 4, he, Meera, and Hodor (R.I.P. Jojen) were taking up residency with the mystical Three-Eyed Raven and the Children of the Forest way North of the Wall. Will any of these wandering Starks meet up with each other this season? If they did, it would be the first time since Season 3 a Stark laid eyes on another Stark. (Unless you count Bran seeing, but not speaking to, Jon Snow in Season 4.)
SAM AND GILLY
We can wrap up the Northern crew with Sam and Gilly who had the good sense to get away from the Wall and its rapey occupants as fast as their cart could carry them. They’re headed to Oldtown, where Sam hopes to crack the mystery of how to defeat the White Walkers. We know Jon Snow’s sword works, but what else? Sam doesn’t know that about the mutiny or Jon’s death, so he has that revelation ahead of him. Also, can someone please explain why Gilly’s baby is still an infant (she gave birth early in Season 3) when everyone else has aged several years?
ARYA
Across the narrow sea in Braavos, Arya was struggling through the worst internship ever at the House of Black and White. She broke the rules of her internship in order to carry out her own personal act of vengeance on Ser Meryn Trant. (He killed her fencing master, you see.) As punishment (?), training (?), a combination of the two (?), Jaqen H’ghar made her blind. Worst. Internship. Ever.
DAENERYS AND DROGON
Having fled a terribly violent uprising in Meereen, Dany is now in the middle of nowhere with her biggest dragon, Drogon. As Drogon was napping, Dany went exploring and found herself surrounded by a Dothraki horde. (Drogon must have taken her pretty far.) Dany dropped her ring in the grass, so, if she gets taken by these new horse lords, it’s possible Jorah and Daario (hot on her trail) could help her out. That is if Jorah’s greyscale doesn’t get the best of him.
TYRION AND VARYS
With Jorah and Daario gone, it’s up to Tyrion, Grey Worm, and Missandei to hold down the fort in Meereen. It looks like they might have some help from Varys. He showed up right at the end of Season 5 to make the whole miserable rioting city a lot more fabulous. It’s worth remembering that Tyrion et al haven’t fixed their Meereenese problem. Drogon may have flambéed a few, but the golden-masked Sons of the Harpy are still out there.
CERSEI
While we’re on the subject of fabulous Lannisters, Cersei just completed a harrowing Walk of Shame, which does not exactly clear her of her association with the Sparrows. It got her out of her cell, but she’s still in trouble for her sins. Will she choose trial by combat and this new hulking knight as her champion? Not even book readers know. But we know from the glint in her eye and her blood-soaked backstory that the Queen Regent isn’t likely to take this treatment lying down. (Margaery and her brother Loras are taking their punishment lying down. For the time being, they’re still both locked away in cells.)
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