This is evident in a bunch of promotional posters HBO released today for the upcoming sixth season, which will mark an important turning point for the show. It is forging ahead without any assistance from the books, which are now stuck, for the foreseeable future, at A Dance With Dragons. This means that, for the first time, even those who have read every single page of A Song of Ice and Fire will have no advance knowledge of what will happen, only millions of Reddit threads speculating where George R.R. Martin intends to go. Everyone is more or less entering uncharted territory at the same time, and HBO is taking full advantage.
The posters crib from a teaser released last week that showed a lot of characters’ heads displayed in a vast hall in the House of Black and White—the threat being, to borrow a line Arya Stark delivered to Tywin Lannister back in season two: “Anyone can be killed.” No one is safe, not even the beloved Jon Snow, who “died” at the end of last season. Thus, you must watch the show, because you never, ever know what might happen, your favorite character, Jon Snow, could really be dead. (Even though everyone knows Jon Snow is coming back and is actually the love-child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and is destined to become one of three dragon-riders alongside Tyrion and Daenerys who will lay waste to the White Walkers with fire.)
The sixth season premieres on April 24. Get your friend’s girlfriend’s mom’s HBO Go password ready!
