Game of Thrones season 6: news and episode reviews

Each week throughout Game of Thrones’ sixth season, a handful of Vox’s writers have gathered to discuss the latest episode — and now we’re doing the same with the finale. Before you dig in, check out our recap of “The Winds of Winter,” as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Concluding our discussion for the season is culture editor Todd VanDerWerff.

Todd VanDerWerff: Now that the sixth season of Game of Thrones is over, the long wait for any information at all about the seventh season (which will air in 2017) begins.

By far the most disquieting question to come out of “The Winds of Winter,“ Game of Thrones’ season six finale, concerns an act we didn’t witness: Just what was the zombified Gregor Clegane doing to Septa Unella behind that closed door?

Lest you’ve forgotten, Unella is the “Shame!”-proclaiming nun who presided over Cersei’s humiliating walk of atonement at the end of season five. And while Cersei spent most of “The Winds of Winter” claiming the Iron Throne for herself (after suffering her own devastating tragedy), she made sure to spare a few minutes to get her revenge.

Emmett Rensin: Green smoke from the Great Sept of Baelor: The High Sparrow is dead. His followers are dead. His church is gone. He picked the wrong faith for any hope of resurrection, and there’s nothing left to resurrect in any case. So much for the Mother’s mercy.

Game of Thrones viewers hated the High Sparrow; the writers of weekly recaps even more so. While even Ramsay Bolton was eventually consigned to “Well, we know he’s awful; it’s almost boring now” status, the Sparrow regularly provoked fresh disdain. He was called sanctimonious, dangerous, hypocritical, and evil every time he appeared.

Each week throughout Game of Thrones’ sixth season, a handful of Vox’s writers have gathered to discuss the latest episode — and now we’re doing the same with the finale. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up in our analysis of “The Winds of Winter” is culture editor Todd VanDerWerff.

Todd VanDerWerff: Game of Thrones’ sixth season is the show’s best since its third, with a bullet.

Game of Thrones concluded its sixth season with a bang, killing off a slew of long-running characters in locations spanning from King’s Landing to the Riverlands.

While “Battle of the Bastards” had more onscreen deaths overall, due to the large number of military grunts who were killed, “The Winds of Winter” killed off far more named characters.

Each week throughout Game of Thrones’ sixth season, a handful of Vox’s writers have gathered to discuss the latest episode — and now we’re doing the same with the finale. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. First up in our analysis of “The Winds of Winter” is culture writer Alex Abad-Santos.

Alex Abad-Santos: At the end of Game of Thrones’ season six finale, “The Winds of Winter,“ Daenerys Targaryen cuts an imposing figure. She has her army. She has her fleet of ships. She has her dragons. Dany can taste the cold, dry metal of the Iron Throne.

Game of Thrones’ season six finale, “The Winds of Winter,“ is a surprisingly muted episode of television for one that seemingly kills off half the show’s cast.

Wildfire explodes, Cersei takes the Iron Throne, Jon Snow’s parentage is confirmed, and Dany heads for Westeros (finally), but the whole hour feels rather like an introduction to the real action. Indeed, everything after the destruction of the sept of Baelor feels rather like the show immediately launched into the season seven premiere.

Bran Stark’s latest vision in Game of Thrones’ season six finale “The Winds of Winter” finally reveals what superfans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire have long suspected: Jon Snow is not Ned Stark’s bastard son at all. He’s Ned’s nephew — the son of Ned’s late sister Lyanna Stark, and of Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys’s older brother.

Clues to this effect have been sprinkled hither and yon throughout the vast backstory revealed in Martin’s novels, and the theory — known as R+L=J — is sufficiently accepted in the fandom that the show’s revelations hardly count as spoilers. Nonetheless, there is a difference between a widely believed theory and a confirmed one, and the latter is what we now seem to have.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is energy writer David Roberts.

David Roberts: The “Battle of the Bastards” was nonstop, visceral action, so visually and aurally overwhelming that it drowned out critical thought. At least while the episode was on.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is culture writer Alex Abad-Santos.

Alex Abad-Santos: Beneath the scrim of war, Dany issuing dragon-backed threats in Meereen, and Ramsay Bolton’s demise at Winterfell, “Battle of the Bastards” contained a pivotal moment for Sansa Stark — one that clarified her place, her alignment, and her mindset in the fight for the Iron Throne: She’s no longer a Stark.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is executive editor Matthew Yglesias.

Matthew Yglesias: “Battle of the Bastards” is an exciting episode of television, especially from the standpoint of technical virtuosity, but as a piece of writing and storytelling it strikes me as borderline disastrous.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. First up this week is culture editor Todd VanDerWerff.

Todd VanDerWerff: In his review of “Battle of the Bastards” for the A.V. Club, Myles McNutt admits a mild disappointment in the episode, which he attributes to the general fact that Ramsay Bolton isn’t as central to the plot as he probably would need to be for the story to work. He is, essentially, a generic bad guy.

“Battle of the Bastards” is big in the way that only Game of Thrones is big.

It’s less epic in its scope than, say, season four’s battle between the Night’s Watch and Wildlings, “The Watchers on the Wall” (an episode I’ve always found a touch overbearing), but compare it to season two’s “Blackwater” (featuring the battle for King’s Landing) and it’s easy to see just how much the show’s scope has increased.

There are but two episodes left in Game of Thrones’ sixth season— and with Ramsay Bolton and Jon Snow headed for the showdown of the season in “Battle of the Bastards,” it’s the perfect time to make a few predictions. Who will live? Who will die? Who will win the battle in the episode title? Which characters will succeed or fail in their various quests for revenge, love, freedom, and power? Below, several Vox staffers weigh in.

In “No One,” Varys departed Meereen for parts unknown, promising Tyrion that he was heading back to Westeros to find allies and ships for Daenerys. Those who’ve read George R.R. Martin’s books might well expect him to show up next in King’s Landing — as his book analogue memorably did at the conclusion of A Dance With Dragons, in order to assassinate a couple of noteworthy figures. But I’m guessing that in Game of Thrones’ season six finale, Varys will instead travel to warmer climes.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is culture editor Todd VanDerWerff.

Todd VanDerWerff: If there’s one thing “No One” underlined for me, it’s that Game of Thrones is spoiling George R.R. Martin’s upcoming books in ways other than the obvious ones.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. First up this week is culture writer Alex Abad-Santos.

Alex Abad-Santos: In “No One,” Game of Thrones robbed us of a very satisfying death.

Game of Thrones’ sixth season has often seemed to oscillate between a plot that is barely moving and a plot that is hurtling downhill at an alarming pace.

In the season’s eighth episode, the series struck a balance. Things happened. A castle fell. An armada arrived. A queen traveled suspiciously quickly. Some significant legislation was passed. A cliffhanger was resolved, and a beloved character may finally get back in the game.

Turns out a few stab wounds to the stomach aren’t too hard to shake off for Arya Stark.

After refusing to carry out an assassination attempt ordered by the Faceless Men and attempting to escape back to her home continent of Westeros, our hero was ambushed and stabbed by her nameless female Faceless Man rival in last week’s episode. (Since that character’s analogue in the books is called “the Waif,“ that’s how I’ll refer to her here.)

Fans started whispering almost immediately after the Red Wedding capped Game of Thrones’ third season. When is Lady Stoneheart coming?

When the character didn’t make an appearance in the season three finale, it seemed safe to assume she would turn up at the end of season four.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. First up this week is culture editor Todd VanDerWerff.

Todd VanDerWerff: “What just happened on Game of Thrones?!” Vox writer Caroline Framke asked me on Sunday evening. When I admitted I’d started the episode late and was a few minutes behind, she said she’d just seen a lot of “keyboard smashing” on Twitter.

The seventh episode of most seasons of Game of Thrones gives the writers a chance to take a breather and make sure everything is in place for the final push toward the finale. Since the show is so driven by big moments, these episodes can feel a little uneventful, but they’re often my favorites for the way they fill in little corners of the show’s world.

“The Broken Man” doesn’t quite reach that level. For one thing, the life-imperiling cliffhanger it foists upon Arya is patently ridiculous. (If Game of Thrones kills Arya in season six, I will eat my Daenerys Targaryen Funko figurine.) For another, a lot of the scenes surrounding the fight with the High Sparrow back in King’s Landing are just repeats of stuff we’ve already seen.

It’s reunion season on Game of Thrones! Last week, Benjen Stark returned after having been missing since season one. And in Sunday’s episode, an even more prominent character reappeared after a long absence and even an apparent death.

That’s, of course, Sandor Clegane — the infamous Hound, whom we last saw back in season four, when he was Arya Stark’s traveling companion.

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is executive editor Matt Yglesias.

Matt Yglesias: I have a different complaint about Dany’s rousing speech to the Dothraki than what Todd and Andrew have raised: Why are the Dothraki cheering?

Every week throughout season six, a handful of Vox’s writers will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Before you dig in, check out our recap of Sunday’s episode, as well the archive of our entire discussion to date. Next up this week is politics writer Andrew Prokop.

Andrew Prokop: Todd, I totally understand how it may feel like Dany has been trapped in Groundhog Day for the past several seasons, endlessly repeating a cycle of seeming setbacks that are followed by inspiring triumphs.

After the disastrous events of last week’s episode of Game of Thrones, in which Hodor and several other of Bran Stark’s allies died tragically at the White Walkers’ hands, this Sunday’s installment finally gave poor Bran some good news … well, sorta good news.

Just as all looked lost for Bran and Meera Reed, the two were dramatically saved from attacking wights by a mysterious figure — and that figure turned out to be Bran’s long-lost uncle, Benjen Stark.