Game of Thrones is back. FINALLY! But what did we learn from the first new episode of season 6?
1) Jon Snow is DEFINITELY DEAD. So stop asking! If this episode didn't confirm what everybody should have already known, Jon Snow is dead. Dead as dead can be. Sure, he may be brought back through resurrection or the like further down the line, but for now he's gone from the world. His heart has stopped beating. The Night's Watch turned on their leader and are looking likely to regret their decision in the near future...
2) Melisandre is old. Very old. Ancient in fact. If you took her on the Antiques Road Show, you could get quite a bit of cash. The shocking twist at the end of the episode seemed to show how she was using a glamour of a beautiful woman to hide her real self through an enchanted necklace. As we've seen in teasers and trailers released ahead of this season, she's losing faith in the Lord of Light - could this faith bring her life to an end? Or is she immortal?
3) Brienne will now officially stand by Sansa's side. Almost recaptured by Bolton forces, Sansa and Theon's escape didn't go exactly to plan, but was helped by the perfect timing and arrival of Brienne and Podrick. The pair helped slay the warriors attempting to bring Sansa back to the Boltons and it's exciting to now see the elder Stark girl stand on her own two feet. She's looking likely to get a nice, meaty storyline this season - let's just hope it doesn't end with her blood being spilled.
4) Arya will remain blind. At least for the foreseeable future. The horrible brat from the House of Black and White is torturing the fan favourite Stark after she betrayed the tuition's rules last season, seemingly looking to strengthen her resolve. This surely has to all be a part of training, but now the question is, once she's fully Daredevil-ed, will Arya be given her sight back?
5) Daenerys is going to struggle to regain power. Though she's now allowed her true identity to be revealed to the Dothraki who captured her and in the process saved herself from being subjected to rape and possible torture, she has sealed herself a fate that falls onto any widow of a Dothraki Khal - she will be sent to a special residence at Vaes Dothrak, where all the Dothraki Khal widows reside and live out their days. Not exactly what the potential future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms had in mind...
6) Jorah's stone disease is going nowhere. Despite that, he continues to seek out Daenerys and thankfully found her ring in the middle of a huge field, trodden down by the horses in the Dothraki army. Could Jorah work his way back into Daenerys' ranks, saving her from the fate of a Dothraki widower forced to spend out her days in the equivalent of a care home?
7) Ramsey Bolton has family issues. With Sansa's escape comes the problem of him no longer having a woman who could carry his heir, and with Roose's own partner now pregnant, the violent and psychotic bastard child is facing being cut out of his father's inheritence altogether. Would it be past Ramsey to kill his own father's partner and her unborn baby? I think we all already know the answer to that question...
8) The Lannisters are out for blood. Following the poisoning of Jaime and Cersei's incestuous daughter Myrcella, the parents have just a single child left - King Tommen. Though Cersei is certain he will die due to a prophecy she was given as a youngster from a witch, Jaime has more faith in fate not being so unchangeable.
9) Ladies are taking over Dorne. 'Weak men will never rule Dorne again', said Ellaria Sand before finishing off Doran and having Trystane murdered instead of joining forces with the Lannisters through a marriage with Myrcella. This is a bunch of women who aren't happy with the way their family has been treated throughout the years and now want to show everybody exactly how they can stand on their own two feet. Oberyn's death at the hands of The Mountain is the catalyst that has led to this moment - will he be avenged?
10) Meereen's in a state of limbo. Varys and Tyrion don't really seem to know what's going on and are in the same boat as the viewers when it comes down to the identity of the person controlling the Sons of the Harpy. It's still a little unbelievable that the trained-from-birth army Daenerys had by her side could be taken out so easily by a bunch of guys in gold masks, but let's say we're now rolling with it - where do we go from here? Nowhere fast apparently, as the boats and docks have been set alight. Exactly how the Harpy horde are going to be dealt with moving forward isn't any clearer, but we did learn that Tyrion and Varys will be doing SOMETHING to try and stop them.
Game of Thrones continues Sundays in the US on HBO, and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic.
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