SECOND OPINION: Game of Thrones – S6, Ep. 1 – “The Red Woman”

Can you believe the wait is finally over?! April 24th happened and that means that Game of Thrones has finally returned and the premiere episode will definitely answer all of your burning questions.

Psych.

Episode one, titled “The Red Woman”, did not answer all your questions. That’s why they make ten episodes people. We did, however, catch up with some of our favorites.

Davos sees Jon Snow’s body draped over the snow and he and a few others take him inside to decide what to do. The men of The Watch who did not take part in Jon’s murder are furious for the actions of the others and it’s clear that this will not be a negotiation.

Sansa and Theon have just barely gotten away from Ramsey when they are ambushed once more and past seasons have taught us that nothing ever goes well for these two. They are surrounded by Bolton’s men and hounds and though Theon tries to sacrifice himself for Sansa, they are both discovered. Just when we think they have fallen once more, Brienne and Pod show up on horseback with swords at the ready. After successfully defeating the men, Brienne once again asks Sansa to accept her allegiance and she finally (and I mean finally) accepts. It’s perhaps the one feel-good section of the show’s premiere.

Recovering from her walk of shame, Cersei is elated to see the boat return from Dorne with Jaime at its bow. Jaime’s sullen expression reminds us that Cersei’s daughter Myrcella didn’t make the trip safely after being poisoned by Ellaria. It’s been a jarring road for Cersei but as she weeps in her brother’s arms you are reminded that she has been this terrible person all along and Myrcella truly is the only good thing she ever produced. Of course, she doesn’t deserve to have two children ripped away by death, but you get the sense that she and Jaime won’t be messing around this season.

Tyrion watches over Mereen in Daenerys’s absence while Jorah and Daario track her. He meets up with Varys and the two saunter the streets and discuss what to do with the mess that is the city. They are forced to stop as a single-file stampede appears and citizens flee past them. They go against the crowd to see that the entire shipyard is up in flames and engulfed in smoke.

Meanwhile, Dany has been caught by the Dothraki and now makes the long journey to meet another Khal, Khal Moro. He teases her and threatens her in his native tongue only to be shocked that she speaks it, too. She spouts off her extensive list of titles and when he’s not impressed she mentions Khal Drogo and is received much better thereafter. Seems like she should have started with the Drogo thing first, but I digress.

Arya is still blind and begging for money on the streets of Braavos when she meets up with the waif once more who quite obviously is going to teach her how to fight while blind. That’s sort of all there was for Arya, and it was, overall, super anti-climactic.

Back to Melisandre at the Wall who seems to be more distraught than usual. Perhaps it’s because she hasn’t been speaking nonsense in a while. She readies for bed, undresses and relishes her reflection in a mirror. For a moment that seemed purely gratuitous it felt like a strange moment to end on. Instead The Red Woman removes her necklace and we slowly see the youth and beauty flood from her. She now stands a decrepit old woman…her true form.

If you enjoyed Carly’s review, you can find the rest of her work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow her on Twitter @MrsCarlyRodgers.

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