4.5/5 Stars

“Game of Thrones” was certainly entering something it had not run into before: uncertainty. The fifth season had taken some bold strides, despite the overall opinion of many being that was the show’s weakest season. From a technical standpoint, this is most certainly true, which is why, when the sixth season premiered on April 24, 2016, it was immediately a relief to many people. The first episode, “The Red Woman,” premiered to some of the highest ratings in TV history at the time, and it started what many still consider to be the best the show has had to offer.

Narratively speaking, the show immediately seeks to rectify the number one problem with the last season: Dorne. Despite the separation of mediums, the Dornish storyline was, needless to say, much more complex and nuanced and involved at least a few seasons’ worth of storylines in order to really hit its full potential from the books. This is why, when the show shrunk it down to compress the amount of storylines, it ended up making it one of the two worst storylines in the entire show and this portrayal felt especially like a sleight. Thankfully, it is almost as if Benioff and Weiss were being good showrunners and listened to the legitimate criticisms of the fan-base, demonstrated by the execution of all the major Dornish players as the Sand Snakes take their place as the rulers of Dorne.

Once again, to back this point up further, the rest of the characters seem to hop on a rocket that has them barreling toward their destinies in one way or another. The show understands it needs to begin wrapping up the story in a natural way, as this was also the first season to be released post the material in the books. Jon Snow is brought back to life by Melisandre and uses this as an opportunity to desert the Night’s Watch before reuniting with Sansa and rallying the North to take back Winterfell from Ramsay Bolton in easily the show’s largest, most expensive and out-of-this-world action-packed episode, “The Battle of the Bastards.” Directed by “Hardhome” director Miguel Sapochnik, this battle once again upped the stakes that had already been established by Neil Marshall with the previous two battle episodes.

Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, two characters who have been there, one for some time and another for a shorter amount, find their stories coming to a close. After fleeing on Drogon and being captured by the Dothraki, Daenerys Targaryen is brought back to a place she has not been since the start of her journey: Vaes Dothrak. It was here that she truly embraced who she was, and the decision to bring her back to that point actually provides a nice visual contrast as to how much both the world and herself have changed. Her easy conquest of her former people ends up making her final victory over both her dragons (now all fully grown) and the slave masters feel so earned. 

Arya Stark, meanwhile, is left with the more uninteresting storyline, finally regaining her eyesight she lost for disobeying the Faceless Men in Braavos before being forced to watch a Stage Production of the events that have occurred so far in the series, providing almost a third eye-view, with audiences viewing the events of the show as a subplot within the show. Her assignment to kill one of the actresses, specifically the one who portrays Cersei, Lady Crane, proves fruitless when she discovers the pointless reason for why she is doing it. After an assassination attempt and an “Assassin’s Creed”-like chase throughout the city, Arya finally kills the Waif and tells Jaqen H’ghar that she is leaving for Westeros.

Just as Arya and Daenerys are about to finally make their way home, another character finds his way home for the first time in seasons: Theon Greyjoy. After finally helping to free Sansa from Ramsay, he makes his way back to the Iron Islands, reuniting with his sister Yara, right after the murder of their father Balon by his ruthless uncle, Euron. After Euron secures the Kingsmoot, winning him control over the Iron Islands, Theon and Yara steal the ships and make their way east, pledging themselves to Daenerys and giving her the ships she needs to sail west.

The show wraps up Cersei Lannister’s arc in King’s Landing rather nicely as well. Her walk of penance throughout the streets of King’s Landing in the season five finale has become nothing short of legendary, though not necessarily for the right reasons, stretching all throughout the internet from think pieces on sexism to internet memes. She finally gets her revenge, sending Jaime on yet another subplot side mission to wrap up a surprisingly still-existing, residual storyline from the infamous Red Wedding before demolishing the High Sparrow, Margaery Tyrell, her uncle Kevan, Loras Tyrell and many others by igniting Aerys Targaryen’s wildfire collection underneath the sept. After her last living child, Tommen, dies by suicide, and with all her enemies dead, Cersei rises to the Iron Throne with no opposers (at least the ones who have not already joined with Daenerys), a new Hand of the Queen in the exiled maester Qyburn and the undead Gregor Clegane and a frightened Jaime by her side.

Season six was a continuation of the show the creators do very well with: playing around in the new world and rules set up by the last season and using those conventions to further the story along in a natural way by introducing new stakes, set-ups and characters. The creators were between a rock and a hard place, leaving them with only story outlines of the last two books that George R. R. Martin gave them. Needless to say, they made it work and paid it off in a big way. Besides being known as the season where the good guys finally got a win, it is the season that just feels the most satisfying. There is still a fair share of side storylines that serve to terrify and sadden, what with “Hold the Door” and “The Broken Man” being perfect examples. Whatever the case may be, the sixth season of “Game of Thrones” showed the viewing audience the beginning of the end of the Song of Ice and Fire.

Image from The Valyrian via YouTube