Of course, the dead have always been coming, but in Game of Thrones winter and death have been synonymous from the show’s opening scene. In a lot of ways, the latest trailer for Game of Thrones teases more of the same: politics are still complicated as hell, the Westerosi Wheel is still spinning, the Stark children (minus poor, poor Rickon) are still fucking miserable (and/or dead—for now), and the threat of the dead and the long night they bring is more imminent, but, you know, not exactly more pressing than whatever its characters have going on. (Spoilers below.)
But what this new trailer for Season 6 suggests is a heightening of existing tensions for most of the characters, and, in the case of the show’s two protagonists, Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen, something akin to a reset button—Dany is (nearly) back where she started with the Dothraki and Jon is dead (he’s coming back, c’mon). A few highlights: Tyrion’s “That’s what I do. I drink; and I know things” suggests he’s back in his element and balancing the drinking and the doing; DAVOS SEAWORTH GOES TO BEAR ISLAND; The Waif v. Arya; Jaime Lannister channels his inner Sam Harris and pretty much tells The High Sparrow, “Religion has killed more people than all wars combined”; the dragons are going to get freed!; Yara Greyjoy is back; and we may finally find out what happened at the Tower of Joy. Oh yeah, and the dead are coming.