Game of Thrones | Song of Ice and Fire

If you watched this past Sunday’s season premiere of  Game of Thrones , you were treated with a brief return to Dorne, that south-most region of Westeros where last season’s most boring storyline took place. And then,  after seeing one of the show’s greatest deviations from the books , you started wondering what the hell is happening here. Spoilers ahead… On a surface level, Ellaria Sand and the daughters of the late Oberyn Martell assassinated Prince Doran, tired of waiting for him to get around to taking revenge on the Lannisters for the many, many Martells killed at their commands. It’s almost as if the Sand Snakes had watched season five themselves, and got bored waiting for something interesting to happen in Dorne. Certainly now that Doran is dead, things are about to move a lot faster. But where, exactly, is this story moving faster towards? There’s no coup in George R.R. Martin’s books, and while the Sand Snakes are very much trying to pick a fight with King’s L...

There comes a moment in the fifth season of  Game of Thrones  (and I believe the third book of  A Song of Ice and Fire ) when Lord Varys, of all people, possibly reveals what the entire series is all about. In pleading with Tyrion Lannister to hold on to hope at the lowest point of his life, Varys asks him to imagine a world in which the strong do not prey on the weak, and where the neverending political intrigue and blood feuds are left behind. This being the shifty Varys, such lofty words are best taken with a grain of salt. Still, his suggestion makes one wonder: Is  A Song of Ice and Fire  ultimately the story of a long, bloody transition from a feudal, monarchical system to some kind of proto-democracy, in which all castes have a voice, and the nobles and the various religions must yield to the rule of law? In other words, can the game of thrones finally end, replaced by a civilization that actually works? This leads to another question, a f...

HBO Spoilers  for the season premiere of  Game of Thrones   are below. The sixth season premiere of  Game of Thrones , titled  “The Red Woman,”  ended with a major shocker for viewers, as the titular character — the Lady Melisandre — revealed that she’s been keeping a very big secret since she first appeared on the series. As unveiled in the episode’s final scene, Melisandre has been keeping her appearance magically disguised all along. Her true visage isn’t that of 39-year-old actress Carice van Houten — instead, she is immensely older. HBO Oh hai. It’s a revelation that certainly makes us look at some earlier scenes — like Melisandre’s seduction of Stannis Baratheon back in season two and  attempted seduction of Jon Snow  in season five — in a new light. And it’s another example of magic taking a more prominent role in  Game of Thrones  as the series moves toward its conclusion. (There will likely  only be two mor...

Alfie Allen and Sophie Turner star in Game of Thrones: The Red Woman   CREDIT: HBO Some major cliff-hangers were left unresolved The tension was incredible as  Game of Thrones  season six opened with the camera swooping low over Castle Black, alighting on the scene of noble Jon Snow’s bloody run-in with the traitorous Night’s Watch. Alas, the Bastard of Winterfell (Kit Harington) was, for the time being at least, staying very dead indeed , as confirmed by a haunting close-up of his waxy visage and the pool of scarlet arranged like a skewed halo. S hort of spelling out “He’s Dead!” in huge flaming letters it’s hard to see how much more emphatically show-runners David Benioff and DB Weiss (they also wrote the episode) could have driven the point home. W as this a sadistic riposte to fans who have spent the best part of a year constructing elaborate conspiracy theories as to when and how the grumpy heartthrob will return? Or a s...

Unless you’ve been held captive by the High Sparrow and his band of sanctimonious goons for the past eight months, you know that  Game of Thrones Season 6  will premiere on HBO this season. For the first time, even book readers are mostly clueless as to what might be in store, as most of the storylines in David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ acclaimed adaptation are past the point where that George R.R. Martin has reached in his ongoing series of novels. Obviously, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not  Jon Snow is truly dead . Naturally, the Internet has some interesting theories about the newest Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch – as well on just about every other character that probably survived season 5. So check out our list of the best  Game of Thrones  Season 6 predictions  in the gallery below. But be careful – spoilers are coming: 1. Coldhands Rides Into Our Lives Coldhands is a mysterious (and probably undead)...

With the sixth season of  Game of Thrones  premiering on Sunday, fans of both the show and the related book series are likely to soon learn the answer to a hugely important mystery — is Jon Snow, who was apparently  stabbed to death  at the very end of season five, really gone for good? Viewers of the HBO series have had to wait nearly a year for the resolution of this shocking cliffhanger. But that’s nothing compared to the wait experienced by readers of George R.R. Martin’s book series, who have been in suspense about Jon’s fate since  A Dance with Dragons  was published nearly  five   years  ago. And since Martin  didn’t finish  the next book in the series in time to stay ahead of the HBO show, the early episodes of the new season are set to resolve this dangling thread for both groups of fans — one of the biggest cases in which the show will be “spoiling” future books. However, there’s long been a near-universal consens...

It’s the female characters who are seeking revenge in the new series of the hit HBO show Game of Thrones begins a new series on Monday and it’s set to be a violent affair. Trailers show tension mounting in every scene – with dragons, fire, threats and battles aplenty. With so many characters wronged in the first five seasons, who will be seeking revenge in series six? Margaery Tyrell Cersei wasn’t the only one to fall from grace in season five – Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) briefly became queen after marrying the young King Tommen Lannister but then found herself imprisoned by the Faith Militant for lying about her brother’s sexuality. Although still in her cell at the end of season five, Dormer has said viewers can expect to see a very different side to her in the new series. “It’s very liberating to play someone who’s losing their sh*t,” she told the  Radio Times . Daenerys Targaryen Emilia Clarke’s Dany, the Mother of Dragons, has been on one of the lon...

The sixth season of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ has many surprises in store—some that are more likely to happen than others. [Warning: Spoiler Alert] Game of Thrones ’ fifth season was, in the eyes of many, one of its least graceful, what with the  gratuitous sexual violence , the meandering character arcs, the de-emphasis on political intrigue and…whatever Dorne was supposed to be. But with Season 6 a tantalizing 24 hours away and  George R.R. Martin’s  books now (mostly) in the rear-view, fans have renewed hope for Westerosi greatness. Here are the eight most exciting storylines to look forward to and the nuttiest fan theories that now, somehow, actually seem plausible. Needless to say, spoilers up to Season 5 lie ahead, along with irresponsibly rampant speculation for what  may or may not  happen as Game of Thrones  approaches the beginning of the end. Jon Snow Will Rise Again (and We’ll Discover His True Lineage) http://giphy.com/embed/2L...