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Game of Thrones season six: Who has the biggest axe to grind?

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 longest missions to right what she sees as the wrongs of her past. Her family and its power over Westeros were destroyed, forcing her into exile at a young age. While it looked as if she might be able to rally enough men and women to help her take back the throne, she was left in a tricky spot at the end of last season. The latest trailers suggest she has been captured by a Dothraki horde – but can she persuade them to join her fight?

Sansa Stark

Last seen jumping from the walls of Winterfell in a brave escape from her psychotic husband, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) looks likely to be hell bent on vengeance. After suffering at the hands of the late King Joffrey, she escaped the Lannisters only to be pushed into a marriage to Ramsey Bolton that began with a brutal rape on her wedding night. Turner has said this is “Sansa Stark’s season”, summing up her character in series six as: “Boss. Ass. Bitch.”

Cersei Lannister

Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) suffered a giant fall from grace in season five, going from manipulative queen to a prisoner paraded naked through the streets of King’s Landing by the Sparrows. She is also about to learn that her only daughter was murdered in Dorne. In one trailer, Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon) tells her to order her “man” to step aside or there’ll be violence. “I choose violence,” she replies, apparently setting the tone for the season as a whole.

Arya Stark

The youngest Stark sister, played by Maisie Williams, has been reciting her Kill List since the first season, intent on avenging the deaths of her family and friends. However, when she finally crossed one of her marks off the list last season, she found herself in deep trouble: blinded for her lack of discipline by the Faceless Men, the order of assassins she joined. Will she remain with the order or continue her vendetta against the Lannisters and other targets?

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