Winter is coming.
FYI, there are spoilers.
1) "Kill the boy and let the man be born."
It's the one question that the world needs answered. Is Jon still bleeding to death in the snow at Castle Black or has he somehow managed to survive the mutiny by his Night's Watch brothers?
The names of Melisandre, Ghost and Azor Ahai have all been mentioned but the wait for a definitive answer goes on.
If you put a sword to our throat and asked us what we think then we have to say that he lives. There's just too many
clues,
sightings and intrigue about his backstory.
He's a stubborn bastard which leads us to...
https://twitter.com/GameOfThrones/status/668821378544570368
2) The Tower of Joy
Last season saw Game of Thrones use their very first flashback sequence and as
we mentioned before, a more significant historical event might be about to take place in Season 6.
Spoiler alert here.
The Tower of Joy is where Ned Stark found his sister Lyanna, lying in a pool of her own blood and close to death. The TV show has lead us to believe that she was murdered, but it's widely speculated that she died during child birth.
Who is Lyanna's child that she asked Ned Stark to protect? Jon Snow.
If this is indeed true, it would give weight to the widely held theory that Jon Snow is in fact the son of Lyanna Stark and the Prince Rhaegar Targareyn, meaning that Jon's the very embodiment of 'A Song of Fire and Ice'.
Here's the location that's believed to be the Tower of Joy when compared to an illustration.
3) Daenerys needs to lead
The last time that we saw the Mother of Dragons, she was being encircled by a horde of Dothraki because Drogon decided to take a nap.
While there's no denying the strength, intelligence and desire of the Khaleesi, now is the time when she really needs to start making decisions for herself.
Listening to her councilors is fine, but too often has her character been slavishly following the advice of Sers Jorah and Barristan.
There will be a time when she crosses the Narrow Sea in a bid to take the throne but before this happens, she needs to return to Mereen and decisively squash the rebellion while purging any traitors...hopefully via dragon fire.
Let's be fair. Tyrion is the only person that's experienced and clever enough to be sitting on the Iron Throne but he'll never rule Westeros.
Why? Well, half of the realm hate him because he's a Lannister and the other half are his family...that hate him even more!
This being said, if Daenerys plans on taking the Iron Throne then she's going to need every one of her Unsullied army and much, much more.
As things stand in the books, Mereen is under siege with blood thirsty insurgents at the wall, conspirators everywhere and crippling plague that's quickly spreading.
Truth be told, if Tyrion doesn't hold the city then Daenerys' plans are absolutely fecked.
After a very public repentance in the final episode of Season 5, the Queen Regent has escaped from the shackles of the Faith Militant but we don't see her forgiving them anytime soon.
Cersei is an absolute force of nature that will burn her own city to the ground if it stood in the way of her revenge. The streets of King's Landing might be turned into rivers of blood in Season 6 because she will undoubtedly be seeking payback on her former captors. Add to this the news that her daughter Myrcella has just been poisoned by the Sand Snakes of Dorne.
Her blood lust should be helped by the fact that Qyburn's experiments on 'The Mountain' have somehow managed to make him even stronger and scarier than before.
One other thing, Margery Tyrell and her lovely smirk are still rotting away in prison. Will Highgarden's army be making a trip to King's Landing
The TV show has managed to do one thing better than the books, they've made the White Walkers far more threatening and horrifying.
If 'Hardhome' was just a taste of what's in store then everyone in Westeros should be terrified.
With the mutinous members of the Night's Watch refusing to see the impending threat, the wildlings fleeing and the southern territories on the brink of war, now is the perfect time for the White Walkers to breach The Wall and attack the world of men.
Want to know more about their mysterious leader?
There's a light that never goes out for Sansa and the rest of the scattered Stark family in the North...but they need to act quickly.
Stannis was absolutely destroyed by the Bolton's in his bid to take Winterfell and the show has been sparse in its use of the families that are still loyal to the true Warden's of the North.
This being said, if Jon Snow is alive, he's probably the only man that could unite a motley army of wildlings, Night's Watch deserters and the houses Karstark and Umber - they were previously loyal to Ned Stark but are currently enduring a frayed relationship with Roose Bolton.
If Jon needs a good right-hand man then Ser Davos is probably still hanging around Castle Black and as we've seen before, 'The Onion Knight' has a great deal of respect for the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
There's also one family that need to come back onto the scene...
Spoiler alert on this paragraph.
In the books, Theon's father Balon is dead but in this power vacuum, a new candidate for the Iron Throne has emerged.
Not to give too much away but Euron Greyjoy is scheming, despicable but most importantly - an absolutely brilliant military leader.
Simply put, he's a stone cold bastard that's set on one thing but just like Stannis, he needs to claim the North first. It also helps that his family are in possession of an item that Daenerys might find incredibly useful.
Like his previous frayed relationship with Stannis, could Jon be forced into making another deal in order to reclaim his home?
Could Theon be the person that unites the two- now that he's aligned with Sansa also.
Jon's best friend was never going to be a famous knight but he's proof that knowledge is power when playing the Game of Thrones.
In the books, Sam, Gilly and her baby all travel to Oldtown as Samwell studies to be a maester.
It looks like we're also going to be introduced to his father this season- Randyll Tarly who's rumoured to be played by Ian McShane - but can Sam learn enough about dragons and White Walkers to help protect the world?
The last time that we saw Bran (and Hodor), they were discovering the power that the Children of the Forest possess but we've a feeling that Bran is about to become one of the most influential characters in Season 6.
Why? We were told that he would never walk again but he will fly. Now, if only there was 3 dragons that he could potentially control during the impending war against the undead.
Thank god that the creators have said that they're going to tone down the violence that's perpetrated against Sansa because it got unbearable at times.
Every fan of the show wants one thing more than anything else. Her revenge on Ramsay.
Nobody knows what Littlefinger has planned - he's got about 37 schemes on the go - but he does have a genuine interest in Sansa's life.
Could help be on the way?
As mentioned previously, the North needs Jon Snow for a variety of reasons but the Bolton's aren't going to roll over and relinquish their newly acquired power.
It's highly unlikely that Roose will lead his own army on the battlefield - especially with a new and legitimate heir to look after back home - and will Ramsay see this as an opportunity to finally prove his worth as a military leader and successor?
Standing in his way could be the true Warden of the North, that is if Jon's alive and he's happy to relinquish his Night's Watch oath.
Truth be told, Season 6 can't come quickly enough but as always....we know nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxI8aPISq8I
