It finally happened, folks — HBO’s best TV series ever returned last night. Every single Game of Thrones fan went into the first episode of season 6 with one question in mind, but the show’s creators decided to keep the answer from us for at least one more week. It’s infuriating indeed, but it was still a pretty great episode.
In case you haven’t seen the first episode of the new season, then make sure you avoid this post for the time being. Spoilers follow below.
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Is Jon Snow dead or alive? Even though the season’s premiere starts exactly where the season 5 finale ended, showing Snow’s lifeless blood-covered body, the question on all our minds hasn’t yet been answered. Ser Davos did find Jon Snow, and to him everything is crystal clear: Jon Snow is dead, though Melisandre could do something about it if she wanted.
But while we waited for the entire episode to see Melisandre raise Snow from the dead, that doesn’t happen.
That’s not to say last night’s episode was bad, or that HBO’s teasing is on par with AMC’s massive Glenn trolling in the last season of the The Walking Dead. We got plenty of action and there was solid development in other storylines on Game of Thrones in the opening episode of season 6.
Personally though – and I’m sure many would agree – I want to know what happens to Jon Snow. I want to either see him dead and buried, or watch him come back to life.
For the moment, I don’t care how Sansa and Theon escape, though that’s a remarkable plot line. I don’t care about Prince Doran Martell, Areo Hotah and Prince Trystane meeting their makers, though I surely appreciate the way it happened. I don’t care about Jaime and Cersei’s hatred and desire for revenge. I don’t care how Arya Stark will learn to fight even though she’s now blind. I don’t care how Khal Moro and his Dothraki will treat Daenerys. And I don’t care about the missing dragons or the fact that the wildlings don’t make an appearance at all in this episode. I don’t even care about Melisandre’s secret – which only makes her seem even more powerful.
I just want to know if Jon Snow is coming back from the dead. And from the looks of the teaser trailer for the second episode, we might still not find out next week. I do have to say that the conflict at the Night’s Watch between Ser Davos and Ser Alliser will require a fast resolution. Davos and Night’s Watch members loyal to Snow are holding his body in a locked room for the time being, but they have only a few hours to either surrender or fight.
Ignoring Snow for a moment, I can’t help but admire the writers. The scene where Khal Moro’s advisers offer him examples of things that are better in life than seeing a woman naked for the first time – in a conversation about the Mother of Dragons who’s been brought before him – is brilliantly written and makes you forget for a second what kind of show you’re watching. Add to that Tyrion’s mistaken offer to eat someone’s baby and you’ll enjoy a few laughs in this episode. You might even briefly forget that you’re waiting for Snow to rise.
That never happens though, so the wait continues.
