Winter Is Coming: What We Hope to See on Game of Thrones

Hoist the banners, raise the sigils, and don the armor (seriously: your heart will need it)– Game of Thrones, HBO’s juggernaut, returns for its sixth season this Sunday. HBO has kept its lips sealed on many of the finer points of the new season. But, there are plenty of things we hope to see. Consider this our wish-list for Season 6:

Warning: Here be spoilers. If you haven’t watched the show through season 5 (what are you waiting for?!), read at your own risk.

Jon Snow comes back from the dead.

Okay, HBO. We get it: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is dead. “Dead is dead,” etc., etc., etc. BUT, how long will he stay dead? (Where is Miracle Max when you need him?) The magical reanimation of Jon Snow is probably the one thing we can all agree is likely to happen this season. The real questions are: how will he be reanimated? Who revives him? In what form will he return? Just, please tell me Melisandre (Carice van Houten)– who just happens to be at Castle Black!!–gets to him before a White Walker does. Here’s hoping that Jon Snow’s reanimated corpse– à la Beric Dondarrion— leads an army of the living, not the dead.

Sansa Stark comes into her own.

One of the best and most frustrating aspects of Game of Thrones is its female characters– while the show boasts a number of strong women, it often brutalizes them and depicts them from a male gaze. (Case in point: the show’s seemingly endless female nudity.) Though characters like Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark, and Brienne of Tarth are fierce ladies of the highest order, the show has notoriously fumbled in its depictions of rape. For example, during the horrifying rape of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) by Ramsay Bolton (*shudder*) the camera infamously cuts to Theon, thereby making Sansa’s rape more about Theon (Alfie Allen) than it was about Sansa– her rape was meant to rouse him into action. But, what about Sansa? Though her character has come a long way from the naive adolescent who spun fantasies about courtly romance, the writers have often miscarried Sansa’s self-determination. Too often, she is saved by others. (Yes, she is sooo passive that her passiveness warrants a passive sentence– the horror!) Even though Sansa decides to flee Winterfell in the final episode of season 5 (“Mother’s Mercy”), that path of self-preservation is interrupted when Theon “saves” her from Myranda. Though we have indications that Sansa is playing “the game,” it’s too little, too late.

Ramsay Bolton suffers a slow, slow death. 

I make this statement knowing full well that Game of Thrones has a knack for killing off one monster, only to replace him/her with another. Nonetheless, the Bolton Bastard (Iwan Rheon) has got to go.

Cersei takes out the Faith Militant.

Look, there aren’t many times that I find myself on the same side as Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). She is conniving, merciless, and downright despicable most of the time, even though she is fueled by anger at being passed over her entire life and by a fierce love of her children. But, that’s why Game of Thrones is so compelling– like the ever-shifting buildings in the show’s opening titles, the audience’s loyalties constantly change, as favorites and villains alike are killed off, fall from grace, or have redeeming moments. The Faith Militant– the very force that she unleashed– are a radical group that need to be tamed; and if anyone is going to do it, Cersei would.

Tyrion gets stuff done.

Probably the most thrilling moment of season 5 was when Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) met Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). It felt like an epic, prophesied meeting between two mythical characters. Though Daenerys has done a reasonable job of surrounding herself with advisors, it’s clear that she needs Tyrion, someone who has held political power in King’s Landing. While the Mother of Dragons found herself far from Meereen at the end of the season, at least she has Tyrion at the helm while she is lost among the Dothraki.

Photo Credit: HBO