Season 6: Speculation

[Lady S.]

For those who care about the feral beastling Stark, Art Parkinson says he has work coming up in the summer that he can't talk about and that he cannot comment about Rickon. Which is a shall we say, stark contrast, from s4&5 where he just flat out said he hadn't heard anything.

[dbell1]

The Hound survived in the books, so I can see Stannis still being alive. He could get the Jamie redemption arc. Of course, I'd be much happier with Brienne doing him in. The jerk burned his daughter.

[Fen]

Denial is always the first stage of grief. It's the Syrio Forel effect all over again.

 

Stannis is still alive.  As it the Hound.  If I didn't see it, it didn't happen.

 

Otherwise - the sum total of Brienne's actions over two seasons has been to kill off substantially more interesting characters so she could continue to mope all over the seven kingdoms.

[Umbelina]

I really can't see Brienne sparing Stannis, she is, if anything, more rigid than Ned or Stannis.  I think he's dead.

 

I do think the hound is alive though, and hope it's true!

 

I do think the show completely blew it with the sitcom-like "Brienne turns away just before Sansa lights the candle."  It would have be so much more powerful if she, like Jamie, had to choose between vows.  Well, still not as problematic as what Jamie faced, but still, why didn't they let us watch her choose?

[SeanC]

It just occurred to me:  with Varys chilling in Meereen with Tyrion, and so whitewashed on the show anyway, it seems like Ser Kevan and Grand Maester Pycelle are looking reasonably safe for the foreseeable future.  That's a pretty big shift in the narrative.

[jjjmoss]

Some people think Petyr might kill them instead. For...reasons. It was how he justified his decision-making so far, so perhaps.

[Maximum Taco]

QUESTION:  If we know Valyrian steel kills White Walkers, and we know part of what makes Valyrian steel special is that it's been forged with dragon fire (just like the dragon glass), and we know the Iron Throne was made out of swords of Targaryen enemies that were incinerated by dragons ... then wouldn't pretty much every piece of metal comprising the Iron Throne potentially have the same "White Walker killing" properties?

 

There's more to Valyrian Steel then just being dragon forged.

 

There's apparently spells woven into the steel and it's a folded blade similar to the real world Damascus Steel. The techniques of crafting Valyrian Steel were lost when the freehold burned. They could not make more even when the Targaryen Dragons were in the Seven Kingdoms. So there's obviously more to it then just the dragons.

 

So while it is true that the blades of the iron throne were melted with dragonfire that doesn't make them Valyrian Steel or give them any special "Anti-White Walker" properties.

 

Also obsidian is not necessarily made exclusively from dragonfire, the maesters claim it can be made volcanically from the fires of the earth. So far there's been no distinction made between the two types and their effectiveness of combatting White Walkers.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[Hecate7]

I suspect they are just going back to Sansa and Littlefinger's original storyline. The whole point of Sansa in the Vale was to use Vale resources to take the North. I won't be surprised if they put Sansa and Littlefinger back together with little fallout from the Bolton marriage. The writers have gone out of their way to absolve Littlefinger of any wrongdoing with regard to leaving her with the Boltons.

 

They failed. Besides, they had him sit down with Cersei and tell her exactly where Sansa is. Not at all innocent of wrongdoing there.

[Bill1978]

My crazy wild speculation about Jon Snow is that by uttering the word Olly, Jon is going to warg into Olly. And Season 6 will be a crazy Freaky Friday adventure for Jon where he will begin to understand how the common folk feel about Wildlings and other riveting things. Or possibly be so freaked out about being in Olly's body that he runs to Bran's tree allowing him to discover the magic of the realm and the secrets of the Children of the Forest and of his parentage. Melissandre is going to steal Jon Snow's body, keep it secretly stashed somewhere and fix it up, allowing for Jon to warg back into his body when it is ready to go for the big Season 7 finish.

 

Personally I'm hoping Kit is lying about not returning in Season 6, although I do have to admit that if Season 6 covers a short timeframe (my brain always thinks a new season of a show means a year has passed since the last one) I can understand how Kit could miss a season and return in Season 7 and Jon's body is still 'fresh'.

 

I think this might be the best place to ask, but why do lots of people think the White Walkers will have a large mass of wrights once they cross the wall? I admit I am about 9/10ths of my way through Book 1. And Season 5 is the first time I have watched a season from beginning to end so I may have missed crucial information, but I've always gotten the impression that for a body to become a wright it must have been killed by a wright or a white walker. That a death by any other way cannot be resurrected by a Walker. I know the wildlings burn their dead to prevent a wright appearing, but is that more out of superstitious thinking and incorrect passing down of facts than actual fact?

[Avaleigh]

It hadn't occurred to me that we haven't necessarily seen any wights come to life who haven't also been killed by wights or White Walkers on the show. We don't know who killed the ones who attacked Bran, Meera, Jojen, and Hodor last season. 

 

I've always thought that an Other/White Walker could turn any dead body into a wight but that's an interesting question when I think about the whole issue of all of the dead bodies around Winterfell. I thought they gave us a good look at the scale so that we could think about how these guys are going to be added to the numbers of the other side eventually but now I'm not quite as confident in that interpretation. 

 

If Jon has to warg temporarily then my preference is for it to be into Ghost.

 

Another thought I had is that maybe Mel will give her life for Jon's.

[benteen]

I have to admit, I was thinking the Olly thing this morning.

 

I don't know if they could pull off Ghost and I think if they were going in that direction, they would have shown Ghost a lot more than they did this season.  D&D LOVE dropping anvils as evidenced by 3/4s of a season of Olly glaring at Jon.  I think if Jon was warging into Ghost, we would have seen a lot more of him other than the combined 20-25 seconds he appeared on screen this season.  I mean, I literally forgot about Ghost at times this season.

 

Also, they've shown no hint that Jon has warging abilities.  His internal thoughts in the book do seem to indicate that he feels like a wolf sometimes but he always tries to supress that.  Or something to that effect.  It's been a while since I've read them.

[Notwisconsin]

This might be seventh season speculation, but I'm really looking forward to that climactic light-sabor duel between the High Sparrow and the Night King. That should be way cool!!!!!

[ElizaD]

Sounds like Rickon returns. Stark reunion, or is Sansa just going to send Davos to find him?

 

After burning Shireen, Melisandre has to die. Maybe she ends up unintentionally sacrificing her life when she revives Jon, or Davos could kill her when he finds out how Shireen died.

 

Kevan and Pycelle could be killed by Varys in 6x10 as he announces that Dany has arrived, but currently I'm betting that they'll die due to Cersei/Tyrell/Martell-related chaos. Perhaps they were spared so that things can fall apart in a more spectacular fashion after the trials.

 

I don't know if they could pull off Ghost and I think if they were going in that direction, they would have shown Ghost a lot more than they did this season.  D&D LOVE dropping anvils as evidenced by 3/4s of a season of Olly glaring at Jon.  I think if Jon was warging into Ghost, we would have seen a lot more of him other than the combined 20-25 seconds he appeared on screen this season.  I mean, I literally forgot about Ghost at times this season.

 

I believe that Jon will warg Ghost in the books and that will explain why he doesn't end up being as damaged as Beric and Stoneheart, but if he is revived on the show, it will be done without the warging since that's ended up being Bran-only stuff. GOT doesn't have Stoneheart as a major example of how you can come back wrong and it has forgotten fairly big plot points: we never got the explanation that Joffrey sent the man to kill Bran and Varys was turned into a Dany supporter. So it should be easy to forget Beric and just have Jon be in good shape after he's revived by Melisandre even if he's been dead for days or weeks.

[Lady S.]

Stannis is still alive.  As it the Hound.  If I didn't see it, it didn't happen.

 

Otherwise - the sum total of Brienne's actions over two seasons has been to kill off substantially more interesting characters so she could continue to mope all over the seven kingdoms.

The difference is that thanks to the latest tidbit about Elder Brother Meribald, we have very good reason to believe Sandor is making a comeback. But Gwen Christie said Brienne killed Stannis, just like the actors who played Meryn and Syrio both believe Meryn did kill Syrio. And the stupid HBO viewer's guide, which I've read way too many times now, lists Stan and Syrio as deceased but only says the Hound was left for dead. I don't feel like digging up the recent EW interview, since idt D&D's word is worth much after this latest Jon Snow confusion, but suffice it to say, I think there is other corroborating evidence of his death.

In other words:

'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This one true king is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the tree where 'e died, 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' Red Ra'loo choir invisible!! He's fuckin' snuffed it!..... THIS IS AN EX-ROYAL!!

For what it's worth, apparently they cast a new wolf for Ghost's measly two s5 appearances, and his trainer already spoiled that new Ghost might be doing more in s6.

"They just started shooting season six now and we have been talking about it — so, the next couple of seasons, I'm hoping."

 

Edited June 18, 2015 by Lady S.

[riff-raff]

I'm wondering if they didn't film Kit H's scenes for season 6 back during the season 5 filming -- particularly if there were a fairly limited number of scenes showing him perhaps warging into Ghost, and then being reborn with Mel's help.  Because they know fans are tracking who's on set at the filming sites, that would be the only way they could keep his resurrection a true surprise.  

 

It makes zero sense from a story-telling perspective to either have him truly dead and gone, or to simply have him absent for an entire season.  If he's truly gone, it would make all the foreshadowing and build up meaningless, which would be a slap in the face to everyone who's been paying attention.   Gritty realism should not come at the expense of telling coherent, complete story arcs that the viewers can be rightfully invested in.  

 

But, suddenly bringing him back in season 7 wouldn't work either.  There would be a distracting hole in the story for season 6 and it would also have the feel that D&D were panicking and needed to invent a reason to bring back a favorite character.  It would feel like "Dallas" pretending the entire preceding season was just a dream. 

[Hecate7]

My crazy wild speculation about Jon Snow is that by uttering the word Olly, Jon is going to warg into Olly. And Season 6 will be a crazy Freaky Friday adventure for Jon where he will begin to understand how the common folk feel about Wildlings and other riveting things. Or possibly be so freaked out about being in Olly's body that he runs to Bran's tree allowing him to discover the magic of the realm and the secrets of the Children of the Forest and of his parentage. Melissandre is going to steal Jon Snow's body, keep it secretly stashed somewhere and fix it up, allowing for Jon to warg back into his body when it is ready to go for the big Season 7 finish.

 

Personally I'm hoping Kit is lying about not returning in Season 6, although I do have to admit that if Season 6 covers a short timeframe (my brain always thinks a new season of a show means a year has passed since the last one) I can understand how Kit could miss a season and return in Season 7 and Jon's body is still 'fresh'.

 

I think this might be the best place to ask, but why do lots of people think the White Walkers will have a large mass of wrights once they cross the wall? I admit I am about 9/10ths of my way through Book 1. And Season 5 is the first time I have watched a season from beginning to end so I may have missed crucial information, but I've always gotten the impression that for a body to become a wright it must have been killed by a wright or a white walker. That a death by any other way cannot be resurrected by a Walker. I know the wildlings burn their dead to prevent a wright appearing, but is that more out of superstitious thinking and incorrect passing down of facts than actual fact?

 

No, they can resurrect any dead body.

[Lady S.]

I think Tormund remembers having to put down one of his own kids after he/she froze or starved and rose as a wight before they even realized s/he was a corpse, but I don't feel like looking it up in Dance. 

[Danny Franks]

Ygritte definitely told Jon to burn the bodies of the Wildlings he killed when he captured her, to avoid them rising as wights. So it can be any dead body, as far as we're aware.

[anyanka323]

There's some interesting speculation on Reddit in both the show and book subreddits about how Dorne could merge into the Daenrys/Mereen plot.  The speculation that the boat with Jaime, Bronn, Trystane, and the late Myrcella may not be heading to King's Landing.  Instead, they are going to Mereen where Trystane takes over the Quentyn role from the books and tries to woo Dany.  His proposal gift - two Lannisters, one dead and one alive.  It is a possibility since Doran was in contact with Varys in the Targeryan restoration plot.  The current situation in Mereen with it under the rule of Tyrion/Varys junta throws that plan into question. 

[Hecate7]

Oh, that makes it even better! It forces Jaime and Tyrion to decide whether they want to kill each other or not. It brings Tyrion face to face with the unintended consequences of his actions. It could be brilliant.

[benteen]

It could work.  Jaime's breakaway from Cersei could be joining with Tyrion in the end.

 

 

I probably shouldn't get my hopes up because I don't think they'd do anything that cool.  I suspect Cersei will learn about her daughter too.  But hey, if you're going to having Jaime and Bronn go on another road trip, you could at least send them to find Tyrion.  A chance to reunite not just Tyrion and Jaime but Tyrion and Bronn.  It'd be fun to see them in those situations.  Also, Quentyn's friends in the  book could be part of Trystane's crew.  It is a Dornish boat.

 

Of course, this would mean saying good-bye forever to Jaime's Riverlands Redemption Tour.  Though it's pretty clear D&D don't like him and don't give a shit about that.  After all, to them Jaime is a "monster who loves killing" while Cersei is just a neurotic mom.

Edited June 19, 2015 by benteen

[AshleyN]

I dunno, it's a cool theory, but with each elaborate theory I read about Dorne, and what secret plans Doran might have, I can't help but wonder if it's fans just trying to convince themselves that the Dorne plot this season was anything other than a huge waste of time.

 

Also, I kind of think that if Doran was in on the plot to kill Myrcella, they would have shown him on the docks with the Sandsnakes and Ellaria at the end. It would have made for a way better cliffhanger, and left people (especially Unsullied) speculating about what he was up to all hiatus long.

[ElizaD]

WOTW has tons of casting info. These interest me the most:

 

Legendary Fighter:  A man in his thirties or forties who is a great swordsman and a paragon of knighthood. He carries a famous sword. We are looking for the best swordsman in Europe to play this part. The show is seeking a very impressive swordsman for the role- the  best in Europe, for a week of filming fight scenes for a season 6 role. His ethnicity/race isn’t specified, unlike many other roles.

Lord of Noble Northern House (Casting age anywhere between 25-50) The lord is a savage warrior, and he rules a distinguished house in the very far North, and the role is said to be an impactful one. He’s described as a massive bear of a man with a beard and temper to match, and hatred that run deep,” and he can be violent. The show’s looking for someone with a powerful physique who can tower over other cast members, a Northern English Accent and specifies he has to be at least 180 cm tall. The role will be on 2 episodes.

Lord of Northern Stronghold: The show’s looking for an actor in his late thirties or forties to play another lord, one that’s ruthless and calculating. The frightening lord rules a vassal household with a castle stronghold. He’ll be in 3 episodes this year, with 20 days of filming this summer and fall.

Father: He’s tough and old, an alpha male patriarch. The show is looking for a man with a Northern English Accent. He appears in one episode and has 2 lines.

 

Could the legendary fighter be Arthur Dayne? It's even said that he carries a famous sword.

 

The first Northern lord sounds like an Umber who could be part of Rickon's return. Who is the frightening lord? I don't dare hope for Manderly after the Bolton love of season 5, and all these roles seem like minor ones: Euron and Tarly, who were leaked first, will probably be the big additions like the Martells were in season 5.

 

The patriarch only has two lines - that made me think of Rickard appearing briefly in a Bran vision.

[AshleyN]

Yeah, my first thought for Legendary Fighter was a flashback Arthur Dayne. In terms of present-day characters, there are a few people who match parts of that description, but no one who fits the whole thing (though I suppose it could be a new character, or a powered-up version of a book character). And the fact that they're putting so much emphasis on the actor's swordplay abilities and spending a week filming fight scenes would indicate something pretty big, wouldn't it? Is it too much to hope for the Tower of Joy (and the Big Reveal)? Perhaps to coincide with Jon's resurrection?

 

And that Northern Lord description definitely sounds like an Umber, and it seems likely that it's related to bringing Rickon back. I wonder if it'll be a new one, or a recast Greatjon? And I'm afraid to get my hopes up, but the fact that they're calling for so many northerners makes me think we might actually get something resembling the resistance? But none of them seem to be appearing for more than two or three episodes, so maybe not.

 

I'm curious about the outlaw band as well - are we finally heading back to the Riverlands? It doesn't sound the Brotherhood, but something new instead. I wonder if it's from Book 6, or a show-only addition? Regardless, it fits with the themes of people misusing religion to gain power, which seems to be one of D&D's favourite threads from the books.

Edited June 19, 2015 by AshleyN

[Maximum Taco]

WOTW has tons of casting info. These interest me the most:

 

 

 

 

Could the legendary fighter be Arthur Dayne? It's even said that he carries a famous sword.

 

The first Northern lord sounds like an Umber who could be part of Rickon's return. Who is the frightening lord? I don't dare hope for Manderly after the Bolton love of season 5, and all these roles seem like minor ones: Euron and Tarly, who were leaked first, will probably be the big additions like the Martells were in season 5.

 

The patriarch only has two lines - that made me think of Rickard appearing briefly in a Bran vision.

 

I agree that the Legendary Fighter is likely Arthur Dayne and the first Northern Lord is an Umber, either Mors, Hothor, recast Greatjon or even the Smalljon (who would be the Lord if the Greatjon died), also it'd be cute for them to call a huge guy "Smalljon." I know in the books Smalljon died at the Red Wedding, but I don't know if that's true for the show too, I don't remember it if he did.

 

Frightening Lord could be Manderly, but by all accounts Manderly is outwardly a very amiable fellow with a big booming laugh. Calculating and ruthless perhaps, but he's not all that frightening, atleast not outwardly.

 

Perhaps it's Arnolf Karstark and they plan to still do the Alys Karstark storyline? Tormund could perhaps take the place of Sigorn of Thenn in that story. But it seems like a minor story to include, and I don't know how it would work with Jon Snow and Stannis already dead. That storyline kind of revolves around Jon as LC and the Karstarks betraying Stannis for Roose Bolton.

Edited June 19, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[nksarmi]

I dunno, it's a cool theory, but with each elaborate theory I read about Dorne, and what secret plans Doran might have, I can't help but wonder if it's fans just trying to convince themselves that the Dorne plot this season was anything other than a huge waste of time.

 

Also, I kind of think that if Doran was in on the plot to kill Myrcella, they would have shown him on the docks with the Sandsnakes and Ellaria at the end. It would have made for a way better cliffhanger, and left people (especially Unsullied) speculating about what he was up to all hiatus long.

I definitely think we are tying to make the Dorne plot into something "more" - I was all over Trystane equals Aegon and Doran being a master schemer.  I still can't believe he doesn't have a long game on the show given his strong Targ support in the books.

 

I thought several things about Dorne were odd- the scene where Ellaria is crying and kissing his ring is really weird to me given the rest of the episode as was the scene with Jamie.  I want it to make sense somehow, but I don't have high hopes at this point.

 

With that said, I would love it if Trystane and Doran were NOT in on Myrcella's death but the boat is still very much headed for Meereen. Of course, I also want slutty sand snake to have slipped Bron more antidote and for them to save her life.  Because please, please, please I want that stupid scene to have more meaning than what we got.

 

Plus I must admit that I would flat out adore Tyrion,Jamie, Varys, Bron, and Dany all together.  If they save Myrcella, she and Dany could even become friends - and oh how bat shit crazy would that make Cersei?  But Dany sitting around debating if she wants to kill Jamie since he killed her father while Tyrion tries to convince her not to as Jamie is pissed at him because he killed Tywin?  Way better than any Jamie / Cersei reunion could be. 

 

But in regards to Cersei's prophesy and the YMB(Q) - I get that most people think this means that her children will die before her and it certainly appears that Tommen is the only one left (thought I'm still hoping for a last minute hail mary pass for Myrcella). But do people think the YMB(Q) is supposed to be responsible for the deaths of her children?  Because I think we could tie Sansa or Marg to Geoffrey loosely, but neither of them could tie to Myrcella at this point.  And frankly, I have a feeling that by the time Dany gets to Westerous, Cersei will have already lost all she holds dear.

[MadMouse]

WOTW has tons of casting info. These interest me the most:

 

 

 

 

Could the legendary fighter be Arthur Dayne? It's even said that he carries a famous sword.

 

The first Northern lord sounds like an Umber who could be part of Rickon's return. Who is the frightening lord? I don't dare hope for Manderly after the Bolton love of season 5, and all these roles seem like minor ones: Euron and Tarly, who were leaked first, will probably be the big additions like the Martells were in season 5.

 

The patriarch only has two lines - that made me think of Rickard appearing briefly in a Bran vision.

 

The legendary fighter has to be Arthur Dayne, do not screw this one up show.Combine this with the casting of young Ned, Lyanna, etc. Its looks like R+L is being confirmed next season.

 

Ruthless lord could be anyone really. Logically its one of three people. A Karstark, Manderly or Reed.

 

The savage northern lord is either an Umber (depends if Rickon is returning) or Big Bucket Wull

 

Submissive Maester is Kerwin. Wonder if Euron will be sailing to Meereen or are my dreams coming true and they're casting Volcano Fist.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2015 by MadMouse

[Happy Harpy]

I'm so hoping for/hyped about Lyanna, although the flashbacks might not be about my favorite part of her history (ToJ rather than Harrenhal).

I wish they had Maisie Williams play her, since she isn't far from the age Lyanna was supposed to be when everything took place. I would love to see what she'd do with a different character. But probably, it would be deemed as too confusing.

 

I'm trying to see if they could replace Jon's screentime by Jon's origins screentime and weren't flat out liars who lied about Kit Harrington being done (for S6). With the show's Twilight Zone-like timeline, could they keep the character in the limbos for a good part of/maybe all the season?

[Dev F]

The legendary fighter has to be Arthur Dayne, do not screw this one up show.Combine this with the casting of young Ned, Lyanna, etc. Its looks like R+L is being confirmed next season.

 

But Jon is permanently dead for reals! I read it in Entertainment Weekly!

 

Yeah, this is clearly the Sword of the Morning at the Tower of Joy.

 

The most puzzling roles to me are the various members of the "group of renegades who have turned on the land that they swore to protect" and are "using religion to justify terrorizing and extorting what they need from the people of the countryside." The obvious possibility is that these are member of the corrupted Brotherhood Without Banners, but if so, it seems like a weird direction to go with them. First of all, why cast a bunch of new characters, including a new "big leader," when the better way to show the devolution of the group is to bring back established BwB leaders like Thoros and Anguy and show how they've changed? Second, what's the story purpose for having the BwB turn into exploiters of the poor? Is their secret boss a resurrected Sandor Clegane instead of Lady Stoneheart, or something like that?

 

Or could this be another group instead? Some rogue septons or out-of-control Faith Militant? The surviving LoL worshippers from Stannis's army?

Edited June 19, 2015 by Dev F

[Happy Harpy]

The most puzzling roles to me are the various members of the "group of renegades who have turned on the land that they swore to protect" and are "using religion to justify terrorizing and extorting what they need from the people of the countryside." The obvious possibility is that these are member of the corrupted Brotherhood Without Banners, but if so, it seems like a weird direction to go with them. First of all, why cast a bunch of new characters, including a new "big leader," when the better way to show the devolution of the group is to bring back established BwB leaders like Thoros and Anguy and show how they've changed? Second, what's the story purpose for having the BwB turn into exploiters of the poor? Is their secret boss a resurrected Sandor Clegane instead of Lady Stoneheart, or something like that?

 

Or could this be another group instead? Some rogue septons or out-of-control Faith Militant? The surviving LoL worshippers from Stannis's army?

Well, they did sell Gendry to Melisandre because "the Lord of Light needed him" and considering Beric's "sorry", they had to know it was for nefarious purposes. And Beric/Thoros landed on Arya's list.

So exploiting people in the name of their religion is a direction that the BwB could take imo, at least the seeds are here. Yet I totally agree that it's weird without Lady Stoneheart acting as a catalyst. The big leader could be Brynden Tully, too...if they recast again a MIA character, of course.

Edited June 19, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[Dev F]

Well, they did sell Gendry to Melisandre because "the Lord of Light needed him" and considering Beric's "sorry", they had to know it was for nefarious purposes.

 

Oh, I'm not objecting to the idea that the BwB has been corrupted; it's the specific form of the corruption that seems odd. They sold Gendry to Melisandre because a) she was a priestess of their sect, and b) she gave them gold that would aid in their mission to help the common people. To have them suddenly exploiting the common people and violating the holy duty they'd sold their souls to champion seems like quite a different road than the one we saw them start down when they betrayed Gendry.

[benteen]

I hated what they did to the Brotherhood.  They made them religious fanatics first, defenders of the poor second (which we didn't see onscreen, just got a lot of lip service).  They didn't become that corrupt until Stoneheart took over

[MadMouse]

But Jon is permanently dead for reals! I read it in Entertainment Weekly!

 

Yeah, this is clearly the Sword of the Morning at the Tower of Joy.

 

The most puzzling roles to me are the various members of the "group of renegades who have turned on the land that they swore to protect" and are "using religion to justify terrorizing and extorting what they need from the people of the countryside." The obvious possibility is that these are member of the corrupted Brotherhood Without Banners, but if so, it seems like a weird direction to go with them. First of all, why cast a bunch of new characters, including a new "big leader," when the better way to show the devolution of the group is to bring back established BwB leaders like Thoros and Anguy and show how they've changed? Second, what's the story purpose for having the BwB turn into exploiters of the poor? Is their secret boss a resurrected Sandor Clegane instead of Lady Stoneheart, or something like that?

 

Or could this be another group instead? Some rogue septons or out-of-control Faith Militant? The surviving LoL worshippers from Stannis's army?

 

Yeah I really don't know what to make of this. Are we getting the Riverlands? And like you said why recast BWB members when you already have established characters. I could see them using the Hound but as much as I want the CleganeBowl I don't him as an outlaw it wouldn't feel right for his character. The only other thing I could think of is R'hllor members rising up in Essos because they believe Dany is Azor Ahai. Honestly that doesn't make sense when I think about it.

 

I'm so hoping for/hyped about Lyanna, although the flashbacks might not be about my favorite part of her history (ToJ rather than Harrenhal).

I wish they had Maisie Williams play her, since she isn't far from the age Lyanna was supposed to be when everything took place. I would love to see what she'd do with a different character. But probably, it would be deemed as too confusing.

 

 She can just use her Merlin costumes.

http://i.imgur.com/6YeKpOP.jpg

[BlackberryJam]

Moved to casting thread.

Edited June 19, 2015 by BlackberryJam

[Happy Harpy]

To have them suddenly exploiting the common people and violating the holy duty they'd sold their souls to champion seems like quite a different road than the one we saw them start down when they betrayed Gendry.

I see what you mean :) It's just that for me selling Gendry was their first step on a slippery road that could eventually lead to the betrayal of their "ideals" (on the paper and initially, religions aren't supposed to oppress, but...well).

But again, I never saw them as such noble champions either; they tried to do good, at least so they said, yet for me they sold their souls to R'hllor and not to the cause of defending the common people first. I feel that it might be a "Stannis/Shireen" kind of situation.

But indeed, for the "suddenly" to make sense there's imo need for a catalyst, be it an event or a character, because the BwB had only taken that first step the last time the audience saw them.

It could also be something completely different, but some elements mentioned are too similar to the Brotherhood for me to think it's another group. Maybe they lost Beric, and without their leader part of them went rogue.

 

At this very, very early stage, the casting calls make me feel that the action and characters are going to be scattered again, whereas this season it seemed to regroup a bit. Also, Tarlys are the new Martells?

Edited June 19, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[loki567]

I hate to be that guy, but I'm guessing Stoneheart is still in play. I know, I know. But it makes about zero sense to do the Stoneheart plot without Stoneheart. Hell, the story wouldn't make that much sense anyway considering where Brienne and Jaime are at the end of season five, but I don't know you go back to the BWB-storyline with a bunch of randoms. And considering how the show likes to cut down on the complexity whenever possible, I could see them doing both Lady Stoneheart and Jon resurrections storylines in season six. That way they have the set-up and pay-off in the same season.

 

And I'll speculate again, I really wonder if the show could go into season eight. Now it looks like they're doing some part of the Greyjoys, Sam and Gilly's travels, the second half of Arya's training, a possible Northern lords storyline, and a BWB-storyline? You're pushing quite a lot of AFFC/ADWD into season six. If TWOW and ADOS are as action-packed as we're hoping, where's the time to do everything in the next two years? Especially since GRRM seems more and more likely to push into book eight. 

[Avaleigh]

Assuming the AJT theory pans out, the casting notice regarding the High Priest of Volantis makes me wonder if it won't be somebody like this who indirectly turns Tyrion on to questioning whether or not Tywin was his biological father.

 

So much for those who thought Stannis might still be alive.

[The Mormegil]

It's only what

Varys has heard, maybe his body was never found and he's just assumed dead along with his army. Ah who am I kidding Varys always has the correct info.

[Avaleigh]

Yeah, the fact that Varys is getting this info pretty much tells me all I need to know.

[CofCinci]

I'm wondering if they didn't film Kit H's scenes for season 6 back during the season 5 filming --

With Union rules that isn't allowed.

[InsertWordHere]

With Union rules that isn't allowed.

I'm not disagreeing with you, because I honestly don't know the union rules for this situation in the UK, but I think this has been done before, at least in the US. How I Met Your Mother famously filmed a (show-ruining) scene eight years before it aired. Is there a specific union rule against this in the UK?  

[snakenax]

 

Ygritte definitely told Jon to burn the bodies of the Wildlings he killed when he captured her, to avoid them rising as wights. So it can be any dead body, as far as we're aware.

In the Varamyr chapter, after his failed attempt to possess the spear wife leaves them both dead and he wargs into his wolf, he sees the cold mists come down and their bodies rise up, which to me suggests it's the cold mists that comes with the Whitewalkers that raises wights.

[ElizaD]

Outlaw + religion immediately makes me think of the Riverlands, but Brienne is going to look bad if she abandons Sansa and though I guess Cersei could send Jaime to the Riverlands as punishment for his failure, it doesn't feel like he'd have much to do there.

 

The Dorne talk reminds me of the theories that Talisa was a Lannister or a spy, but in the end she was just a character who was widely felt to be poorly written.

[AshleyN]

I've seen some speculation that it could be Sam and Gilly travelling through the Riverlands, but the fact that Randall Tarly is supposed to be a major character this season makes me think that their journey South won't take that long.

[SeanC]

I've seen some speculation that it could be Sam and Gilly travelling through the Riverlands, but the fact that Randall Tarly is supposed to be a major character this season makes me think that their journey South won't take that long.

The fact that they held off on sending Sam and Gilly to Oldtown until the end of season 5 is a pretty clear indication that they want to have them make the trip between seasons and arrive in Oldtown in episode 1 or 2 of season 6.

[AshleyN]

I have to say, even though I was one of the people to make that leap, it'd be pretty funny if after the immediate "OMG Arthur Dayne! OMG Tower of Joy!" freakout, the "legendary fighter" turned out to be, like, Darkstar or something. If nothing else, I'd have to admire them for (inadvertently or not) pulling off a trolling for the ages.

[Maximum Taco]

I have to say, even though I was one of the people to make that leap, it'd be pretty funny if after the immediate "OMG Arthur Dayne! OMG Tower of Joy!" freakout, the "legendary fighter" turned out to be, like, Darkstar or something. If nothing else, I'd have to admire them for (inadvertently or not) pulling off a trolling for the ages.

 

Unless they are making him the Sword of the Morning (Sword of the Evening?) in the show, Darkstar does not carry a legendary sword. Side note: I'm not even sure if Darkstar can become a Sword of the Morning, because while he is a Dayne, he is not a Dayne of Starfall, instead coming from the cadet branch of High Hermitage.

 

The only arguably legendary fighter who carries an arguably legendary sword and is still living in the books/show is perhaps Randyll Tarly (who carries Heartsbane) and Lyn Corbray (who carries Lady Forlorn)

 

And there's already a casting call out for Tarly.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[Dev F]

I have to say, even though I was one of the people to make that leap, it'd be pretty funny if after the immediate "OMG Arthur Dayne! OMG Tower of Joy!" freakout, the "legendary fighter" turned out to be, like, Darkstar or something. If nothing else, I'd have to admire them for (inadvertently or not) pulling off a trolling for the ages.

 

I seriously doubt that the producers are having casting directors go through the trouble of seeking out the best swordsman in Europe with an inaccurate casting notice to play some sort of deliberate prank on book readers, or to fill some nothing role like the Darkstar. Everything about this casting notice -- legendary swordsman, paragon of knighthood, famous sword, an extremely brief appearance cast with unusual care -- says that this is Arthur Dayne.

[AshleyN]

Unless they are making him the Sword of the Morning in the show, Darkstar does not carry a legendary sword.

 

The only arguably legendary fighter who carries an arguably legendary sword and is still living in the books is perhaps Randyll Tarly (who carries Heartsbane) and Lyn Corbray (who carries Lady Forlorn)

 

And there's already a casting call out for Tarly.

You're assuming that the character in the show would be an exact match for the character in the books, or even that it is a character from the books. We've seen many times that the showrunners have no problems making changes to characters, or inventing entirely new ones to suit their purposes.

 

I seriously doubt that the producers are having casting directors go through the trouble of seeking out the best swordsman in Europe with an inaccurate casting notice to play some sort of deliberate prank on book readers, or to fill some nothing role like the Darkstar. Everything about this casting notice -- legendary swordsman, paragon of knighthood, famous sword, an extremely brief appearance cast with unusual care -- says that this is Arthur Dayne.

I didn't say it would be a deliberate prank, and you don't know that the character on the show would be a "nothing role".

 

Anyways, I was mostly trying to point out that I think book readers maybe shouldn't get themselves too hyped up for something that we don't even know for sure is happening (and I'm not even really talking about here, but some other ASOIAF sites I've seen). Like I said, I also thought Arthur Dayne when I read that casting notice and I still think he's the most likely candidate, but there's a bit of a tendency in this fandom to turn speculation into fact without any actual proof, and while this could just be me trying to avoid setting myself up for disappointment (because holy shit would I ever love to see the Tower of Joy next season) I'm not quite ready to take it as a given that that's what we're getting.

Edited June 20, 2015 by AshleyN

[Danny Franks]

I'd guess that the "frightening northern lord" will be another figure to menace Sansa. Seems par for the course, for her storyline.