Small Council: What stood out from the Game of Thrones Season 6 trailer?

HBO released a trailer for Game of Thrones Season 6 this week. What did we think? What stood out? Where do we want more of? Is the season shaping up like we thought? How hyped are we? These and other questions are open for discussion.

DAN: It feels like I’ve been waiting for a Season 6 trailer for a long time, so this was like rainstorm in a drought. At the risk of pouring over every moment of the trailer, I’ll try and focus on the things that jumped out at me:

• I found myself moved by Melisandre’s little breakdown around the 0:22 mark. She’s been so sure of herself for so long, and it’s bizarre to see her questioning the faith she’s devoted herself so completely to. It’s also exciting. There’s always been something inhuman about the character—anyone who could burn a little girl alive with a placid smile on her face surely must be a monster. Her tearful confession to Davos makes her seem more human than ever before. It could lay the foundation for a new arc, and I’m very interested to see where she goes from here.
• The trailer is extremely well put together. The first two-thirds set a grim mood, and then Cersei slams her foot down on the throttle at 0:57 (“I choose violence”), and we get a succession of thrilling flashes that carry us through to the end. The images zip by so quickly it’s hard to decode them without slowing down, but that’s part of the point. It’s easy to just let the hype in and go with it. The editors at HBO know what they’re doing.
• By this point, we’ve pored over every shot of this trailer, but I still have questions. Who’s making out at 1:15? What are those women doing at 1:15? Is Cersei putting the moves on Jaime at 1:09 after he’s told her about Myrcella? Because that could get really creepy.
• I like the music used in the trailer, but never know why they don’t just go with one of Ramin Djawadi’s compositions.

It’s amazing how a minute-and-a-half changes everything. Consider me aboard the hype train.

ANI: Yeah, I think the only way to discuss this is bullet point style. Bullet points for EVERYONE!

• Biggest takeaway: how much the entire point of the trailer was to drive home that Jon Snow was dead. (As if they were afraid people might have a reason to question it!) You know, we’re kinda used to big name characters dying on this show: Ned, Cat, Robb, Joffrey, Oberyn. You never saw the next season trailer emphasize how dead *they* were. I’m just saying I think the trailer doth protest too much.
• What a great visual sending Jaime back to King’s Landing to be with Cersei after the walk of shame. (In the books, he leaves before the Walk of Shame, and thus far has not returned, so we’ve never seen them together looking quite so twin-like.) Suddenly, his ultra-short haircut in these later seasons make more sense, too. (Remember how floppy haired he was in Season 1?)
• Their hiding shots from the Battle of the Bastards in plain sight. Nice work, editors!
• Note the Amount of Euron in the trailer. Especially when you consider that *none* of the other high profile new casting members show up. Not McShane, not Grant, none of the new Dothraki actors, nor the new Red Priestess.
• The complete lack of any present-day Dornish.
• Hey, that stupid Hall of Faces shot from the fake teaser is from the new season! Who’d a thunk it?
• And finally: that they accidentally let this shot stay, like we all weren’t going to screen-cap the entire trailer to death and find it.

RAZOR: This trailer, and all the marketing before it, has subtle clues about Jon’s eventual resurrection. Allow me to explain:

• It all started with the bloodied Jon Snow poster. He wasn’t lying down in the snow. He was standing, head bent, as if he’d exacted revenge on those who’d betrayed him. Then again, maybe we were interpreting the poster how we wanted to.
• Then came the mini-teaser with the Stark banner flying over a battlefield with Ramsay Bolton’s voice narrating: “Winterfell is mine, come and see.” To whom was he speaking? It had to be Jon Snow: who else could challenge his power? Also, the wording fits the Pink Letter from the books almost perfectly.
• Then Kit Harington does an interview where he says he’s not in this season…except for a funeral. Okay, that’s fair. Especially if Kit is speaking as Jon Snow. Jon Snow isn’t in Season 6, except for a funeral.

• Look at the clues left us in the trailer. We have Melisandre coming to the realization that she was wrong about Stannis. We have the Tower of Joy flashbacks that will prove Jon’s parentage, and in Westeros, a child is named after the father, not the mother…so if and when he rises, he will be a Targaryen. I think that when Melisandre disrobes later in the trailer, and hands are placed on Jon’s body to hold him down, she’ll use her magic to bring him back into the world of the living.
• “But Razor, Melisandre will get naked for anyone.” Wrong. Look at who she’s disrobed for in the past: Stannis and Jon. Davos saw her give birth, and Selyse saw her in the bath.
• Finally, I believe Davos has forged an alliance with his former enemy, Melisandre, and believes that only she can bring him back to life. This is why he draws Longclaw and prepares to defend Jon’s body at the end of the trailer.
• Oh, and as a sidenote, fear not for Ghost: he isn’t dead. There are no wounds on his body. He’s lying at the head of Jon’s body as if to protect him. And Alliser Thorne and the other men of the Night’s Watch knew what happened to Robb Stark and his direwolf at the Red Wedding, so it’s not that hard to imagine that after murdering Jon, they’d want to do the same thing to Ghost. I believe that Davos and Melisandre, or possibly Edd or Tormand, protected Ghost in the chaos after Jon’s death, and that’s why he’s alive in Season 6. Now, whether Jon’s spirit wargs into Ghost is a whole other matter.

KATIE: Probably the thing that stands out the most about the Season 6 trailer is that it exists. I put on a brave face, but I was beginning to lose faith—for once I am pleased that I was mistaken, and here we are, trailer and all.

• Okay, HBO, we get it—Jon’s gone (but he’ll be back because he’s got business to settle, so nice try).
• Does Ramsay look worried to anyone else, or is that just wishful thinking on my part? Probably. But I’m on board with Razor that Ramsay’s mini-teaser line is spoken to Jon, and Jon is not about to take that kind of guff from this punk. So I say chop his head off, Jon, and make sure Sansa’s there to give her husband that indifferent look Sophie Turner’s so good at.
• We might only get a second’s shot of Sansa, but I’m running with it because my queen is bangin’. I have seldom appreciated anything more than Ozzy Man’s review in which he refers to Sansa as “the queen of the motherf***ing North right there!” Sansa Stark and her killer glare give me life.
• In fact, check all the women of Westeros putting on their game faces: Sansa looking like she could kill a man with a glance; Daenerys strutting amongst her captors, straight-backed and proud as always; and Cersei sending shivers down the world’s collective spine with “I choose violence.” Ultimately, Cersei is doomed to fall, but until then I’m rooting for her to do what she does best—fight for her family and make everyone else feel bad about themselves.
• What’s Tommen doing? Anything useful? Who knows?
• Maisie Williams’ blind makeup will be the death of me.
• Bran and the Night’s King? Probably a vision, especially since Bran is standing and all, but WOW. Just wow. Whatever the context, I am so stoked to see that scene go down and the ramifications of it.
• In fact (again), I’m digging the little shots of all the Starks. I’m a Stark loyalist to the end, and I cannot wait for those remaining to reunite and take back everything that’s been taken from them.
• Love love the trailer ending on Davos—he’s about to raise hell and ask questions later. Get it, Davos. GET. IT.

LEXI: Like Katie mentioned, I was definitely starting to get worried that there wouldn’t much in the way of trailers with a lot of new footage. When I saw this I was beyond PUMPEDDDDDD.  So many of the cast members have been promising an epic season full of action and I think the trailer definitely punctuates that. Here’s what stood out the most to me:

• Bran’s fresh new haircut and his run-in with the Night’s King.
• All things Tower of Joy and Jon’s resurrection as a Targ.
• Cersei seems to have shaken off that pesky walk of shame and is back to her old self with the amazing “I choose violence” line.
• All the awesome battles sequences.
• I never quite got into the Greyjoy storylines in the books so I’m interested to see how those will play out.
• Tyrion heading into the catacombs to hopefully release the other dragons. I’ll be interested to see if they take to him or not.

The only thing I wanted more of was the dragons blowing stuff up. But I’m sure I’ll get my fill once the season starts. We’ve waited this long only six more weeks!

CAMERON: Frickin’ bullet-point nerds, the lot of ya. As someone deeply invested in Daenerys’s story, I was most intrigued by the shots of her story; it seems she hasn’t received a warm welcome, and I’m wondering how this will affect her psyche and her plans for Westerosi conquest. There’s also some fascinating shots of Littlefinger and Theo…uh, Reek, the latter of whom also appears to be in dire straits (perhaps he gets caught during his and Sansa’s daring escape from Winterfell? It certainly looks like he’s being waterboarded). And is that Bran facing the Night’s King???? (OK, it’s probably just a vision, but still!)

Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/11/small-council-what-stood-out-from-the-game-of-thrones-season-6-trailer/