Hit fantasy TV show Game of Thrones returned for its Season 6 premiere on Sunday appearing to answer to one of the most hotly debated questions in modern television history: “Is Jon Snow dead ”
Hit fantasy TV show Game of Thrones returned for its Season 6 premiere on Sunday appearing to answer to one of the most hotly debated questions in modern television history: “Is Jon Snow dead ”
As well as revealing the fate of the brooding Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch — the writers hit viewers with a huge curve ball that had them rushing to the social media to voice their shock. On Twitter #GameOfThrones was the top trending hashtag worldwide for several hours before and after the HBO premiere at 9 pm (0100 GMT Monday) on the US east coast. Fans speculated whether the season opener’s title, “The Red Woman,” indicated that the Red Priestess Melisandre, played by Carice van Houten, would have a hand in bringing Snow back to life after he was stabbed by his mutinous underlings. Instead, the title was a reference to a big reveal in the final moments of the episode. “Almost that time!” tweeted Houston Texans offensive tackle and Thrones fans Duane Brown as the episode was about to begin, before adding around an hour later: “What. The. Hell ” British conservative columnist and novelist James Delingpole complained that he was “slightly upset that there was nothing in #GameofThrones episode one that really upset me.”
“Back to the good ol’ Sunday night ritual of sitting quietly for an hour and then suddenly yelling out ‘NOOOOOOOO,’” tweeted New York-based fan Alex Lauer. The Red Woman picked up where the Season Five finale left off, with Sansa and Theon on the run from the Boltons, Snow’s body not yet cold, and Daenerys facing the Dothraki horde that picked her up at the end of Season Five. Everyone involved in the production had insisted Snow is definitely, irreversibly dead but conversation among fans has focused on how, rather than whether, he will be resurrected.
