‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 6 Premiere Recap: ‘The Red Woman’

Game of Thrones season 6 premiere, “The Red Woman,” opened up with a sprawling shot of Castle Black that zooms in on Jon Snow’s corpse lying in the blood-stained snow.

Game Of Thrones Premiere Recap

Castle Black

Ghost, sensing Jon’s (Kit Harington) death, howls and attempts to break out of his pen. And Davos (Liam Cunningham), also sensing something amiss, looks outside and spots Jon’s body. While Davos takes in the scene, including the sign that reads “Traitor” hastily posted above the former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Jon’s closest friends arrive in shock. Quickly, they transport Jon inside, where they carefully place his body on a table and pay their respects. As they try to figure out what to do next, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) knocks at the door and doesn’t understand Jon’s death. “I saw him in the flames, fighting at Winterfell,” she says.

Down below, Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) announces to the men of the Night’s Watch that he and others killed Jon Snow for his traitorous ways. In a show of respect and mercy, Alliser then goes to see Davos and those still loyal to Jon Snow. He vows to allow them to start their journey south without coming under attack. Davos does not believe him. He tells the others that they will need Melisandre’s help to defeat Alliser and his men. Meanwhile, Melisandre, looking more vulnerable than ever, peers into a mirror as she disrobes before bed. Taking off her necklace, the image of a much older woman reflects back at her.

Winterfell

Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) shows a rare bit of humanity as he bids farewell to his longtime lover, the kennel master’s daughter Myranda. He begins to tear up, but then commands that Myranda’s remains be fed to the dogs. After taking care of that, Ramsay meets with his father Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), who credits him with the death of Stannis Baratheon. But he’s less satisfied with how Ramsay is doing in his marriage, and stresses the importance of creating a male heir with Sansa (Sophie Turner).

Sansa, however, has slipped out of the grounds of Winterfell with Theon (Alfie Allen). With Ramsay’s hounds hot on their heels, Theon has Sansa wade across a near-frozen river with him. As Ramsay’s men near them once again, Theon decides to offer himself up in the hopes that they won’t find Sansa. Unfortunately, Sansa is quickly discovered and it looks like Sansa and Theon are destined for further mutilation by Ramsay’s hand – if not death. Then, swooping in on horseback, Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Podrick (Daniel Portman) come to save the day, dispatching one man after the other. Following the fight, Brienne once again offers her services to Sansa, who gladly accepts them.

King’s Landing

Cersei (Lena Headey) betrays a joyous smile upon learning that the boat carrying her daughter Myrcella and Jamie (Nicolaj Coster Waldau) has arrived. Looking out to the sea, she soon realizes that Myrcella is dead. Instead of taking the loss out on Jamie, Cersei credits the loss of her second child to the prophecy she had heard as a young woman. Per the prophecy, it won’t be long until she will have to live through the death of Tommen as well. Jamie says, “F–k prophecy,” and that it’s them against the world.

While Cersei has managed to get out of the High Sparrow’s cells, Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) remains there. All of her pleas to see her brother Loras are met with the response of “confess.” She doesn’t confess, as she believes that she’s done nothing wrong worthy of her punishment. The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) interrupts the “confess” session to tell Margaery that Tommen wishes to see her. He also informs her that she has a ways to go before achieving redemption.

Dorne

At Dorne, Prince Doran (Alexander Siddig) is in good spirits, praising Ellaria (Indira Varma) to her Sand Snake daughter Tyene (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers). The smile is wiped from his face, though, as he reads a note that informs him of Myrcella’s death. Before he can accuse Ellaria of the crime, she kills him. With Tyene, she takes down a couple of his guards as well. Nearby, Sand Snakes Obara (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Nymeria (Jessica Henwick) corner and kill Prince Doran’s son, Prince Trystane (Toby Sebastian).

Mereen

Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Varys (Conleth Hill) walk about the streets of Mereen, pontificating about how they are going to help Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) rule the people of Mereen and eventually Westeros – if she ever comes back from her dragon ride. Their conversation comes to an abrupt halt when they see the people of Mereen running away from a cloud of smoke. Upon further inspection, they realize that Dany’s fleet of ships has been torched.

Westeros

In an unknown land in Westeros, Jorah (Iain Glen) – whose Greyscale is worsening – and Daario (Michiel Huisman) continue their search for Dany. They come to the conclusion that the Dothraki have taken Dany after spotting dozens of hoof prints creating a circle in the grass and Dany’s earring. Now a captive, Dany listens on as the Dothraki speak freely about her, not knowing that she understands them. Just as the khal threatens to strip her and have sex with her, she says who she is. He is not impressed, until she reveals that she is the window of Khal Drogo. At this, the khal acknowledges that he cannot lay a hand on her. Dany wrongly believes that he will then agree to arrange for her to have an escort back to Mereen. But that’s not how it works for khal wives; they are to go live out the rest of their lives with fellow khal windows.

Braavos

Out in Braavos, Arya (Maisie Williams) is now a blind beggar. Her panhandling comes to a brief pause when the Waif (Faye Marsay) from the House of Black and White confronts her with a stick. She gives ARya her own and beckons her to fight. Unable to see her opponent, Arya struggles to get her bearings and takes a beating. After a time, the Waif, who seems to be training Arya again, informs her, “See you tomorrow.”

Game of Thrones airs Sundays on HBO at 9/8c.