Let’s talk about that Jon Snow shock
HE’S ALIVE!
Jon Snow is back, it’s true.
We can all say it now for certain.
Credit: HBO
For nearly a year everybody asked: “Is Jon Snow dead?”
And he was, very much so, he just didn’tstaydead.
We have an exclusive interview with Kit Harington in this week’s issue.
Tree-cave:Welcome back to the land of Thrones, Bran Stark.
He’s grown up plenty and has a super intriguing Inception-ish storyline this season.
We first see Bran snugly wrapped in his branch fort, his eyes warging out.
He’s tripping under the soothing authoritative guidance of the Three-Eyed Raven.
We see a young Ned Stark and Bran’s uncle Benjen.
They’re sparring in the courtyard.
Martin started writing about their lives.
Arriving on horseback is a character we’ve never seen, but have heard aboutLyanna Stark.
Can’t this flashback just be the start of an implantedGame of Thronesspin-off?
There’s also a large boy named Wylis, who we recognize as young Hodor.
But he can talk.
Bran asks Hodor whatever happened to him, anyway.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if this entire time Hodor was totally fing with everybody?
Outside, Meera is getting cave-claustrophobic and tired of watching Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven trip out without her.
Castle Black:We get the scene that’s been teased for a while: Ser Alliser vs. Davos.
“Nobody needs to die tonight,” Thorne says, but viewers of this show know better.
Thorne’s ax swings into the door.
Ghost looks hungry for man-flesh.
Just when it seems like all hope is lost, the Dolorous Edd returns with the Wildlings.
The giant Wun Wun crashes through the door.
“Fight you cowards!”
The real traitors are arrested.
Tormund Giantsbane says he’s going to get wood for a fire to burn Jon Snow’s body.
You’re such a teaseThrones.
Luckily she has The Mountain to protect her honor.
The monstrous knight hilariously smashes the trash-talker into the wall.
Every time I see The Mountain’s gray face through that visor I think of rotten roast beef.
The City Watch looks rather relieved she didn’t order The Mountain to attack.
In The Sept, we learn Tommen is feeling totally useless and ineffectual.
Primarily because he is.
he asks, which is a solid question.
The Lannister wants to kill him so damn bad.
“The gods won’t mindthey spill more blood then the rest of us combined,” Jaime growls.
Tommen goes to see his mom to apologize.
He wants her to teach him how to be strong.
We’re … we’re never seeing Ser Pounce again … are we?
Meereen:Small council meeting, of sorts, in Meereen.
It’s all bad news: Their fleet is burned.
The cities in Slaver’s Bay are returning to the slavers, except Meereen.
The dragons aren’t eating.
That last one Tyrion thinks he might be able to solve.
Dragons, it seems, do poorly in captivity.
He also notes that keeping dragons captive is what made them die out the first time.
The final ones were as small as cats.
(Scratch the T-shirt, how about a cat-sized dragon?).
So Tyrion goes to the dragon dungeon.
This is an awfully brave move.
Plenty of characters onThroneshave been killed for less.
“I’m here to help,” he says.
“Don’t eat the help.”
Tyrion, it seems, always wanted a dragon as a kid.
This makes us love him all the more.
He sets them free, much to the dismay of shepherds across the land.
Braavos:The Waif has come to beat Arya again.
Ahhh, that’s something.
He has the power to restore her eyes.
Interestingly, we watch this scene thinking “the Boltons don’t realize Jon Snow is dead.”
But now Snow is alive again.
And then comes the news.
Ah, poor Ramsay.
His bride Sansa leaves him, his servant Reek ditches him, his lover Myranda is murdered.
That’s bad for Ramsay.
He could, and probably should, just wait this out.
Roose isn’t marrying an infant to Sansa or putting the tyke in charge of defending Winterfell anytime soon.
But Ramsay doesn’t like feeling threatened, or uncertainty, and he’s kind of impulsive.
Plus, he’s spent the hiatus since season 5 mulling how to make himself more despicable than ever.
So he makes a decision: Kill ‘em all.
He shocks us by stabbing his own father in the heart.
This is one of those scenes.
And it’s one of the few times recappingThroneswhere I don’t want to describe what happens.
What dead baby?Wooo, Jon Snow is back!
Forest:Group therapy in the snow.
Brienne reveals to Sansa that Arya is still alive.
So that’s good.
And Theon decides he’s going to leave them.
“I would have taken you all the way to The Wall.
I would have died to get you there.”
There’s a hug.
Theon says he’s going “home"the title used yet again.
Even Jon Snow, after all, comes “home” to the land of the living.
Pyke:Speaking of Theon’s home.
It seems to never stop raining in Pyke, it’s like the Seattle of Westeros.
We see grouchy Balon Greyjoyanother member of theGame of ThronesBad Father Collection.
His daughter Yara brings him bad news about his war effort.
Balon goes to take a stroll down the most unsafe-looking bridge in Westeros.
The scene is visually spectacular.
On the bridge is Balon’s brother Euron, who seems like an egocentric piece of work.
But Euron doesn’t automatically take Balon’s place as king.
We learn there’s an electoral process to succession around herecalled a Kingsmoot.
And it sounds like Euron will be going up against Yara for the title.
Book readers have actually been waiting for Balon to die on that bridge since season 3.
AsThroneswriter Dave Hill told us: “There’s an idea of linkagethrowing the slugs in the fire.
But how do you establish a causal link?
The other ones died fairly quickly.
And then there’s this outlier.
Castle Black:Melisandre is depressed.
At least she put the necklace back on, so that must make him feel a little better.
Davos enters and starts hinting about resurrecting Jon Snow.
Our ears perk up.
But Melisandre is doubting herself the way somebody who senselessly burned a child alive probably would doubt herself.
This is her lowest moment, she’s basically confessing to being a total fraud.
She agrees to give it a shot.
Snow’s body is stripped.
She says magical-sounding words.
Ghost looks nearly dead too.
“hey,” she says.
One by one they leave.
But the camera lingers over Snow’s body.
Our thoughts echo Melisandre’s:hey…
Jon Snow wakes with a startling gasp.
It’s like he’s been holding his breath this entire time.
Our hero has returned.
Score one for Team Stark.
But will Jon Snow be the same?
Until next week, check ourquickie interview with Kit Harington(with a charming “I’m sorry!”
Here’s our second Harington piece where he reveals hisseason 6 role is actually his biggest yet(!
), as well as ourHarington cover image.
We also have an interview withRamsay Bolton actor Iwan Rheon and writer Dave Hill on those gruesome murders.
Also, our thanks to all those who checked out the debut of our EW’sGame of ThronesWeekly Podcast.
Trivia question: Every king in The War of the Five Kings is now dead.
What order did they die in on the show?
First to email GOTPodcast@ew.com gets the prize.
UPDATE: Prize redeemed!
