Kings Landing
Once upon a time a lot of the shows action took place here, but this season things were been pretty quiet in King's Landing as Cersei (Lena Headey) continued in her struggle with the High Sparrow's (Jonathan Pryce) Faith Militant. It was interesting seeing Cersei being portrayed as more sympathetic, between the events of last seasons finale, grieving for her recently deceased daughter and losing her grip on her son King Tommen (Dean Charles Chapman) to the Faith, it was clear that she was a broken woman. At her side were her brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), the mad Maester Qyburn (Anton Lesser) and the zombified Mountain (Thor Bjornsson), the latter feeling very underplayed this season barr tearing the head off a Faith Militant member.
Things seemed to be building up to something there on Margery's (Natalie Dormer) atonement day, but they didn't as Tommen began to side with the faith. Tommen began to annoy me almost more than Joffrey this season, I mean come on lay down the law boy. Even Margery seemed to be manipulated by the faith but this was proven to be an act which she confirmed to her grandmother Olenna (Diana Rigg). It seemed as though the Tyrell's were planning something against the faith, unfortunately they didn't exactly get to complete their plan as in the finale they were all blown up. That's right, Margery, her brother and father, The High Sparrow and the entire Faith Militant were blown to smithereens inside the Sept of Baelor when Cersei decided to exact revenge on them using Aerys Targaryen's remaining wildfire. It was a truly explosive finale but it didn't stop there for the mad Queen in the making, she also had meddling Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover) stabbed to death and let the Mountain take care of Septa Unella (Hannah Waddingham) while cheekily chanting shame, how the tables had turned.
To top things off, Tommen decided to off himself and took the term 'Kings Landing' a bit too literally, but there was no time for grieving for Cersei as she was busy taking the Iron Throne for herself, becoming the new Queen of Westeros. Yikes. While things in Kings Landing got off to a slow start it's safe to say its events were the true highlight of the finale, with the faith storyline well and truly wrapped up and Cersei on the throne it's safe to say things will get a lot more interesting there come next season.
The Iron Islands
After many seasons of brutal torture and misery, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) finally made it home to Pyke where his family were a bit less than excited to see him. However, after his father was murdered by his newly arrived uncle Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbeak), Theon and his sister Yara (Gemma Whelan) formed an alliance against him in hope to claim the Salt Throne for themselves. I was glad to see Theon finally back on the mend and moving on to greener pastures, the chemistry between him and his sister this season was great and I look forward to seeing more from them. As for Euron..well we'll see how many of those ships he gets built on an island with no trees.
Braavos
If this season confirmed anything its that once you cross the narrow sea, your storyline truly does go to shit. This is most evident in Arya's (Maisie Williams) Braavos storyline this season where she goes back to her training with the faceless men after being cured of her blindness. I enjoyed this story initially, I liked Jaquen (Tom Wlaschiha) initially, but by the end of it I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. Basically Arya was given another chance to prove herself by killing an actress, after forming a bond of sorts with her target Arya decided to abandon this mission prompting Jaquen to send that annoying Waif (Faye Marsay) after her. In a shocking scene, Arya was stabbed repeatedly by her before falling into a river and narrowly escaping. This was a moment where fan theories were actually better than what the writers came up with, there were talks of Arya faking her death to get the faceless men off her back, even a Fight Club-esque theory about her and the Waif, but no, what you saw onscreen actually did happen. How Arya survived those wounds I'll never know, it was an instant of lazy writing that really hit the Braavos plot hard. After taking her revenge on the Waif, Arya confronted Jaquen before deciding to leave the House of Black and White and return to Westeros. That's right, she spent two seasons in Braavos for nothing, it was a bit frustrating and anticlimactic seeing how that storyline unfolded, it was like they needed to give her something to do for two seasons before whisking her back to Westeros. On the plus side, her training and newfound abilities would come in handy later on..
Meereen and Vaes Dothrak
Like Arya, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), one of the shows most interesting and likeable characters also fell victim to what I like to call 'The Essos Curse' and was severely underplayed. Still stationed in Meereen, he attempted to keep things in order after Daenerys fled last season by trying to reason with the former slave masters. However, things don't go so well as the slavers launch a full on assault on Meereen leaving Tyrion and the Dany crew to be rescued by their Khaleesi and her dragons. He did have some memorable lines along with the entertaining joke scene, but I feel like Tyrion could have accomplished so much more this season. With the way things ended however, it looks as though he'll have a bigger role in the next one.
Meanwhile, Daario (Michael Huisman) and Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) attempt to rescue Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) from not Khal Drogo as she was taken hostage by the Dothraki and held captive in the temple of the Dosh Khaleen. Burning her captors and emerging from the flames unscathed, Daenerys reunited with her two favourite men and forgave Ser Jorah as he confessed his love for her. Touching eh? Don't get used to it as she then sent him off to find a cure for his greyscale, PLEASE don't let him become the next Gendry.
After this, Dany and Daario returned to Meereen, rescued the city from the slaver fleets and the Sons of the Harpy before forming an alliance with Theon and Yara Greyjoy. Yes ladies and gentlemen, after six seasons wandering aimlessly around Essos, Daenerys in finally on her way across the narrow sea along with her companions, her dragons, the Dothraki, fleets of Ironborn, Dornish, Tyrell men and what was left of those slave ships. I was glad to finally see some development in Daenerys' story and Emilia Clarke gave one of her best performances ever this season, her chemistry with Yara is also an interesting one that I look forward to see developing. Looks like the Essos curse has finally been broken.
The Riverlands
Things began to kick off in the Riverlands this season as Jaime and Bronn (Jerome Flynn) aided the Frey's in the siege of Riverrun. Just when I was beginning to like Jaime, this story arc acted as a reminder that no matter how much good the Kingslayer has done, he is still a Lannister, a loyal one at that. Even his friendship with Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) became strained due to his loyalty to his family, but considering Cersei's recent development it's interesting to see how much longer this loyalty will last. I was pretty sad to see The Blackfish (Clive Russell) die as he was great this season and I would've loved to see him possibly join the Starks in the North in the impending winter, RIP Brynden.
The highlight of the Riverlands this season however, was the return of the beloved Sandor Clegane aka The Hound (Rory McCann). After being left for dead in season 4 we thought we'd never see the chicken loving brute again, but thankfully he survived his wounds and was back in full force. Initially living in peace, The Hound went on full rampage mode after his peaceful new friends were murdered and this was extremely entertaining to watch. Seeing the hulking man slaughter various men in the Riverland forests was very reminiscent of a Friday the 13th movie, with The Hound as Jason Voorhees. He eventually exacted revenge before joining the Brotherhood without banners and going for a piss in a nearby river. Classic Hound, how we missed you.
The big thing in the Riverlands this season however, was the speculation of whether or not a certain Lady Stoneheart would return. In the books she is the ressurrected Catelyn Stark who came back thanks to the Brotherhood, to exact revenge on those who betrayed her. It seems odd that the show never brought her in but this season there were a number of hints that she would make an appearance, the frequent conversations about Catelyn, the Riverlands plots, the reintroduction of the Frey's and the Brotherhood and a number of returns led many fans to believe she would return. Long story short, she didn't which was really disappointing, I have no idea why the writers would neglect such an interesting plot that even writer George RR Martin wants in the show, but sure look. Instead it was Arya seeking vengeance in the finale, using her skills as a faceless assassin to sneak into Walder Frey's (David Bradley) home before baking his sons in a pie, feeding it to him and slitting his throat. It was a bit strange how Arya got to Westeros so fast but nevertheless it was a glorious moment and the look of madness in her eyes as she let Walder bleed out was wonderful to see, I look forward to seeing Maisie Williams cross more names off her list next season.
Beyond The Wall
We last saw Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) in season 4 when he came to the home of the Three Eyed Raven (Max Von Sydow), this season saw him continue his training with the Raven in what was one of the most intriguing story arcs this season. Through some sort of vision questing (possibly time travel?), Bran caught glimpses into the past and saw things such as young Hodor, a certain Tower of Joy and the origins of the White Walkers themselves. I found their origins quite interesting as it gave them some sort of motivation, created by the Children of the Forest to protect their land from the humans, it gave some death to the dreaded ice zombies. Speaking of which, the White Walkers cut Bran's training short in the midseason episode where they attacked the home of the Three Eyed Raven, killing him, Brans direwolf and a number of Children of the Forest. But the most heartbreaking death of that episode, and the entire season, was Hodor's (Kristian Nairn). Yes the loveable giant sacrificed himself to save his friends at the very moment when we learned the origin of his name, for me it was the saddest GOT death scene since the Red Wedding and knowing it came from George RR Martin himself shows, yet again, how talented he is as a writer.
After that epic midseason, things got pretty quiet on the Bran scene. We finally saw the return of Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle) who had been missing since season one and is now in some sort of state where he's half human, half whitewalker, it's cool as hell. After saving his nephew and Meera (Ellie Kendrick) from a group of wights, Benjen helped to escort them further south where Bran went on one last vision quest for this season, and it was a big one. We Finally got the end of that Tower of Joy flashback and the confirmation of one of the most popular fan theories: Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) is the son of Lyanna Stark and (possibly) Rheagar Targaryen. That's right, Ned took him in after his sister died in childbirth, pretending that he was his bastard son when in reality the new King of the North could have Targaryen blood running through his veins. It was a satisfying moment, especially for those longterm fans of the books.
Sam and Gilly
I was a bit disappointed to see that the loveable duo of Sam (John Bradley) and Gilly (Hannah Murray) only appeared in two episodes this season as I quite like the comic relief they provide and think the actors bring excellent chemistry to the characters. This season saw Sam heading to Oldtown in order to begin his maester training, but not before he made a trip to his home. I enjoyed getting a deeper look into Sam's world and where he was before coming to the wall, the dinner scene also helped to develop his relationship with Gilly as her wildling heritage was revealed. Her strong defense of Sam shows how much love she has for him and his willingness to take her and her baby to Oldtown with him shows that he feels the same way, sometimes it's nice to take a break from all the death and destruction. Sam, Gilly and Little Sam finally did arrive in Oltown where Sam marvelled at the gigantic library inside the citadel in a simple yet fulfilling scene.
The North
My favourite story arc this season, by far, was that in the North and things were certainly eventful up there. Firstly, as many suspected, Jon Snow was ressurected by the red witch Melisandre (Carice Van Houten) after his shocking death last season. Although it was predictable by a mile, it was satisfying seeing him return and even more satisfying watching him hang those wankers who stabbed him to death in the first place before resigning as Lord Commander. Soon after he was reunited with his half sister Sansa (Sophie Turner) who escaped the maniacal Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) last season, it was a heartwarming moment for fans and characters alike and marked the beginning of the Stark's return to prominence.
Meanwhile Ramsay too came to prominence, killing his father, his stepmother and newborn half brother in order to become Lord of Winterfell. If that wasn't bad enough, he also had in his possession the youngest Stark child Rickon (Art Parkinson) who he would use as a bargaining chip against the Starks. Iwan Rheon's performance as Ramsay was one of the highlights of this season for me, I never thought somebody could be nastier than Joffery but Rheon manages to be just that and takes the cake as the shows greatest villain. As he began to threaten the Stark siblings, Jon gathered many forces of the North including the stern pre-teen Lady Mormont (Bella Ramsay), a new fan favourite.
All of this built up to the shows most astonishing battle sequence, the Battle of the Bastards. It was Ramsay's men vs Jon and his army that included the likes of Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) and the wildling Tormund (Kristofer Hivju), and oh boy was it intense. It was so brutal and bloody yet so gripping and brilliantly directed, it's up there with the likes of Helms Deep and the Battle of Hoth and had me on the edge of my seat for its entirety. If that episode doesn't win an Emmy then there's no justice in the world. It was by far the most impressive scene I've ever seen in a TV show. While Jon's forces seemed outnumbered they were saved by Lord Baelish (Aiden Gillen) and the Knights of the Vale before Jon and his pals stormed Winterfell.
Our heroes came out victorious, though suffered many losses including Rickon and the giant Wun Wun (Ian Whyte), but seeing those Stark banners hanging over Winterfell made it all feel worth it. The episodes end also saw the long awaited death of the villainous Ramsay at the hands (or jaws) of his beloved hounds, it was a satisfying moment especially for Sansa who slyly grins as she walks away.
With Winterfell back, Jon and his forces turned their attention to winter's arrival and the impending White Walker invasion. After banishing Melisandre for burning Shireen last season, Jon gathers all of the remaining Northern houses, seeking their aid in the coming winter. After more stern words from Lady Mormont, Jon was then crowned King in the North at long last. It was certainly a great season for Stark's and with winter finally here I cannot wait to see Jon and his army face the White Walkers at long last, the dead are coming as Ser Davos said.
Dorne
...Let's not.
The Verdict
Season 6 was, in my opinion, one of the best so far. It had some really gripping storylines and one of the greatest battle sequences ever making for a really intense season. The cast were all outstanding in their respective roles as some said farewell while others were welcomed back, the show certainly boasts some fantastic talent. It did have some flaws such as the Braavos plot and the lack of Lady Stoneheart but in its entirety I feel it was a pretty fantastic season. Above all, however, it set things up for the end game, Cersei on the throne, Dany heading to Westeros, winter finally arriving, the end is near for Game of Thrones and by the looks of things it's going to be a big one.
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